Steve Nash

Top Twitter Athlete of 2010

by |December 21st, 2010

In 2010, we’ve seen professional athletes come a long way in social media, and perhaps there’s no better platform as evidence of this than Twitter. The amount of engagement in the last year going on in the space has been phenomenal but after doing polls on the top sports professionals and top sports resources of 2010, we were curious to see who you thought the top athlete on twitter was. For more information how each athlete has ‘won’ using Twitter, read below the fold. Voting will end on next Monday and we’ll announce all the winners shortly after!

The Top Athlete on Twitter in 2010

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About Sam Chan

Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.

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Top Brands Dive into Sports Sponsorships

by |August 13th, 2010

We have teamed up with Ben Sturner and his extraordinary crew at Leverage Agency to bring you the top five movers and shakers each week in the world of sports sponsorships and marketing.

American Eagle’s Sponsorship Program Takes Flight
Joining the growing number of apparel brands sponsoring to build visibility, gain differentiation and drive retail traffic, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. is expanding its use of the medium. Looking to make a stronger connection with its 15-to-25-year-old target, AEO recently announced a three-year partnership with collegiate athletics’ Big East Conference, around which it will present the men’s and women’s basketball championships.

Munich 2018 bid announces Allianz as new partner
Global financial services provider Allianz was yesterday unveiled as the latest partner to support Munich’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018.
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About Ben Sturner

Ben Sturner is the Founder and CEO of Leverage Agency, one of the most respected, innovative, resourceful and ambitious sports and entertainment branding sponsorship agencies on Madison Avenue. Sturner has taken his multi-million dollar business from a small start-up in his New York City apartment to a premiere agency that has secured deals for clients including: Jimmy Kimmel Live, AVP Pro Beach Volleyball, KFC, Gillette, Progressive Insurance, Southwest Airlines, Reebok, Comcast, Anheuser Busch, Fremantle Media, Mark Burnett Productions and NBC’s Prime Time Celebrity Apprentice, Reveille, Radical Media, as well as other top-tier brands. Ben has been named NYC Entrepreneur of the month in TrueNYC.com and has been interviewed and featured on ESPN, NBC, CNBC, USA TODAY and WALL STREET JOURNAL as an expert in sports and entertainment sponsorship.

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Sports Organizations Enter Political Fray & PR Battle

by |May 19th, 2010

In the last weeks I’ve thought a lot about a hot button issue that began with a political decision, yet has touched sports organizations from the National Basketball League to Major League Baseball…or should I say that they hit on the topic by no choice of their own.

As if the Arizona Immigration Law SB 1070 2010 needed more steam, the topic of immigration has jumped to Page One of several sports searches because professional organizations and athletes have either voiced opinions or taken action to show dissatisfaction for the legislation.

The law, which will require police to verify a person’s immigration status if there’s “reasonable suspicion” that he/she is in the United States illegally, is scheduled to take affect in July.

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About Gail Sideman

Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.

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Sports Debate: What Athletes Should Be Using Social Media?

by |March 8th, 2010

New York Jets vs Jacksonville Jaguars Military CeremonyQuestion: Who can benefit more from social media: small-time or big-time athletes?

Ryan: My initial reaction is small time athletes and big-time athletes once their career is in a decline. I will start with the argument for small-time athletes. Upper echelon and mainstream athletes already have significant followings. Many have endorsement deals, sell tons of merchandise, etc. Why do we like certain athletes? Because they’re A) really good at what they do. B) something about their personal life, approach, style, etc. resonates with us.

Big-time athletes have two big advantages: 1) They’re better players. 2) This enables them to be on television more, do more interviews and enable the fans to get more insight into their personality. On both accounts, it’s easier to “like” the more mainstream athlete. Social media helps level the second playing field. Dwayne Wade is always going to be a better basketball player than Charlie Villanueva, but now that Charlie has a presence on Twitter fans get significantly more opportunities to witness his personality in action and grow their affinity for him as a person.

Thoughts?

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About Ryan Stephens

Ryan is an Associate Media Analyst at Sports Media Challenge where he helps champion social media strategies for sports, lifestyle and entertainment brands. In his spare time he serves as a social media consultant who is passionate about the power of web 2.0 and its ability to cultivate conversations, build relationships and spread of ideas. Feel free to leave your thoughts on his article in the comments section below, connect with him on his blog at Ryan Stephens Marketing or on Twitter @ryanstephens, and read the rest of his bio here.

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Social Media Report Card – Steve Nash

by |January 13th, 2010

Keith Allison - Nash 02In November 2009, I introduced a series of articles I called ‘Social Media Report Card,’ where I graded each of the four major sports leagues – NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB – on their social media presence. I made a point of being harsh. In particular, I criticized each of the leagues for only utilizing the major platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) and not adopting some of the emerging platforms (Tumblr, Dailybooth, and Ustream), as well as for not interacting enough with the fans. The series received a lot of positive feedback, so I’ve decided to continue with my ‘Social Media Report Cards,’ this time focusing on individual athletes.

I chose to start with Steve Nash for a few reasons. First, Nash is one of my favorite athletes from any sport right now, which is saying a lot since I am typically a hometown fan (Phillies, Eagles, Sixers). Second, he has always been incredibly entertaining to watch on the court, and has also done some really cool and fun stuff off the court. Third, I think he is one of the most underrated social media users in the sports world. So without further ado, here we go!

Visibility (B+)

Steve Nash might have joined Twitter because of his former teammate, and social media rock star Shaquille O’Neal (@The_Real_Shaq & @The_Real_Nash), but he has fully embraced it and created a really great presence. He has more than 110,000 followers. Nash is also on Facebook, with over 575,000 fans. And to complete the trifecta, he has a YouTube account where he has racked up more than 630,000 total upload views. Before all of these, Nash was challenging fans to competitions (e.g. most free throws in a minute, staring contest) on Baron Davis’ social network, I Beat You. While I haven’t seen him go live on Ustream or snap photos on DailyBooth, Nash has embraced social media across a variety of platforms.

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About Sam Taggart

Sam is a Creative Strategist for VaynerMedia, a social media agency based in New York City. Sam previously worked as an Account Executive for the New York Jets as well as the New Jersey Nets and spent time working with former NBA player Jalen Rose as well as NFL safety Kerry Rhodes. He now focuses on creative strategy across VaynerMedia's portfolio. You can follow Sam at http://twitter.com/gosam & visit VaynerMedia at http://www.vaynermedia.com.

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