The Sportsbiz Weekly Buzz is a collection of articles curated by Sports Networker’s Online Marketing Coordinator – Steve Richards 

Sports Business

Baseball, Not Football, Has the Super Salaries

“Welker makes $2.5 million a year. That’s a great haul until you consider what a worker bee like Welker would make in a baseball uniform. There always has been a crazy salary disparity between America’s pastime (baseball) and America’s obsession (pro football). But it has become so insane that Indianapolis police should be on alert this week. NFL players need to buy drums, stop showering and pitch tents outside Lucas Oil Stadium. It’s time to Occupy the Super Bowl. The can’t-miss slogan: ‘We Are the 100 Percent That Makes Less Than Vernon Wells!’”

Palace of Auburn Hills May Eliminate Half of It’s Luxury Suite Suites

“After 11 home games this season, the struggling Pistons (4-18) are averaging 12,619 fans a game, worst in the 30-team National Basketball Association.”

Sports Networking

10 Pro Tips for Writers Using Social Media

“We recently covered 10 inspiring social networks for writers that can help you extend your influence and develop your content. But what about the mainstream networks? How do you successfully raise your profile and gain a following? Six well-known authors and writers, who are experts in this type of personal branding, share their methods and suggestions on how to use social media to push yourself forward in the writing industry. Whether you’ve been using social media for a while or you’re just starting out, you might learn something new.”

Managing Your Personal Brand Via Online Presence and Reputation

An interesting and fun graphic look at how you can boast and manage your person brand in four easy-to-follow bullet points.

Sports Marketing

Lucas Oil Gets Brand Boost From Super Bowl Venue

“Any company with its name attached to the Super Bowl is about to score one of its biggest marketing bounces of the year. And none will realize a bigger victory than California-based Lucas Oil Co.”

The Super Bowl’s Real ROI

“Each year, it seems the Super Bowl gets further hyped and inflated. Witness the 7,200 fans who paid $25 just to observe Super Bowl XLVI’s Media Day on Jan. 31—an event for which NFL Network provided “nearly five hours of coverage,” to cite USA Today. Through Sunday, host city Indianapolis expects to receive up to 150,000 celebrities, corporate executives, and well-to-do football fans, with an estimated economic impact of $150 million, according to the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Assn.”

Sports Sponsorship

Engaging Audiences Through Sports Sponsorship

“A brand will enter the world of sponsorship with an objective; typically – and in the most part historically – to raise awareness. Now however, sponsorship has the ability to deliver so much more; to enhance the reputation of a brand and bring positive association to the values and core DNA which defines that brand. This potential brings with it the importance to define ‘why’ – why a brand has associated itself with a specific event or initiative.”

It’s A Shame Nesbitt Has To Go Outside Canada for Key Sponsor

“When speed skater Christine Nesbitt competed at the world sprint championships last weekend, one of her more prominent sponsors was a Dutch telecom company, Galaxy Group.

You can see them displayed here over her heart and on her left shoulder.”

Sports Sales

Luxury Suites Rule In Professional Sports Revenue

“All 137 luxury suites at Lucas Oil Stadium were sold out months before the opening kick-off for Super Bowl XLVI, according to stadium officials in Indianapolis. With a minimum reported price of $80,000 per box, that kind of money has turned luxury-suite revenue into one of the most dominant forces in sports, analysts say.” - Makes you wonder if the Pistons best move is cutting their luxury suites in half to add a restaurant.

Why More Pro Athletes are Scoring Franchises After Sports Fame

“Jamal Mashburn had everything an athlete could dream of. During his 12 years in the NBA in the 1990s and early 2000s, ‘Monster Mash’ was instrumental in turning around the Dallas Mavericks; he also set several scoring records and was even selected for the All-Star Game while playing for the New Orleans Hornets. But despite all that success, he couldn’t stop thinking about briefcases.”

Sports Social Media

Super Bowl XLVI Just Became America’s Most Tweeted Sporting Event

“Super Bowl XLVI just became America’s most tweeted sporting event after the game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants hit a record average of 12,233 tweets per second (TPS), according to Twitter.”

Wolves Control Their Own Message With Twitter

“[Kevin] Love had chosen to announce the extension via Twitter, a move that’s become more popular among athletes in recent years but is still far from the norm. In 2010, Kevin Durant announced his extension with Oklahoma City on Twitter, and C.C. Sabathia tweeted to inform the world that he’d signed a new contract with the Yankees in October. Shaquille O’Neal even announced his retirement last June via the social media site.”

Sports Media

NBC Only Good, Not Super

“NBC didn’t have a bad Super Bowl. Not by any measurement. But it could have – and should have – been better. The networks all do such a good job of covering major events like Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI that our expectations are high. Some at the network level might say too high, but I don’t think so in this case.”

U.S. Shuts 16 Sports Piracy Websites Pre-Super Bowl

“Three days before Super Bowl XLVI, U.S. prosecutors said they seized 16 websites that illegally streamed live sports and pay-per-view events over the Internet, and charged a Michigan man with running nine of those websites.”

Sports Technology

ESPN: “Mobile is the Primary Way We Reach an Audience”

“After revolutionizing the way people receive their sports information with the 24-hour network ESPN and its sister stations, Michael Bayle, VP and general manager of ESPN mobile, seeks to change it all over again.  In a keynote address at the MediaPost’s Mobile Insider Summit in Key Largo, Florida, Bayle detailed how it now considers mobile the ‘first screen,’ as almost 150,000 people access its mobile offerings at any given time.  According to Bayle, mobile is the most effective way to reach an audience “from an international standpoint.”

How The Super Bowl Is Going High Tech in 2012

“Football isn’t a high-tech sport, though many great football video games have been made for those of us not built for the real thing. This year, however, the Superbowl is going high-tech. Advertisers are tapping into social media to help promote their ads and products. And the NFL is streaming the game live for the first time ever. Even the security at Superbowl XLVI is high-tech.”

Sports Jobs

More Sports, More Tourism, More Jobs?

“The Olympic Trials of 2008 in Eugene brought $28 million in local spending to the economy, so can that amount be multiplied? A local sports tourism group in Lane County wants to give that idea a running start.”

Athletics Outfielder Michael Taylor Has An Offseason Job

“This is pretty neat.  Not as neat as the fact that Richie Hebner used to work as a grave digger in the offseason, but neat in the sense that ballplayers never actually work real jobs anymore, so it’s cool to see one who does.” - The real story is told in the linked video.

Sports Events

Eli Manning Has Taught Us To Never Underestimate His Talents Again

“I still can’t get over that throw from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham. As much as I respect the catch (it will be the greatest of Manningham’s career, no matter how long he plays), I am in awe of the throw. How did Manning make that throw? Why make that throw? Why did he pick the target of the guy with a corner in coverage and a safety flying over to crush Manningham? The 38-yard throw — which began an 88-yard, Super Bowl-winning touchdown drive that Bill Belichick will see in his nightmares — is just one more reason to never, ever question how good Eli Manning is. He will have some crappy games the rest of his career, because two or three times a year he stinks. But I ask you: What quarterback alive do you want with the ball in his hands in the last two minutes of a big game? Thought so. Eli Manning.” - Note that Peter King, possibly the best and most respected NFL analyst around, wrote the Eli Manning ballad you just read. Safe to say the younger Manning proved something Sunday night.

Stanley Banishes PGA Tour Ghosts With First Win

“One week ago, Kyle Stanley was reduced to tears after a heartbreaking collapse saw him surrender a seven-shot lead in final round of the Farmers Insurance Open. On Sunday, the American was once again in tears. But this time they were tears of joy after Stanley benefited from a similarly dramatic meltdown from Spencer Levin to seal a one-stroke win at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, Arizona.”

Is there anything we missed this week in the world of sports business? Let us know your thoughts about the Sportsbiz Weekly Buzz in the comments below and please feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

About Lewis Howes

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The Sportsbiz Weekly Buzz is a collection of articles curated by Sports Networker’s Online Marketing Coordinator – Steve Richards 

Sports Business

Dodgers Sale: Moneyball Part II

“Columbia Pictures’ Moneyball was nominated for a handful of Academy Awards on Jan. 24. At Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, across town from the studio where this box office hit about the Oakland A’s was filmed, an ongoing drama of a different kind is playing out.”

NBA: Details Emerge of League’s New Revenue Sharing Plan

“Even when the deal was finalized and the lockout lifted, the details of revenue sharing were not finalized and unclear. But now they are starting to come into focus. ”

Sports Networking

Story Telling and Your Personal Brand

“All indicators are pointing to the growing importance of storytelling in the intertwined social media, PR and advertising worlds. In fact, one could go as far as claiming that storytelling is one of the current buzz words in online and offline marketing as proven by the recent attention it has drawn from sources as varied as Hubspot, Simply Zesty, Fast Company, Social Media Today and many other quality blogs and publications. All predictions are indicating that digital storytelling is on the way up as one of the most proven and valuable tactics and techniques to engage with communities and improve the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.”

40 years after Title IX, disparities remain, UO professor and Nike exec tell law students

“In the 40th anniversary year of Title IX, the federal law intended to bring equality to men’s and women’s athletics, Peg Brand sees at least one measurement of the remaining disparity.”

Sports Marketing

Sports TV Ad Spend Grows to $10.9B in 2011

“If you build it, they will come—and with the addition of new sports networks/on demand options and sports content made available last year, the ad dollars were there to fill. National TV sports generated $10.9 billion in advertising last year, compared to $10.3 billion one year prior, according to Nielsen’s State of the Media: Year in Sports. ”

NHL Takes A Page From NFL’s Marketing Playbook

“Now the NHL follows a different path, one forged by the NFL, the behemoth when it comes to sports marketing. Instead of focusing on stars, it focuses on the game, the event. Brett Favre retired. Peyton Manning missed the season. But no one is bigger than the game. To some, evidence suggests the NHL is maturing.”

Sports Sponsorship

Sports Sponsorship: More Than Just Branding

“Ever since Kettering Town became the first English football club to host a sponsor – Kettering Tyres – across their ‘famous’ red and white shirts, in 1976, corporate sponsors have been obsessed with branding. Every sport, from snowboarding to horse riding, is full of brands trying to get the most prominent position on a racer’s helmet or the best placed advertising board on any given sports field around the world.” An interesting look at the sports sponsorship practices in Europe.

LG Tips Off 2012 Sports Campaign

“LG Electronics USA, said Wednesday it has extended its ongoing alliance with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, in a new agreement that runs through August 2015. The new pact, which includes both CBS and Turner Sports, LG Electronics will continue as an official NCAA Corporate Partner with exclusive category marketing and promotional rights related to all 89 NCAA championship events across 23 different sports. Among the included key events will be the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and NCAA Football Championships.”

Sports Sales

NFL Still Finalizing Super Bowl Seating Capacity

“The NFL is trying to avoid another super snafu. One year after hundreds of ticketed fans were left without seats at Cowboys Stadium, organizers have added only 254 temporary seats to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the Feb. 5 game between the New York Giants and New England Patriots”

Sports Dweebs Could Save Vikings Stadium

“I believe neither a racino nor pull-tabs is the best gambling answer, however. The state is missing out on collecting money from those people who will benefit the most from the Vikings staying in Minnesota. Those people, of course, are Vikings’ fans. And what do those the most avid Vikings’ fans do besides root for the purple? They play fantasy football for money, that’s what” “Dweebs” might be a harsh word – particularly since I play fantasy football – but this is an interesting take on how to raise money for the state.

Sports Social Media

CBS Fires Sports Blogger Following Twitter-based Misstep on Paterno’s Death

“As you may remember, CBS Sports wrongly announced the death of the ex-Penn State American football coach Joe Paterno – who had recently been blamed for not doing enough to report child sex abuse. As Paterno’s sons soon pointed out, the information was incorrect – although terminally ill, their father only passed away hours later.”

NBC Sports and YouTube bring the Super Bowl XLVI ads to you with YouTube Ad Blitz

“Super Bowl XLVI will be one of the biggest moments of the year for advertisers, commanding the attention of millions of Americans tuned in to watch the game. After the big plays on the field, you can join in on the action online with YouTube Ad Blitz — where you decide the best commercial of the game.”

Sports Media

USA TODAY Sports Media Group Acquires Big Lead Sports Digital Property and Fantasy Sports Ventures

“The USA TODAY Sports Media Group announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Fantasy Sports Ventures (FSV) and Big Lead Sports, the largest independent digital sports property in North America. USA TODAY’s parent company, Gannett Co. Inc., was already a significant minority shareholder of FSV and elected to complete the purchase through an acquisition of FSV’s assets.  Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.”

No Slowing Sports TV Boom

“The former HBO Sports topper [Ross Greenburg], now an independent producer, waxed poetic about the current state of televised sports in delivering the keynote speech at Wednesday’s Sports Entertainment Production Summit at the Luxe Sunset.”

Sports Technology

Apps For The Super Bowl

“Super Bowl XLVI is just around the corner, and mobile apps can help you get ready for the big game and the even bigger Super Bowl party. Whether you are intent on watching every play of the game or are planning a pigskin “par-Tay,” we have the mobile app recommendations that will get you into the end zone.”

Rawlings Launches New Web Site

“Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation today introduced its new corporate website and mobile-optimized digital platforms. The rebuilt site instantly transforms the user’s brand experience with Rawlings, its complete product portfolio with elite pro players and championship-caliber collegiate teams that promote the brand’s high-performance products at the highest levels of baseball.”

Sports Jobs

New Playbook for Post-Career Success: M.B.A. Program for Athletes Offers Off-Season Training in Economics

“In the moments before kickoff in an early-season game between the Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens, two linebackers engaged in some good-natured trash talking. The banter had nothing to do with who would win; it was about who was further behind on his homework.”

Land The Internship You’ve Always Wanted

“While the spring semester may have only just started — meaning that students are just starting to get back into the swing of classes and commitments — it’s already prime time to get a jump-start on summer internship applications.”

Sports Events

From Arrival to Kickoff, Super Bowl Week Unique to Each Player

“For Charles Woodson, it was the moment he stepped off the plane to a throng of media. For Ray Lewis, it was the reflective conversations shared with Shannon Sharpe and Rod Woodson. For Larry Fitzgerald, it was the seconds right before kickoff when the hair on his arms stood tall. No matter who you ask, no matter what Super Bowl they played in or how the score ended up, everyone who has participated in football’s biggest game seems to remember the week in a similar but unique way. So we asked eight active stars from seven different Super Bowls to walk us through the pinnacle week of their professional lives, from the moment they arrived to the final hour of their celebration. Here is the collection of their stories.”

America’s Next Olympic Star Could Be Anyone

“Michael Phelps. Missy Franklin. Jordyn Wieber. Ryan Lochte. Any of those athletes could be the defining face of the U.S. Olympic team in the run-up to the London Games. So far, though, none stands alone as “The One to Watch” — at least not according to people who make a living out of watching the Olympics.”

Is there anything we missed this week in the world of sports business? Let us know your thoughts about the Sportsbiz Weekly Buzz in the comments below and please feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

About Lewis Howes

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The Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, which has reached half way stage as I write this,  has built on the progress of previous years to establish a strong, recognizable and credible online brand. According to Sam Laird, in a recent post on the US website Mashable, the Australian Open ‘may just be the most digitally connected major sporting event of all time’. High praise indeed.

So why is the event in Melbourne attracting such accolades for its digital presence?

In my opinion, what the Australian Open is doing so well is leveraging digital assets to create deep and meaningful engagement with fans, while at the same time integrating its sponsors. Many sporting events, clubs and organizations across the globe strive to simultaneously achieve these two goals and the Grand Slam for Asia/Pacific has, arguably, pulled it off.

Fan Engagement at the Australian Open

In terms of fan engagement, the Aussie Open is actively utilizing its website, social media accounts and mobile applications.

The website is fully integrated with social media – essential for any event – and it keeps the fan abreast of pretty much everything that is going on. There is also Slamtracker, the live scoring application, Australian Open television (AOTV), with free live streaming from 7 courts, and an extensive vault of past great tennis matches. Fans also have the opportunity to opt-in for daily email updates and let’s not forget the Fan Centre.

The Fan Centre encourages fan participation and involvement in a number of innovative ways. The most notable is the Social Leaderboard where the social media activity of fans directly increases the points given to 40 popular players chosen by the Australian Open. If a fan tweets about one of these players using a hashtag that relates to the player’s name or likes content on the official Facebook page, that player receives points. As I write this, Rafael Nadal (#rafa) is ranked number 1, with a total of over 16,000 points. Overall, the number of tweets to the official hashtag (#ausopen) has reached over 110,000.

Additionally,  there is Pick Em. This competition encourages participation for daily prizes. There are also polls and trivia competitions to capture fan engagement. Another initiative creating fan involvement and fan voting is Fan of the Day, which enables Kia, the major sponsor, to take and upload photos of fans. Another practice is Caption It, which uses fan generated content to build buzz for the tournament. If that isn’t enough, fans can become ‘Fanbassadors’ and be included in the ‘On The Outer’ honor roll if they tweet a link to their blog or tag the Australian Open in one of their tweets. Popcorn Tennis (@popcorntennis) also provides fans with ‘bite-size pieces of on and off-court action’.

In social media, the official Facebook page has over 500,000 likes and a 54,000 ‘talking about this’ number, providing a 10% engagement ratio for the page. The Twitter feed (@AustralianOpen) is being covered 24 hours a day, for fans wherever they may be, and the account presently has over 67,000 followers.

In terms of sheer numbers, the Australian Open website exceeded 10 million unique visitors in 2011 and this number is likely to be surpassed in 2012.

For mobile applications, the Australian Open has free apps for the iPhone, iPad and this year, for the first time, the Android. The apps feature scores, schedules, players, an event guide, draws, news and a GPS feature to locate key points around the grounds and much more. The apps were developed by IBM. The presence of the IBM logo within the apps shows an example of sponsorship integration for an Official Partner – more of that below. In 2011, more than 700,000 fans updated or downloaded the official iPhone app.

Sponsorship Integration

Sponsors of the Australian Open are integrated both online (and in some cases offline) and, in my opinion, in a fairly unobtrusive way, which is really the key. As with any event, sponsor obligations have to be met – but  not to such an extent that the fan becomes disengaged, which would ultimately damage both the event and sponsor brands. On the website, scores are presented by IBM (technology partner), Video and Radio are presented by Rolex (watches – associate sponsor) and Tickets presented by Virgin Australia (airlines – official sponsor). All sponsors and partners also have permanent website presence at the foot of the homepage, as well as in a dedicated sponsors family section.

The ‘Open Drive’ feature, run on You Tube and from the major sponsor, Kia (motor vehicles), has returned again this year. The Open Drive is an entertaining way for fans to get to know players better through a series of questions asked while the player is driven around Melbourne in the back of a Kia vehicle. This year’s video with Nadal has already attracted over 38,000 views.  And, here’s another one with Novak Djokovic after his semi-final win vs Andy Murray.

Finally, a competition being run via Facebook, and sponsored by Jacob’s Creek, will enable a lucky fan to win a dinner with Andre Agassi. Agassi, a former Wimbledon winner, is also an ambassador for Jacob’s Creek (wine-associate sponsor), which is trying to reinforce its connections with the sport of tennis.

One thing that would probably do even more to deepen fan engagement while at the same time being highly attractive to sponsors? An Australian winner, of course. But some things just can’t be controlled through innovative digital marketing!

Have you noticed anything else that the Australian Open has done to engage their audience? Could they be doing anything better? Feel free to leave your comments below or tweet us your thoughts!

About Chris Conway

Chris is a strategic programs analyst at the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) focusing on, amongst other things, sponsorship research, analytics and acquisition. He holds a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Business (AGSM). Chris took part in the school’s exchange program by completing a semester at Stern business school, NYU where he studied sports marketing and sports economics. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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The world is changing rapidly and from now onwards the speed of that change is only going to further increase. We’re daily bombarded with thousands of images. Every photo can be worth a thousand words. But which images are the ones that stick and make a difference? Which (and whose) story is being told (and where) has almost become as important as the quality of the image. Choices about which professional images are created are increasingly made by executives, not necessarily creatives. At the same time, anyone can now take pictures. The quality of a sports photography image is no longer defined by its resolution or razor sharp focus. A picture made by a fan can travel all over the world and end up on the international front pages before you can say ‘bong’.

This post covers the changes in sports photography from the perspective of the photographers, media, sponsors, fans and athletes. Its not intended as a philosophical reflection of the value of a photograph. The digital revolution, which this blog is dedicated to, has resulted in lasting behavioral change as well as the way sports imagery is produced, distributed, and ultimately consumed. How do photographers find their audience, how do sponsors maximize their visibility, and how do athletes manage their exposure?

Photographers: Artists, Reporters or Editors?

The key application of professional sports photography is for editorial purposes; dedicated sports photographers generally work for papers, major wire agencies, or dedicated sports magazines. However, sports photography is also utilized for advertising purposes both to build a brand as well as to push a sport in a way that cannot be achieved by editorial means. Despite the fact that camera manufacturers have dramatically reduced the difficulty of focusing and nailing exposure, the photographer IS the difference between ‘just any picture’ and a great picture. Whether you’re shooting action, commercial, feature, or portrait photography the underlying image structure, composition, dodging and burning (selective lightening and darkening), gesture, color and originality of an image celebrate the true skill of a talented photographer.

One of the single most difficult aspects of being a sports photographer is to capture the “decisive moment”. It involves a deep understanding of the sport and what is newsworthy. The media are looking for news, the decisive moment, perfectly illustrating the story of that game. It’s all about the goal or the sending-off. Capturing that moment requires experience, anticipation, skill, and probably even a little bit of predicting the future.

Technology

However, in a couple of years from now, there might not be a shutter to press anymore. Some camera models are now processing “image capture” before you depress the shutter – enabling recall of prior moments even before you’ve shot the image. This technology is becoming available in consumer cameras like the new Nikon 1. According to French American photographer Vincent Laforet , @vincentlaforet, technological developments are leaning strongly towards further convergence between the photo and the film camera. Current cameras capture up to120 (!) frames per second (at an incredible resolution). Stills from video might not be good enough for usage yet, but they soon will be. Due to increases in quality and file size, it’s the storage and delivery which is now sometimes problematic. Original files are too large to even email, so Media Manager solutions are becoming more prevalent. In the near future cameras will simply be recording all the time, thus evolving the job of capturing “the moment” into editing it. There’s going to be such an incredible amount of data coming in that editor is going to become one of the most important job positions out there.

Google images and Flickr are rapidly turning great imagery into a commodity. How would you have searched for images before those platforms, or rather; were you even looking for images in the first place? Today images of professional photographers quickly find their way into a wide variety of social channels and they should think carefully about the risk of losing control over their photographs. Who actually owns these photos in social media? Some agencies like WENN own the rights to all imagery uploaded to Twitter via the TwitPics app. Creators of this unique content may be giving away their rights without even knowing this! It’s all in the small print. Kathy E Gill (@kegill) formulates an insightful answer to this rather complicated question in this great post.

On the back of digitally enhanced films like 300, the post-production of imagery is rapidly increasing in importance. 3-D photography has been around since the early 1900’s, but it’s only now that we have the applications to use the content for consumers through cinema, tv, mobile phones, tablets, etc. Another new technological option is the 360 degrees photography panoramic image, (which could also have relevance to sports). A 360 pan  of a big play in the endzone of the Superbowl would be awesome! Maybe we should be holding out until this is available.

Distribution & Global Sports Events

Pictures are distributed worldwide and no longer geographically constrained. The big agencies, such as Reuters, Associated Press, and Getty Images are dominating the photography marketplace worldwide. In sports photography access is the key. Without proper accreditation, entering and photographing at a major sports event has virtually become impossible. Getting hold of these accreditations is increasingly challenging. The question is whether that is a problem. I personally do not think so. How many photographers does it take to photograph the world’s largest sports event? The 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted exactly 943 accredited photographers from all over the world. The 2010 FIFA World Cup final was covered by 233 photographers on the pitch and an additional 128 on the tribune.

The choreography following the final whistle in a Champions League or World Cup final has become a returning comedy. Dozens of stewards run around the field holding cords in an attempt to ‘cage’ the photographers. At the same time dozens of photographers fight each other for what they believe is ‘the best place’ to shoot their shot. This system basically facilitates that the (physically) strongest photographer is allowed to shoot from ‘pole position’.

Of course I highly respect and greatly appreciate the dedication, perspective, artistic eye, and sense for news that most individual  photographers bring to their work. They’re extremely passionate about their photography and really into their sport. However, one wonders if we are approaching the point where the sheer amount of photographers becomes directly detrimental to quality of the photography. Does more really result in better? In the meantime, changes seem inevitable.

Click here for a tutorial with sports photographer Craig Golding (sponsored by Canon) or here for the Getty Images Blog which highlights a whole host of events, photographers, and shoots. In this one created last week, sports photographer Dean Moutharopoulos talks about shooting boxing.

Sponsors: “If you do not shoot, you cannot score!”

Although Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruijff was talking about soccer in this ‘Yoda-like’ quote above, his words are equally appropriate for today’s topic. Simply put:  photography that isn’t shot will never be seen. Sponsors often (also) aim for maximum exposure, and photography that remains un-shot, in many cases, equals missed opportunities.

Hiring famous or influential people to represent your products is not enough to create a deep and true connection. It’s also why sponsors use strong imagery to equate products with positive cultural and social experiences. There have been many shots that have emulated a star in their own sport from Michael Jordan’s many clutch shots to David Beckham bending in one of his legendary free-kicks. Sponsors connect their brand and /or their product(s) with events and individuals, using imagery to equate products with positive cultural and social experiences. The images we perceive take these associations out of their representational realms and make them live realities. Simply put, “If I wear the same football shoes as the world’s best player, I’ll probably be a better athlete”.

I  Heart My Sponsor

Whether it’s Jamaican Usain Bolt kissing his Puma Complete Theseus II spike at the 2008 Olympic Games, or Leo Messi kissing his adidas Adizero F50’s in the UEFA Champions League final, a well-timed, authentic image celebrating the athlete as well as a sponsor’s product can make all the difference. Research shows that strong brand imagery, in particular images of ‘celebrational athletes’ , results in the most favourable brand-associated coverage achievable.

At the world’s largest sports events photographers are usually well represented. While sponsors might not have to worry about imagery being shot, they do have to ensure the capability, structure, rights, and process to allow immediate, integrated activation of such tactical opportunities.

Measuring Results

Thoughtfully executed evaluations allow sponsors to formulate meaningful and measurable objectives. Usually such objectives would include visibility, favorability, and reach in a previously defined media sample. Such research is able to monitor a brand’s ongoing performance on a daily basis, over consecutive quarters, or year to year. It also allows them to compare their performance vs. its main competitors or its fellow sponsors.

Depending on its objectives, a brand can choose to monitor the use of photography and the impact its use has on the favorability of the coverage. Also tracking which images get used where will allow sponsors to develop the creation and distribution of their images.

Media: Destination or Distribution?

The internet is a key influence on the future of photography as we know it. Editorial photography is in the doldrums; magazine and newspaper publishing is going down. The quality, news value, or printability of an image is no longer defined by its resolution, and distribution has become at least as important as your company-owned destination. Kids rarely read magazines; instead they spend all day on their phone or ipad. Still photography is important, Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit edition proves it year after year and so does the annual Body Issue of ESPN.

Some of you might have already seen this video featuring a 1-year-old playing with an iPad. She then gets confused and disappointed when paper magazines don’t respond the same way to being tapped or slid on. “For my 1-year-old daughter, a magazine is an iPad that does not work”.

Sport Illustrated is an aggressive innovator in the tablet space, and photography is a key component of its strategy. As this post by Lauren Indvik (@laureni) for mashable points out, Sports Illustrated has produced a digital edition for the iPad every week since it debuted last June, produces daily content for www.si.com, and created “SI Snapshot” , a chrome app delivering the best sports pictures of the day – every day. At Time they certainly realize that great photography has the ability to ignite conversations (and drive sales). Terry McDonell (@SI_TMcDonell), the editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group explains; “We used to do 3,500 pages per year. Now we do more than 100,000 pages, maybe 200,000 if you count different aspect ratios and slideshows as pages. Digital now accounts for 30% of overall revenue. Print generates 55%, and other marketing efforts bring in 15%”. Here’s another Mashable post by Lauren on Sports illustrated.

Too Slow?

Here’s an interesting post on invocus by Brent Treworgy on how social media is changing the media landscape. His point of view is that if consumers are finding daily newspapers too slow for their liking, monthly sports magazines seem positively irrelevant!

Social media, and Twitter in particular, has had an enormous impact on sports coverage over the past five years. It’s hard to talk about breaking news on Twitter without mentioning Captain Sully and his heroic landing on the Hudson River. Twitter had the news – and the pictures – before any of the major news outlets started reporting what transpired. It brought Twitter into the spotlight as a legitimate news source. Twitter has certainly brought sports figures, those who cover them, and consumers all closer together, and opened up new channels of communication between them. While it is true that print coverage of sports has continued to suffer, social media has also allowed new business models to emerge.

Gone are the days of refreshing ESPN.com’s front page during half time of the Super Bowl. For both reporting and photojournalism there are two ways to get ahead: be the first or be the best. For most, it’s easier to be first. To break a story, a photographer has to deliver his pictures the instant they’re shot. However before distributing imagery or information you learned on Twitter – before you hit RT – check the source of the story before you become part of the problem.

Fans: You love to watch, don’t you?

Fans love autographs, re-tweets, and having their pictures taken with their favourite athletes. They literally fall over themselves to take a picture with their idol, take a moment in the middle of the coin toss or even invite the coach of the opposing team to snap their photograph . Photography is everywhere and fans are sharing 24/7.

Fans have become an important source of imagery. According to a study by Panasonic, a stunning 175 million minutes of video from the 2012 Games will be captured by fans, equal to 334 years of footage. It estimates fans will snap 466 million photos of athletes and events in London! These numbers imply that each of the 8.8 million ticket-holding Olympic fans will take 53 photographs and about 20 minutes of video.

Pretty, Partying, Planking, Police & Playboy

Athlete photography simply fascinates fans– whether it’s the top 20 of most embarrassing athletes pictures, a gallery of the 20 prettiest female athletes, athletes planking, athletes partying, pictures shot by playboy or even the police. Today every single shot is only one quick click away.

Corporate technology is now firmly in the hands of consumers. Altering imagery has become as easy as photographing itself. However the main change is not technical, it’s sociological. It’s not about the tools that have become available to all, it’s about consumer behavior that has fundamentally changed. The democratization of images has resulted in self-controlled broadcast. As an example, here’s a post by @amymaeelliott featuring 10 stunning sport photographs taken on an i-phone (some of the iphone apps for image creation are excellent) and here are 8 tips for taking better sports pictures by @dakdillon.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup

The power of the network has turned the audience you reach into the people who are reached by the people who are reached by the people you reach (ehm, please do feel free to read that sentence once again…). A typical example is that despite the small army of 948 officially accredited FIFA World Cup photographers, the most memorable image of last year’s tournament was a viral image created by an unnamed fan. Within hours of England’s disastrous 4-1 2010 FIFA World Cup loss against Germany, the internet was awash with references to a controversial referee decision, including one doctored image featuring a white line showing just how far the ball had made it past the goal posts.

These internet memes are a relatively new phenomenon, often an (altered) photograph (video, site, phrase or word). Internet memes will move from person to person via social networking websites, blogs, news sources and other web-based services. Internet memes can spread very rapidly by ‘word-of-mouse’, sometimes reaching world-wide popularity and vanishing in a few days. Incidents surrounding major sports event have proven an exceptionally rich inspiration source for memes.

Athletes & Sports Photography:  Trick, Treat or Thread?

People love looking at attractive people and fans love looking at (and photographing) attractive athletes. Looks matter. With the available research it’s fair to conclude that attractive athletes make significantly more money than lesser attractive colleagues. According to this post on ABCNews by @ewencallaway better-looking sportsmen are even more likely to win matches!

While some (in most cases most) of an athlete’s income is generated by his or her athletic skills, a significant percentage of their money comes from being a public figure. Many people consider athletes’ brands. As such, athletes are not only representing themselves but also their school, team, club, league, or sponsor(s). Most athletes appreciate that most fans are genuinely interested in what is going on in their lives. Clearly none of today’s well-known athletes would be where they are without cameras.

Paparazzi

However, paparazzi are increasingly turning their attention to athletes. ESPN quotes Gary Morgan, the CEO of Splash, a paparazzi agency that employs upwards of 2,000 photographers worldwide, “Sports stars now are really the big Hollywood actors and actresses, they’re the new celebrities.” NFL prospect Colt McCoy already is keenly aware that “you got to be on your guard all the time, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, just be smart.” NASCAR’s four-time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson, knows the tabloid world is training its eye on athletes and the “magnifying glass is intensifying in the sports world.” Athletes surely do have the right to a private life too, don’t they?

Privacy?

A survey conducted by PR Week in the UK  in September 2010 amongst 3,000 respondents showed that, in the eyes of the public, celebrities who make money from their private lives have fewer rights to privacy. 36% of respondents believed the public had the right to know about a sports star’s private life. An additional 49% (85%!) feels the public has the right to know about a sports star’s private life if “it” was something that undermined their sports performance. In addition, 68% said celebrities do not have the same rights to privacy in the future if they made money by revealing details of their private lives to the media.

That’s probably why these 2,000 paparazzi have jobs! But hey, wait a second, who’ll need paparazzi anyway?! With every second fan feeling entitled to photograph an athlete around the clock, paparazzi might quickly become obsolete. Athletes are not superhuman and – with a camera density of close to 100% – every athlete will (eventually or inevitably) be photographed under ‘sub-optimal circumstances’. As one of the world’s most famous cases, here’s a link to the NBC coverage of the Micheal Phelps ‘Bong picture’.

 Watch & Learn

Not only pictures shot by fans and paparazzi are making headlines, also pictures taken by athletes such as: Brett Favre, Martellus Bennett, Dorell Wright, George Hill, Greg Oden, Sean Salisbury, Grady Sizemore, Chris Cooley, Mark Ingram, Ron Artest or Ray Edwards are creating news. It’s fair to assume their pictures were not intended for mass publication or large scale distribution.

In some of the above cases the pictures were taken years ago and shared (leaked) by trusted contacts. Nobody needs to be taught not to publicize naked pictures. Not everybody is aware of hackers stealing your private images though. According to LA Late, a man was arrested early October 2011 for committing a digital breach of many celebrities’ mobile and computing devices to steal photos and then leak them online. Officials confirmed that the pictures were being looted from traditional devices like laptops and computers, not just mobile devices like cell phones.

In retrospect, no matter how these images got out, an athlete’s assumption that his (or her) private pictures will remain unseen by the common public has clearly been proven mildly naive. Should we all agree that from now onwards a “momentary lack of judgment” and “naivety about the Internet” are no longer valid excuses? Athletes can read too and should definitely be learning from the experience of others in sports photography.   Therefore the most sensible guidance to (aspiring) athletes that do not want to get “caught with their pants down” remains that the images that you do not want seen should probably never be shot.

What are your thoughts on sports photography today and social media’s impact?  Let us know in the comments below and please feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Special thanks to Brendan Kemp, aka @bjnkemp.

About Thomas van Schaik

Thomas studied Communications in Amsterdam and has been working in international sports for over 15 years. He started his professional career at the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe and moved to Dutch professional soccer champions PSV Eindhoven in 1997. In 2001 he moved to Southern Germany to join Adidas. He's filled a variety of roles with the sporting goods brand, including 'Head of Global PR'. In 2011 he moved into the role of Global Brand Director.

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Being a social media marketer is like being a covert spy on a mission. On most missions a spy is pursuing a target and has a cover ID. To gain the target’s trust the agent sits back, listens, and studies the target for the perfect opportunity to engage them. By being patient and studying their target, a spy can collect valuable information.

As a social media marketer, my job is similar to being a spy. On each project my goal is to gain trust. Before I can I need to learn everything I can about them. Here are tips to becoming an expert social media spy.

1. Find Your Target

This first step is the leg work. You need to identify what community you want to target. This could range anywhere from a group on LinkedIn to a particular blog that focuses on a specific topic.

2. Listen

Now that you figured out what community you are targeting, it is time to start your stake out. This can be a lengthy process so you might want to get the snacks ready. But I assure you that it will be time well spent. Listening allows you to understand the dynamics of a community and follow the discussion that takes places. Listening allows you to gather information on who the influential contributors are, what they find interesting, and ultimately what you could possibly contribute with.

a. Setup Listening Devices

A spy can’t be everywhere at once and neither can you. Managing and keeping track of multiple communities or networks can be tough and extremely time consuming. The two most useful tools to help you listen are:

· Google Reader

· Tweet Deck

These “listening posts” can make it very easy to receive updates from multiple sources without having to visit them individually.

3. Engage the Community

A time will come when you feel comfortable becoming an active community member. This could happen in the following ways:

· Answering questions
· Commenting on articles
· Responding to comments
· Writing an interesting blog post on a specific topic

Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst with Blue Fountain Media, an ecommerce design and development company in New York City. Photo by Tony the Misfit

About Dmitriy Gamarnik

www.bluefountainmedia.com Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst for Blue Fountain Media. He is passionate about two things – sports and marketing. Sports have been a big part of Dmitriy’s life since he learned to crawl. When he isn’t keeping up with the industry and providing top notch analysis in New York City, he works on his golf swing and coaches basketball in his home town of Plainsboro, NJ.

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Recently I went to China to play beach volleyball. While I was there I noticed the Chinese approach to marketing clothes, products, and services was very aggressive — products and services were constantly ‘in your face’. 

The supermarkets in particular were particularly fascinating – aisles upon aisles of products and signage,consumers hit with marketing messages when they least expected it. So much so I felt overwhelmed by all of the advertising, and anytime I ventured into a commercial area I felt a real urgency to get out of there asap. Lately this is how I have also felt in a number of social media networks I have joined. The overload of advertising messages and spam is encouraging me to disengage more often. Rather than having to deal with spam, I am culling a large number of followers or disconnecting from people who have ‘signed me up’ to marketing material without my consent.

In David Meerman Scott’s book ‘The New Rules of PR & Marketing’ he talks about traditional marketing methods versus the internet or social media marketing methods. Traditional marketing interrupts a consumer to get the message through, whereas social media marketing or internet marketing primarily relies on the consumer connecting first with that product so then they can be marketed to.

It is important to remember social media networks are channels that most consumers initially became part of because they wanted to share information about themselves or connect with their friends easier, not because they agreed to be advertised to. (Well maybe not consciously anyway with the exception of channels specifically set up to deliver offers or discounts on products ie. Scoopon, Ebay.) Personal pages or business profiles filled with constant advertising messages risk alienation of their target market, especially if they aren’t balanced with more socially oriented content. If you are going to sell to your followers, fans, or friends it is better to let them know in the beginning so they don’t disconnect from you/your business when they realize they have been tricked into a marketing funnel.

The repetition of sales type copy, one-sided messages or social media users added to pages or newsletters that they didn’t consent to is spamming, and abuse of a social media network, and can see your company banned from that particular network.

Although everyone can probably be found guilty of self-promotion at times, if you continuously over-saturate your market you risk cheapening the perceived value of your product. Or increase the possibility people will get so sick of hearing about your product  they will go out of their way to NOT purchase it.

Building a brand effectively involves repeating your message regularly, in the best advertising channels that will reach your target market to ensure the message gets through to the consumers. On social media networks it is vital for any company or business to genuinely engage with their followers, otherwise you haven’t grasped the concept of ‘social media’. Building genuine sales leads is often dependent on establishing genuine relationships with people so that when you do want to sell to them, they already trust you (and therefore more likely to listen to your sales copy!)

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About Claire Kelly

Claire Kelly is a freelance writer, communications consultant and Australian beach volleyball player based on the Gold Coast, Australia. Experienced in social media marketing, conducting interviews, ghostwriting, editing, generating publicity and photography, Claire is passionate about about helping athletes and businesses grow through the power of the media and the internet. Follow Claire on Twitter @clairelkelly

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Professional sport teams each have fans that not only live in within arena zip code, but there are others who live in other states and even in other countries.  Many of these fans have never been able to be communicated with by their favorite team…until now.  The next question is not, “Why should I care,” but instead, “How can I capitalize on this market for additional revenue for our sports franchise?”

On the surface this photo above looks like a pretty typical fan at a baseball game holding up a baseball. Average photo except this is a picture of my brother wearing an Atlanta Braves jersey, at a Los Angeles Dodgers home game with a ball tossed to him by the Braves first baseman, Freddie Freeman. (click the link to be sure to follow Freeman on Twitter)

I most recently learned that the reason my family went to sooo many Dodgers’ games was because we use to have season tickets! I still have no explanation for why we had a family member stray to support an East Coast team. All I do know is that his favorite player is Chipper Jones who still makes my brother very excited about baseball. (click the link to follow Jones on Twitter)

How does a boy on the west coast gets his Atlanta Braves fix?  Scores are pushed to his cell phone regularly. He can check for instant updates on scores and batting percentages online. His favorite players also happen to be on Twitter. Finally, he posts comments and updates to his Facebook wall throughout the season to ignite conversation among friends and fans. 

This is just the beginning of the potential.

With the increase in teams adapting to a more social and digital realm, being able to get more involved from a farther distance is becoming more accessible and interactive.

Through the use of social and digital media integration as a marketing platform, sport teams and athletes can now tap into resources previously unavailable to them.  Thus, allowing teams to not only maximize their current market, but reaching outside their arena too.

Role of Social and Digital Media

• Not only can you maximize the space within the arena, but now have the opportunity to create your own digital content in the US, Europe, Canada, etc.
• Sponsoring companies now have a benefit for not only their local stores near the arena, but able to be a supportive element in addition to increased brand recognition for national locations too.
• Community Relation’s efforts can be expanded and driven with greater support and reach through the social media channels; providing a greater resource to reach a broader audience.
• Global merchandise sales.
• Must stop location for out of town visitors.
• Sponsorship activation across boarders
• With more and more professional athletes becoming more involved with social media personally, the fans are then able to follow a more inside look into their lives. It allows the personal space athletes enjoy, and the access the fans cherish for a lifetime.

 As sport organizations become more in tune with the opportunities available to capitalize and maximize their current marketing and revenue efforts, the creative uses of social and digital media will continue to increase substantially.

What are some other opportunities a sports franchise might have in tapping into fans outside their zip code?

About Kristen Sonsma

Kristen Sonsma has spent most of her sports career in ticket sales with experience in the AFL, MLS, and NHL. Connect with her on LinkedIn or on Twitter

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Most everyone loves tip sheets. They’re easy to read, they don’t take more than a few moments to complete, and most often, they’re fun to read. If you’re an athlete embarking on your post-pro career or any other sports-related executive, a tip sheet, or a series of tip sheets, is a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Here’s a tip sheet on how to write your own tip sheet. You can easily write a simple tip sheet to post on your website, blog, or social media sites.

1. Use a highly specific topic to center your tip sheet around. “Top 10 Tips on How to Lose 10 Pounds” is better than “How to Lose Weight.”

2.  Determine the purpose of the tip sheet. What do you want to use it for? To gather names? Market to prospective customers? To educate your current clients? A clear purpose will help you keep focused on the subject matter.

3.  Keep your tip sheet consistent with the tone of your website and blog. If your writing is serious, don’t try humor in a tip sheet. If your website has a casual tone, don’t write a deadly serious tip sheet.

4. Create short, bulleted lists that appeal to media. Print publications and t.v. stations love short bulleted lists because they’re ready-made and don’t require editing.

5.  Keep your tip sheet to no more than 12 items. More than that and you’ll lose your readers quickly.

6.  Use numerals instead of spelling out numbers in your headline. Example: Use 10 Tips for… not Ten Tips for…

7.  Write for humans, not for the search engines. Your readers are human and although keywords are important, don’t stuff your tip sheet with non-essential keywords.

8.  Use verbs in your tips. Action words tell your readers exactly what to do, eg: “Invest in gold with these 7 hot tips” or “Develop your business model by leveraging expert advice.”

9.  Write a series of tip sheets on one topic. Example: Motivation – 5 Tips to Stay Motivated When you Work Alone, 10 Tips to Revive Yourself on Emotional “Dip” Days, 7 Ways to Motivate other Self-Bossers.”

10. Publicize your books or reports with complementary tip sheets. Tip sheets are perfect instruments to draw attention to items you sell. It doesn’t give away all your information; it simply provides a “teaser” to make your readers thirsty for more.

If you’ve never written a tip sheet, use the tips above to sharpen your writing skills, gain public exposure, and establish yourself as an expert.

About Michelle Hill

Michelle Hill, the Strong Copy Quarterback for Winning Proof, is a sports and fitness copywriter. My mission is to help pro athletes, coaches, and sports agents increase their success score in their entrepreneurial endeavors with my writing expertise and creative turn of mind.I write website content, client letters, media pitch letters, sponsorship proposals, and brochures for sports-related companies. www.winningproof.com

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Today, every sports organization has a digital team that’s in charge of the upkeep and management of the teams digital assets. From the articles that go up on the website daily, to the Tweets and Facebook updates that are shared with fans, a teams digital presence has grown from just banner ads and email blasts to fan interactions and real-time content. Still, although every sports organization has a digital team in place, not all are making an impact with their efforts.

5 Questions To Ask

So how do you know if you are doing a good job? While it would be convenient if there were some sort of grading scale where A’s and B’s were easy to distinguish, instead we have to develop our own scale of what is considered ‘passing’ and what is ‘failing.

Here are 5 questions that every digital team should ask themselves in no particular order:

1. What ‘brand’ do I want to present versus what people actually think of my brand?

Fundamental to any digital effort is the question of what the main focus will be in regards to representation of the teams ‘brand.’ By having a clear idea of what ‘brand’ you would like to present as well as what people actually think of your brand currently will help you determine what areas need work. Without knowing this, it’s like trying to build a bridge without knowing how far the distance is between the two sides.

2. Do I know what people are saying about us?

A popular catch phrase in the mid 80′s, GI-Joe’s “Knowing is half the battle” PSA is still very relevant. With the digital space become an ever growing collection of conversations and ideas, sports teams need to make sure that they are ‘listening in’ on what their community is saying. A great example of brands that are benefiting from listening in on what their ‘community’ is saying include BestBuy, ComCast and Whole Foods.

3. Is everyone on the same page?

Having a set goal is great, but unless everyone is working toward that same goal, reaching it will be twice as hard. Similar to the ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ motto, teams need to make sure that everyone involved has a clear understanding of what the goal is and more importantly, why. Too often are individuals asked to do something without having an understanding of why. By educating someone on why they need to do something or why something is done a certain way, you create an environment where everyone feels like they are part of something important.

4. Do we offer a unique experience?

Having a digital presence not only means putting out content and engaging fans, but offering them something unique. For example, putting out last nights box score and a recap of what happened is good, but what’s to stop a fan from going to ESPN or Yahoo! Sports for the same content? Sports teams need to focus on providing fans with exclusive content and the ‘can’t get anywhere else’ opportunities.

5. Would I share the content we create?

A key part that many of us forget to ask ourselves about the content that we create and publish is whether we would actually share it with others. When it comes to content development, we often forget to put ourselves in the shoes of the fan or consumer.With the digital space, content that is ‘share’ worthy helps to grow and further a brands reach and influence. As a rule of thumb, digital teams need to be the biggest critic of their own work.

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About Joseph Yi

Joseph is the Social Media & Marketing Solutions Manger at GAGA Sports & Entertainment where he works with professional sports teams, including the Lakers, Clippers, and San Francisco 49ers, where he develops engaging content as well as social media and digital strategies to help teams better understand and engage their fans. Read more from Joseph and follow him on Twitter.

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On Saturday, social media newbie Howard Stern created quite a stir when he decided to offer impromptu running commentary on his Twitter account during an HBO airing of his autobiographical film ‘Private Parts’.

His tweets provided behind-the-scenes insight, his thoughts regarding scenes and personalities, as well as banter with his fans. The King of All Media proved once again that he “gets it” when using a broadcast medium, while innovating social media a little bit along the way.

The following day, he did the same thing by providing real-time commentary during the Grammy Awards and communicating directly with fans. His interaction and witty banter on both days was a hit and drew widespread praise. And there is no reason this can’t be a lesson for the sports world.

Imagine if a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins or Washington Capitals, ideally Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin, were live on Twitter during their recent airing of HBO’s 24/7 leading up to their Winter Classic matchup. Or if one of the Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers players or executives did the same during a replay airing of Super Bowl XLV on the NFL Network?

While these are examples of missed opportunities, there are a number of chances for a sports franchise to take advantage of.Perhaps a player or executive can give running commentary during an upcoming spring training game.

Or an NBA executive or team executive can provide insight during the upcoming NBA All Star Game.

March Madness is around the corner. How cool would it be if a Sports Information Director shed their perceived role as gatekeeper and instead acted as they should, by providing information and offering running commentary while their team battles to move on tin the tourney?

Why can’t a MLB, NHL or NBA team can’t do something similar during an otherwise innocuous regular season game. If league rules get in the way, then maybe they should be re-examined, or a team can get creative. Have a scout or someone else not on site, like a prospect or injured player, provide the commentary. Or wait for a road game, when most executives stay in their home city.

There will likely be fans and writers who already provide their own tweets during these upcoming sporting events, but the opportunity to communicate directly with someone associated with the event or franchise elevates that communication while strengthening the bond with their fans.

A little extra effort can go a long way, and we’ve seen so far that there are few in the sports world, both individually and collectively, that have truly grasped the new media way of thinking and how to utilize this to their advantage.

Well, the King of All Media, Howard Stern has provided a lesson. Now it is up to sports teams to not get hung up on the sometimes controversial messenger and instead take what he successfully executed and use that information for their own good.

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About Ron Matejko

Ron Matejko is the President of Phoenix, Arizona-based MVP Media, an award winning digital publishing company. Visit the MVP website at www.mvptoday.com. Contact Ron by email at ron@mvptoday.com. Let’s connect on LinkedIn or on Twitter @mvp_media.

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