A week ago, a British sports commentator was fired because of a sexist comment made when he believed the microphone to be off. The story was widely covered around the world and shows that being a sports commentator comes with its own set of challenges and responsibilities. Fortunately the profession also offers some very unique opportunities. While some of the best sports commentators are genuinely admired and appreciated for the drama, humor and passion they bring to the game, the very best of them are simply never forgotten!
What defines great sports commentary? Simply sharing your insights and knowing when to shut-up are clearly not good enough. Truly memorable commentary, the kind that firmly engraves itself in our collective memory, can only stands out because when the commentator is as passionate about the game as the audience itself. [click to continue…]
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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2010 was a big year in the world of sports and social media, as leagues, teams, individual athletes, and sports fans alike began to truly understand and harness the power of social platforms. For me, 2010 was the year when social media went mainstream in the world of sports. There were many highlights, too many to name. But when I thought back on this year, these five moments stood out (in chronological order): [click to continue…]
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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Last week former tennis star and current broadcast analyst, John McEnroe, was right when he said that the three-day, 11-hour record-blasting Wimbledon match between John Isner of the United States and Nicolas Mahut of France was “the greatest advertisement for our sport.”
The event lasted 186 games and broke nearly every Wimbledon and Grand Slam record each of the three days it was played. Officiating was near pristine. Even the head lines judge was wowed by the competition.
Change channels to World Cup soccer where referees became the story. Players, coaches and analysts seemed to question calls at every turn. Fans, particularly in the United States where soccer popularity remains infantile, have been outraged. Video replay isn’t used and officials do not have to explain their calls as in the National Football League and other professional sports with which we’re more familiar. In addition, former professional soccer player Alexi Lalas said on SportsCenter that FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), international soccer’s governing body, believes that controversy is good for soccer because it keeps the game in peoples’ discussions. [click to continue…]
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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There is a lot of drama on and off the pitch at this year’s World Cup, and the following nine stories are some that have managed to make the headlines so far.
France’s Saga
How do you go from last World Cup’s runner-up to failing to win a game in this one? Ask France, who decided to focus on playing out a soap opera off the field instead of focusing on Uruguay, Mexico, and South Africa. There are several interwoven conflicts that make this situation complicated and so severe that French striker Thierry Henry will meet with France’s president this week to discuss the collapse in South Africa. The saga in a nutshell: France’s coach Raymond Domenech expels Nicolas Anelka from the team after a verbal altercation at halftime of game, players defend Anelka by refusing to train in preparation for their game against South Africa (which is like not taking batting practice before Game 7 of the World Series), cue comments from former French star Zenedine Zidane and cap the episode with a deflating loss to South Africa and you have a legitimate “téléroman”.
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Last Friday, World Cup soccer began with the biggest buzz I’ve every heard when soccer was the lead topic. Game chat didn’t last long, however. It was drowned out by another kind of buzz.
If you never heard of a vuvuzela before, you’ve likely heard and/or read a lot about it since the first ball was kicked in this little soccer tournament. Tweets are all abuzz about the noise and even of tourney contingents are speaking out about the incessant bee-sounding noise made by fans with the horn-shaped instruments.
Haven’t heard the din of a vuvuzela? There are reportedly close to a dozen vuvuzelaapps, the most popular being “Vuvuzela 2010” and “iVuvuzela” which has been downloaded more than 750,000 times already.
Some have called the horns’ sound bothersome, others want them banned (which they will not be) and South Africa calls it a symbol of its brand of football.
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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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June 11th 2010. I’ve been counting down to this day for what seems like an ice age! For those of you who may not be aware, (if that’s possible) today is start of the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa. This is the first tournament held in the continent of Africa and promises to be special both on and off the pitch.
The first World Cup was in 1930 and since then it has grown to become one of world’s largest sporting events, bringing people from all different corners of the world together and giving them to opportunity to interact and connect. The digital age has opened up many new ways to connect with fans across the globe and also show your passion and love for the game of football, and your team. In this article I’m going to show you a few tools/apps/websites that I hope will add something to your World Cup experience. [click to continue…]
Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14
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Following on from my last article, The World Cup Brings Big Opportunities Brands, I’d like to keep the focus on the World Cup and highlight another great marketing campaign revolving around the tournament.
Last week I had the opportunity to catch up with a few members of the team from 1000heads, a word of mouth agency here in London, and one of the (many) things we spoke about was their 32 Dishes campaign.
For this campaign, 1000heads teamed up with freesat to help spread the message that they will be broadcasting the World Cup in HD across the UK.
To kick start some intrigue, 32 satellite dishes were installed around the UK in unexpected places, from buildings and boats to bikes and trees. [click to continue…]
Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14
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It’s an exciting time to be a sports fan. The NHL and NBA Playoffs are approaching their climax, the World Cup starting, and the MLB season in full bloom, it’s hard to keep on top of it all. I have composed a list of my personal favorite mobile applications so that you can be up to date on the road. Please feel free to let me know any great apps I may have missed out on.
1. NHL Ice Time
Platforms: BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
NHL Ice Time is the official app from the National Hockey League and it is absolutely gorgeous, especially on the iPad. In addition to live scores standings, and the most extensive stat profiles of any hockey app I’ve used, it also has game photos, video highlights, and a ice tracker to show shots, goals, penalties, hits and saves on a virtual hockey rink, so for hockey geeks, this is your chance to show Don Cherry up. There is also an option for a premium version which includes my favourite feature: live radio feeds for both the home and away feeds. [click to continue…]
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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The Sports Executives Association (SEA) is excited to host its first live networking event June 24th in New York City. This inaugural, members only, event will be hosted by PlayBeautiful, an interactive, community-driven pop-up venue is celebrating the 2010 FIFA World Cup for 30 days in NYC.
They will be featuring match viewing parties, player appearances, demonstrations and private events including our SEA networking meet-up. PlayBeautiful’s main location at Openhouse Gallery will feature an indoor mini-stadium modeled after Soccer City in Johnannesberg, South Africa.
Be there, Thursday, June 24th from 6-9 p.m. for the chance to network with other SEA members in person. There will be appetizers, cash bar and exciting opportunities to connect in this unique World Cup venue.
If you are not yet a member of the SEA but would like to attend, just sign up here and gain free access. Please RSVP on LinkedIn to let us know if we’ll see you there. You must be a paid member of the SEA or will not be admitted at the door. We hope you’ll join us for this exclusive event.
The World Cup is the world’s biggest sporting event, and I can hardly wait. There is something special about this tournament. It attracts a wide audience of people from different cultures and very few other sporting events can evoke such emotion and passion from across the globe.
This World Cup is also the first in the social media age, and is set to eclipse any event covered on social media previously – including the Super Bowl and US elections. Football (soccer) fans have never been shy to let their feeling be known and now social media has allowed millions of fans to come together on a common ground (Twitter, Facebook) and discuss the events unfolding.
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Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14
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The Top 5 Sports Commentary Moments
by Thomas van Schaik|February 7th, 2011
A week ago, a British sports commentator was fired because of a sexist comment made when he believed the microphone to be off. The story was widely covered around the world and shows that being a sports commentator comes with its own set of challenges and responsibilities. Fortunately the profession also offers some very unique opportunities. While some of the best sports commentators are genuinely admired and appreciated for the drama, humor and passion they bring to the game, the very best of them are simply never forgotten!
What defines great sports commentary? Simply sharing your insights and knowing when to shut-up are clearly not good enough. Truly memorable commentary, the kind that firmly engraves itself in our collective memory, can only stands out because when the commentator is as passionate about the game as the audience itself. [click to continue…]
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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