Sports is no different. The second a big highlight play happens or an athlete is involved in some kind of ordeal or scandal, we’re immediately in the know as fans.

Sports franchises and athletes now use the power or the web – more specifically in the form of social media – to enhance their brands, names and popularity.

Prime time athletes such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tim Tebow and Nick Swisher use social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to give their followers an up to the minute look into their lives.

Tweets, posts or photos may contain personal information such as a player’s favourite song or “the tune they be feelin’” to photos of women they find attractive to jokes or their personal opinions on how their team is doing.

Sometimes the power of social media can be a good thing. Athletes can immediately let their fans know about charitable foundations they may be involved with and get important information out to millions in a matter of seconds.

However, the reverse is possible. An athlete may rant on their account about a situation that may have best been saved for closed doors and receive a hefty fine for doing so.

Kobe Bryant frequently tweeted about what he thought his team should be doing during their first round playoff match-up against the San Antonio Spurs and received more attention then the series itself (becoming a distraction to your team isn’t a good move by a team’s leader) – which he also turned into a tweet:

“I see my tweeting during the game is being talked about as much as the game itself. Not my intention , just bored as I guess #notagain”

Ronaldo – who has more followers on Twitter then any other athlete – is an avid poster of photos to his fans prior to and after his matches. The photos help build his network of followers which in turn helps his brand grow and it really gives his followers a behind the scenes look into his celebrity life style, which is pretty cool.

None of this would have been possible before the web and social media. You used to have to wait a month before colour photo spreads would be published in magazines or if you were lucky you’d get to see one great shot in a newspaper the day after a big game occurred.

Now, up to the second footage, photos, highlights and more springboard their way onto our computer screens seconds after they occur and make us feel like we’re part of the event.

The power of social media is an amazing thing and it continues to grow. As new, more innovative sites are developed, athletes continue to jump on-board and give the world a look into their lives, which is fine by me, because sometime they really do have something interesting to say, which is probably a better read then your pal @joeschmo who tweets about his new favourite coffee flavour or how much he hates his neighbour’s dog.

You can follow me on Twitter @BryanMcwilliam or find me on Facebook. LinkedIn is also a big favourite of mine, so hit me up on there to talk sports, sports business or just to chat about writing.

Comment below, like Sports Networker on Facebook and make sure to follow us @SportsNetworker

The post The Power of Social Media in Sports appeared first on Sports Networker.

That’s more than Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and surprisingly for some, the National Football League. In fact, LeBron James, who leads all active NBA players with 22 million followers, has a bigger audience than Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Tim Tebow and Aaron Rodgers … combined.

With that in mind, the NBA Playoffs are the most critical time of the year for the league to activate on social media. According to Bluefin Labs, which was recently acquired by Twitter, the 2012 NBA Finals saw nearly 20 million comments on social platforms. Some games during the 2012-13 NBA regular season, met and exceeded those numbers on a single game basis.

Here’s a look at how the league, teams and broadcast partners are using the increased exposure to market to fans on digital platforms.

The NBA goes BIG

The NBA ditched ‘Where Amazing Happens’ for ‘BIG’ following the 2011 NBA lockout and the word is prominently featured throughout its social media messaging. The league has created some compelling ‘BIG’ videos, including this holiday classic used to promote jerseys worn on Christmas Day, and some ‘BIG’ graphics, which encourage fans to ‘Like’ ‘Comment’ and ‘Share’ their playoff predictions with their friends.

While many will gawk that the league has 16+ million ‘Likes’ on Facebook on its own, the NBA’sYouTube content, with nearly four million subscribers, creates a secondary, online component to its TV network.

Everyone Can Be Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are making their playoff slogan, #WeAreWarriors, rather fruitful for those who are active in the social space. In addition to digital scavenger hunts, fans that check into Oracle Arena for select playoff games receive free rally towels. Those attending games in Oakland also receive free tee-shirts, creating a ‘gold out’ environment during games.

The day after the Warriors won their first playoff series since 2007, the official Team Store posted a special deal on social media, offering free car flags to anyone who bought $50 or more in playoff merchandise. Merchandise that isn’t easy to move once a team has been eliminated.

White Hot Heat

“White Hot” has been the Miami Heat’s playoff rallying cry since 2006, the year in which the team won its first NBA title. Fans are encouraged to wear white to American Airlines Center, matching what the team wears on the floor.

On the team’s social media feeds, the Heat stick with the ‘White Hot’ theme. All of the creative is white and black, with very limited use of color. The club’s profile photo is also a very simple black and white sketch of their primary logo.

Fans who use the hashtag #WhiteHotHeatFan when uploading their photo to Instagram can also be featured on the team’s website. The page is sponsored by Adidas.

#KnicksTape

The Knicks Tape (rhymes with Mix-Tape) is designed to represent the vast melting pot of players under head coach Mike Woodson. It also happens to work for the city of New York, a diverse centerpiece of cultures all assembled in one place.

“You’ve got the club song. You’ve got the sophisticated song. You’ve got the brand new song,” said founder and Knicks player Iman Shumpert told MSG. “We have a similar collection of personalities on this team.”

The business side of the organization has run with Shumpert’s tagline, using #knickstape as an opportunity for fan photos to be featured on the Madison Square Garden scoreboard during games.

Inside The NBA

Content is king in the world of social media and nobody is better at producing that content than the folks at Turner Sports. The EMMY Award winning “Inside The NBA” studio show features a cast of characters, including Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, that are known for gags, gimmicks and great basketball analysis.

After all, you have to be funny if Saturday Night Live is spoofing you on a regular basis.

If fans aren’t talking about what sideline reporter Craig Sager is wearing, like this dedicated fan made Tumblr - http://craigsagerssuits.tumblr.com, they’ll pay attention to Sir Charles. The former NBA legend has 47,000 YouTube results when you search ‘Charles Barkley TNT’, with many of those hitting the six-figure plateau for views.

Comment below, make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @SportsNetworker

The post NBA Playoffs Go Social appeared first on Sports Networker.

The partnership will allow The Legacy Agency’s clients the opportunity to use FanTree’s service in an effort to create new revenue streams and continue to build their online brands.

The Legacy Agency represents current and former sports clients such as: C.C. Sabathia, Reggie Bush, Jose Reyes, Jim Furyk and Troy Aikman.

“Social media has changed the model of distribution and the relationship between athlete and fan,” said TK Stohlman, President of FanTree.

“We created FanTree to help athletes maximize the revenue created by their biggest fans, revenue that previously found its way to other people’s pockets.  FanTree also makes available the option for its partner athletes to donate all or a portion of their proceeds to their favorite charities, bringing about real change in the community as a result of direct fan interaction.”

The FanTree platform hasn’t launched yet, but it should be up and running this Summer.

The Legacy Agency hopes the company’s new partnership with FanTree will provide new opportunities for their clients, while giving them a a boost from a social media perspective, which in turn should increase their brand and finances.

Photo courtesy of: Fantree

The post New Sports Social Media Relationship for The Legacy Agency appeared first on Sports Networker.

The Kansas Ciy Chiefs left the draft with top selection Eric Fisher, while the Minnesota Vikings scored the biggest haul, grabbing three first round picks.

The New York Jets picked up a couple of highly touted prospects, while the Buffalo Bills took the only quarterback in the first round.

The Steelers may have committed high way robbery nabbing Jarvis Jones with the number 17 pick. In my opinion, Jones will be a future star at the linebacker position for the black and yellow for years to come and has the potential to be the next James Harrison, who the Steelers recently lost to the Bengals.

Interested in finding out what is on the minds of the recently drafted players? Well you can visit them on their Twitter accounts.

2013 NFL 1st Round Draft Pick Twitter Accounts

1. Kansas City Chiefs – Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan, @Big_Fish79
2. Jacksonville Jaguars – Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M, No Twitter
3. Miami Dolphins – Dion Jordan, DE, Oregon, @Dionj96
4. Philadelphia Eagles – Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma, @Lanejohnson69
5. Detroit Liions – Ziggy Ansah, DE, BYU, @ZiggyAnsah
6. Cleveland Browns – Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU, @keke_mingo
7. Arizona Cardinals – Jonathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina, @TheUnderDog_64
8. St. Louis Rams – Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia, @Tayaustin01
9. New York Jets – Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama, @Dmilli28
10. Tennessee Titans – Chance Warmack, OG, Alabama, @chancewarmack
11. San Diego Chargers – D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama, No Twitter
12. Oakland Raiders – D.J. Hayden, CB, Houston, No Twitter
13. New York Jets – Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri, @Godforshort
14. Carolina Panthers – Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah, No Twitter
15. New Orleans Saints – Kenny Vaccaro, SS, Texas, @KennyVaccaro4
16. Buffalo Bills – EJ Manuel, QB, Florida St., @EJManuel3
17. Pittsburgh Steelers – Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia, @SacManJones_29
18. San Francisco 49ers – Eric Reid, FS, LSU, @E_Reid1
19. New York Giants – Justin Pugh, OT, Syracuse, @JustinPugh67
20. Chicago Bears – Kyle Long, OG, Oregon, No Twitter
21. Cincinnati Bengals – Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame, @EiferTy85
22. Atlanta Falcons – Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington, @DesmondTrufant
23. Minnesota Vikings – Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida, @sharriffloyd
24. Indianapolis Colts – Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida St., @BjoernWernerBTM
25. Minnesota Vikings – Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida St., @XavierRhodes27
26. Green Bay Packers – Datone Jones, DE, UCLA, No Twitter
27. Houston Texans – Deandre Hopkins, WR, Clemson, @Nukdabomb
28. Denver Broncos – Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina, @Sylwil92
29. Minnesota Vikings – Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee, @ceeflashpee84
30. St. Louis Rams – Alec Ogletree, ILB, Georgia, @B_easy_uga9
31. Dallas Cowboys – Travis Frederick, C, Wisconsin, @tfrederick72
32. Baltimore Ravens – Matt Elam, FS, Florida, @ElamVsElo

Photo courtesy of: The Globe and Mail

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Eric Fisher was selected first overall by the Kansas City Chiefs out of Central Michigan, as the Chiefs hope to re-invigorate a devoted fanbase who watched the team fail miserably last season with a record of 2-14.

Fisher is projected to make close to $22 million with the Chiefs and his huge payday will be in thanks to his agent Joel Segal of Lagardère Unlimited.

Lagardère Unlimited represents three clients who were selected in the first round: Fisher, Tavon Austin and Jarvis Jones. To say that the agency has their hands on three potential superstars would be an understatement.

Have you ever wondered who brings in the dollars and cents for NFL players?

Darren Heitner of Sports Agent Blog has put together an in-depth list of every player selected in rounds one through seven of the 2013 NFL draft and has listed who their agent is. I’ve listed the first round below.

Round 1

1. Kansas City, Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan – Agent: Joel Segal (Lagardère Unlimited)
2. Jacksonville, Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M – Agent: Ben Dogra, Jimmy Sexton and Tom Condon (CAA)
3. Miami (from Oakland), Dion Jordan, DE, Oregon – Agent: Doug Hendrickson and C.J. LaBoy (Octagon Football)
4. Philadelphia, Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma – Agent: Ken Sarnoff (PlayersRep Sports)
5. Detroit, Ziggy Ansah, DE, BYU – Agent: Frank Bauer and Dan Van Woerkom (Sun West Sports)
6. Cleveland, Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU – Agent: Jeff Guerriero (ProSource Sports Management)
7. Arizona, Jonathan Cooper, G, North Carolina – Agent: Todd France and Brian Ayrault (Five Star Athlete Management)
8. St. Louis (from Buffalo), Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia – Agent: Joel Segal and Greg Barnett (Lagardère Unlimited)
9. New York Jets, Dee Milliner, DB, Alabama – Agent: Mitch Frankel and Tony Fleming (Impact Sports)
10. Tennessee, Chance Warmack, G, Alabama – Agent: Roosevelt Barnes and Happy Walters (Relativity Sports)
11. San Diego, D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama – Agent: Deryk Gilmore (Priority Sports)
12. Oakland (from Miami), D.J. Hayden, DB, Houston – Agent: Select Sports Group
13. New York Jets (from Tampa Bay), Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri – Agent: Ben Dogra, Tom Condon and R.J. Gonser (CAA)
14. Carolina, Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah – Agent: Rep 1 Sports
15. New Orleans, Kenny Vaccaro, DB, Texas – Agent: David Mulugheta (Athletes First)
16. Buffalo (from St. Louis), EJ Manuel, QB, Florida State – Agent: Malik Shareef and Joshua Hare (Dimensional Sports, Inc.)
17. Pittsburgh, Jarvis Jones, LB, Georgia – Agent: Joel Segal (Lagardère Unlimited)
18. San Francisco (from Dallas), Eric Reid, DB, LSU – Agent: Ben Dogra and Jimmy Sexton (CAA)
19. New York Giants, Justin Pugh, OT, Syracuse – Agent: Andy Ross (Octagon Football)
20. Chicago, Kyle Long, G, Oregon – Agent: Marvin Demoff
21. Cincinnati, Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame – Agent: Ben Dogra and Tom Condon (CAA)
22. Atlanta (from Washington through St. Louis), Desmond Trufant, DB, Washington – Agent: Doug Hendrickson (Octagon Football)
23. Minnesota, Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida – Agent: Jonathan Perzley and Brian Mackler (Sportstars)
24. Indianapolis, Bjoern Werner, DE, Floida State – Agent: Jimmy Sexton, Ben Dogra and R.J. Gonser (CAA)
25. Minnesota (from Seattle), Xavier Rhodes, DB, Florida State – Agent: Sunny Shah (320 Sports)
26. Green Bay, Datone Jones, DE, UCLA – Agent: Sean Kiernan (Impact Sports)
27. Houston, DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson – Agent: Hadley Engelhard (Enter-Sports Management)
28. Denver, Sylvester Williams, DT, North Carolina – Agent: Todd France and Brian Ayrault (Five Star Athlete Management)
29. Minnesota (from New England), Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee – Agent: Joby Branion and Brett Smith (Athletes First)
30. St. Louis (from Atlanta), Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia – Agent: Pat Dye, Jr. and Michael Perrett (SportsTrust Advisors)
31. Dallas (from San Francisco), Travis Frederick, C, Wisconsin – Agent: Joe Panos and Brian Murphy (Athletes First)
32. Baltimore, Matt Elam, DB, Florida – Agent: None

SportsStars, Athletes First and Octagon Football are the three agencies with the most clients selected in this year’s draft respectively and 13 agencies highlight Heitner’s list.

You can check out the full article featuring all seven rounds here.

Photo courtesy of: people.co.uk

The post 2013 NFL Draftees and their Sports Agents appeared first on Sports Networker.

The channel already has 24,000+ subscribers and is seeing rapid growth as the season progresses. MLB has uploaded highlights from every game of the 2013 season as well as fan fare and much more footage.

The National Football League and National Basketball Association have been on YouTube for years with baseball being the lone straggler. This new approach will surely create much more connectivity with fans and open up a new marketplace for viewership.

“Expanding our partnership with YouTube provides another platform for extending the reach of the thousands of hours of archived baseball content in our library and for delivering live baseball games via the Internet to fans in new markets around the world,” said Kenny Gersh, Senior Vice President, Business Development for MLBAM in a statement released to the press.

Here’s a fun video posted from the Dodger’s game:

The post Major League Baseball Finds a Home on YouTube appeared first on Sports Networker.

Photo by Thomas Levinson/MLB Photos

A social media junkie’s dream, and a job every baseball fan wishes they had!

In its third season of existence, the MLB Fan Cave has taken MLB’s social media presence to a whole other level. Over 25,000 baseball fans applied this year to become a Fan Cave Dweller and live for a season in the MLB Fan Cave on 4th and Broadway in the heart of New York City.

Fan Cave Dwellers have one goal: watch every baseball game throughout the entire MLB season and document their amazing lives as Cave Dwellers across many different social media channels. The cave dwellers blog, post videos, take photos through instagram, tweet and post to Facebook everything that goes on in the cave as well as add their own baseball commentary during the games. But being all over every social media channel is not what makes the MLB Fan Cave so successful – there are a few different elements that make this a brilliant social media strategy for MLB.

The MLB Fan Cave

Real People.

Unlike the celebrity sports journalists of ESPN and SportsCenter, the members of the Fan Cave could have been you, or your neighbor, or your buddy Kyle – they were ordinary people who had to compete with thousands of applicants to become cave dwellers. These people are baseball fans just like you or me who provide their own commentary and allow you access to their amazing lives as cave dwellers. The beauty of social media is the “social” aspect of it all – these 9 cave dwellers are entirely accessible and easy to interact with.

Reality TV at its Finest

Our society loves reality T.V.: American Idol, The Voice, Survivor, The Apprentice – we can’t get enough of these shows! What better way to appeal to our love of competition and un-scripted entertainment than to make it a competition to become a member of the Fan Cave? Not only did these nine cave dwellers have to compete just to be there – they could be voted out of the Fan Cave by MLB fans at some point during the season. By the end of the season, only one will remain as the 2013 MLB Fan Cave winner. If you’re not just in it for the celebrity appearances and the wealth of baseball content, you’re in it to see who will win. And just like American Idol or any other reality T.V. show – if you’re following these cave dwellers on social media, you’re likely to begin identifying a favorite and routing for them.

A Perfect Blend of Pop Culture & Baseball

A truly skilled social media person or brand knows how to interweave their messages with pop culture. They know just what their fans and followers like and they can incorporate that into their everyday content to add some flare and interest to their social media presence. Not only does the Fan Cave bring in the biggest names in MLB, they host concerts and bring in other celebrities to interact with the cave dwellers and fans. They’ve had performances by Nas, OneRepublic, The Fray, Ziggy Marley and many more big names. According to a post on MLB.com, since the Fan Cave’s first season, they’ve had more than 400 celebrity visitors including nearly 200 current MLB players.

Ultimate MLB Access

Aside from celebrity visitors and the hilarious videos they put together with MLB players, the Fan Cave has something even more powerful at their fingertips: MLB access. This is MLB – which means that there is a wealth of old photos, old scouting reports, videos and stats at their fingertips to share with fanatical baseball fans. The newest trend in Fan Cave posts has been sharing old scouting reports on the page. Their post of Derek Jeter’s scouting report has 998 shares, 3,876 likes and 204 comments (and those numbers keep going up)!

They’re Good at Social Media.

I just have to point out the obvious here, if the cave dwellers weren’t funny and interesting we wouldn’t follow them! Part of the reason they were chosen was their social media savviness and their personalities. Their ability to gain fans and followers, create engaging and interesting content, their social media personality and ability to engage fans, and amount of content they produce are all factors in the competition to be the last Fan Cave Dweller standing (or dwelling?).

You can find out more about the MLB Fan Cave on the website: MLBFanCave.com where you’ll find videos, blogs, photos and more! You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter @MLBFanCave, Instagram (MLBFanCave) and Google+. The cave dwellers also have their own Twitter and Instagram accounts, which you can find here.

If you’re already a fan, tell us who your favorite Fan Cave Dweller is by leaving a comment. Make sure to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @SportsNetworker

The post The MLB Fan Cave appeared first on Sports Networker.

Baseball is back and it’s no surprise MLB has been all over their social media channels by engaging fans with a fresh team of MLB Fan Cave members and a large social media presence for every team.

It’s easy to have a good social media presence when you’re an MLB team with a big budget and some well-known players. But what about MiLB – you know, Minor League Baseball? Minor League stadiums and teams rely on their local community to show support and are sometimes reduced to the most grassroots levels of marketing when it comes to budget time.

That’s where social media comes in. Sports fans are already accustom to following their favorite MLB teams and players, why not their local minor league team?

Enter the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Richmond is lucky to have them – as the nearest MLB stadium is 2 hours away in Washington D.C. The Flying Squirrels are a Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and boy do they know how to connect with their audience by harnessing the power of social media! Here are some ways they connect with fans via social media.

Flying Squirrels Insider

The Flying Squirrels have their own YouTube Channel where they post a special broadcast that gives fans an inside look at the team, its players and game breakdowns. Fans who can’t go to every game but want to stay “in the know” about their local team can check out the latest videos on YouTube.

Flying Squirrels on Twitter

The Flying Squirrels have a good team of Twitter handles that help spread the word about the team.

@gosquirrels is the official team handle. It posts game updates and Flying Squirrels news.

Well.. it was looking good.. Squirrels were one strike away but Altoona ties the game in the 9th, 1-1 and now, a rain delay. #WentNutz

— Squirrels Baseball (@gosquirrels) April 17, 2013

@LazeRFS is the Twitter handle for the Richmond Flying Squirrels Radio Broadcaster. He tweets game day updates and roster moves.

Last night I introduced the term Snodgrass as a verb. 2night the definition: To dominate the competition. T-Shirts in the works.

— Jon Laaser (@LazeRFS) April 16, 2013

@tweetparney is the Twitter handle for Todd Parnell – the Vice President and COO of the Flying Squirrels. “Parney” tweets pictures, interacts with fans, and promotes the team with his quirky updates.

@gosquirrels will return home Thursday for another 7 game homestand, including 2 Fireworks, Soup Nazi, RIR Night and another education Day!!

— Parney (@tweetparney) April 12, 2013

Pinteresting…

Yep, they have a Pinterest account. They’ve got boards for RVA families, Flying Squirrels gear, Flying Squirrels players and even a special board for their mascots: Nutzy, Zinger and Parker! Their most active board is the community board they have set up for other Richmonders to pin their favorite things about Richmond.

Flying Squirrels on Facebook

Ballpark Nutz page

Not only do the Flying Squirrels have an official Facebook page for their team – they’ve started a Facebook page to build momentum and talk about something very important to the team’s future: a new stadium. The Squirrels have been rallying support for a new stadium that will be closer to downtown and accommodate more people with more seats, more suites and more concessions. They’ve done a great job enlisting fans to not only ‘like’ the page, but also engage in discussions regularly.

Nutzy the Flying Squirrel

Nutzy doesn’t have a Twitter account – but he does have a Facebook fan page! This is because the Squirrels know the best way for fans to connect with their lovable mascot is on Facebook through pictures and updates.

Should minor league teams emulate what the Flying Squirrels have done here? Yes and no. What’s important about the success of the Squirrel’s social media is that they know that their fans are diverse and they’ve created channels to reach out to each type. And that is what other minor league teams should emulate.

The post The Richmond Flying Squirrels Hit One Out of the Park on Social Media appeared first on Sports Networker.

Every first and third Mondays of the month, they hold theses chats with the hasthtag #SportJC from 8-9 EST. You can get involved by tweeting with #SportJC and answering questions posted by @SportJobChat

Here are some tweets from last night:

Whole lot of new faces tonight in #sportjc – welcome everyone!

— SportJobChat (@SportJobChat) April 23, 2013

@sportjobchat while getting a job/internship is a goal, tht can’t be the only focus going to conferences. Time to learn & connect. #sportjc

— Danielle Mayeaux (@DMayeaux18) April 23, 2013

@sportjobchat A5: Very important. Put conferences attended on your resume. Shows your initiative and passion for the industry. #SportJC

— Nick Bartlett (@NickBartlett12) April 23, 2013

Thanks for another great #sportjc hosted by @markjburns88. Look for a recap from @sportsnetworker tomorrow! Next chat – 5/6

— SportJobChat (@SportJobChat) April 23, 2013

Comment below if you attended or plan on attending another Twitter chat. You can follow us on Twitter @SportsNetworker

The post Guys at Sport Job Chat Launch #SportJC Twitter Chat appeared first on Sports Networker.

No longer do fans have to search through boring status updates, pictures of lost dogs or not funny YouTube videos. Sport lobster is just about sports and only sports.

Fans are able to:

• Access scores and results in real-time
• Share and discuss their views on anything about sports, with other fans and athletes
• Make predictions about future sporting events, and share photos and videos
• It even allows you to write articles to share your thoughts and opinions with the world.

Sport lobster enables a completely tailored experience to the users. The user can pick the sports that they follow even down to their favorite team. This new free to join social networking sire comes from two young British entrepreneurs, Andy Meikle and Arron Shepherd. They are proud of their British roots and pleased to be launching the site from London. This is a huge British breakthrough for sport and technology, in a time where most technological entrepreneurs are American.

I spoke to CO-Founder and CEO of Sports Lobster Andy Meikle about the new social networking, and asked where Sportlobster came from and what is it? Here was his answer:

Going back 16 months; I found a link on a general social network that took me to a blog about Novak Djokovic. I realised very quickly that the blog was great, but there wasn’t much of a following on the site and that’s because you’re only likely to find it by coming across it by chance. It’s then when the penny dropped, and I realised how much of a gap there is in the market for sports fans to find things of relevance easily on the internet. The experience for fans before Sportlobster was quite a lengthy and disjointed one as users would have to visit multiple sites that have different functions. For example, you may go to read news on a few sites, check scheduling elsewhere, search for multimedia, look for blogs, and post on several generic social networks. It’s a frustrating experience for a fan of sports, and even more so for fans of multiple sports!

Now, rather than having to visit multiple sites for news, predictions, videos and photos, scheduling of events, results, standings and interactions; Sportlobster consolidates all that and personalises the experience to your passions in sport. So for example, if you like tennis, Chelsea FC and Lewis Hamilton, your whole experience is based around that.

Sportlobster is a one stop shop for sports fans around the world, encompassing their entire online experience in sport, bringing it into one place and tailoring it to their preferences in sport. But why will people use it to discuss sport on, over Twitter, Facebook, or other social networks?

There are several social media platforms that people use on a daily basis including Google+, Facebook and Twitter that are generic social networks. More recently, we’ve seen a movement towards niche social networks, in particular with the re-launch of MySpace and the exponential growth of Instragram and Pinterest.

A shift is taking place from these generic social networks (and being inundated with too much content), to more specific social networks that serve a particular purpose. Sportlobster will be the social network for sports fans around the world and will revolutionise the way fans create and source sports content, and interact with others. Our plan to move these sport-related conversations to Sportlobster is already in place with the functionalities on Sportlobster. On Twitter and Facebook you cannot follow people based on their specific interests in sports; you cannot write articles and find other user articles within specific categories of sport; you cannot make a prediction on an upcoming match and be rewarded with points based on how other users predicted; you cannot add sporting events to your calendar, get standings, fixtures, final results or live scores. As we deliver all of this and much more, users will be attracted to Sportlobster not only for those reasons mentioned, but also because in the very same environment they can enter relevant discussions with people who share their interests in sport.

I have personally signed up to the site, it’s very user friendly and great fun. Its gaining lots of popularity from fans of all different sports. You can sign up to join this new global community HERE. You can manually sign up or you can use you facebook or twitter account for a faster sign up.

Comment below and make sure to follow SportsNetworker’s social media sites on Facebook and Twitter @SportsNetworker

The post Sport Lobster: Social Media Site Just for Sports Fans appeared first on Sports Networker.