Sports Networks That Are Scoring on Social Media
Is there anything sports fans love more than a good debate?
Heated discussions about the best team, fastest touchdown or most important home run can absorb many happy hours. Getting involved, wearing the team colors, sharing opinions with anyone who’ll listen – it’s all part of what makes sport so thrilling, leading to tears, cheers and bitten nails all over the world.
For a smart sports network, more involvement means happy, engaged fans and greater viewing figures.
Let’s take a look at the sports networks who are using social media to score big with their viewers.
ESPN
How can a sports network get fans sending it daily creative athletic photos?
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, ESPN is challenging women who love sport to take part in their daily themed photo challenge “98 Days To Shine”.
Participants can share their snaps across Twitter and Instagram using the #98daystoshine hashtag, while ESPN will Tweet its favorites and share them on Facebook. With weekly and monthly rewards all building up to the Grand Summer Prize winner, ESPN has got social networks buzzing.
MLB Network
How can a sports network keep fans interested after the season ends?
Earlier this year, MLB did just that with its innovative Face of MLB contest. Ask any baseball fan who the face of baseball is, and you’re likely to get an impassioned argument in favor of their most valued player.
When MLB asked the millions of viewers of its off-season weekday show, Hot Stove, to do just that, Twitter went crazy. The bracket-style contest had fans voting again and again to see their favorite stay in the competition. With 45,896 new followers and 1.6 million votes cast over two months, MLB’s off-season social media was alive and ready to play.
NBA TV
How can a sports network harness the buzz created by its sport to get fans even more engaged?
NBA TV has done just that by encouraging fans to vote in its very own Social Media Awards. Throughout the season, basketball fans keep Facebook and Twitter chattering with their reactions to nail biting games, while big name players keep supporters happy with plenty of social media interaction.
Now fans can vote in such categories as the “140 Award” for best Tweet and the “OMG Award” for best viral video. Voting is of course done via social media, Twitter and NBA’s own mobile app to be precise, keeping fans tuned in to NBA TV’s social channels throughout the summer.
BT Sport
How can a sports network make social media an integrated part of its programming?
British sports network BT Sport is going further than any of its competitors to date by making social media a vital part of its brand spanking new state of the art digital studio.
Show content will partly be determined by what fans tweet, video and send in to the studio. Tweets and pictures from inside the venues will be displayed on giant video screens, giving sports broadcasting a new immediacy generated by those who are actually there. Now that’s how to grab sports fans’ undying attention.
With social networks already ablaze with talk of the hottest developments in sport, from the latest scores to the most expensive transfers, sports networks have spotted a fine opportunity.
By harnessing fans’ enthusiasm and longing to be part of the debate, sports networks can keep their attention long after the pitch is empty.
About the Author: Tristan Anwyn is an author who writes on subjects as diverse as health, marketing, Tim Broas, and SEO.
Image Credit: score.
Posted in Social Networking. Tags: sports social networks
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