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Australian Open 2012 Embraces Social Media

January 18, 2012 by 4 Comments

Do you miss the days of Evonne Goolagong and wooden rackets? Do you have no idea what the first sentence meant but like watching tennis and regret that the Australian Open is half a world away and so difficult to catch much of the action live?

Well the 2012 edition of the famed tournament has stepped up in the digital and social media space and presents a number of methods in which a fan can either catch live action or at least get a steady stream of comments and updates, easily and from a desktop or a mobile device.

As noted in Mashable this could be the most advanced use of social media in a tournament and that there is a wide variety of tournament sponsored avenues in which fans can follow the action, as well as comment on the action as it occurs. This has been a growing tradition at the tournament and one that others sports events can learn from as a tool to heighten fan engagement.

The official site has a range of tools that can meet fans needs on a variety of levels. Want to see video replays of highlights, player interviews or of the most popular players in action? They have that. Want to listen on the radio; there is a feature for that when the matches are being broadcast live.

There is a core feature called Fan Central that brings input from fans into the game. It contains what is called a ‘Social Leaderboard’ that contains a pool of 40 players that were selected due to their popularity. Fans can tweet about one of them using a hashtag that relates to their name, or ‘like’ content on australianopen.com that includes them and with every tweet or like they get points to rise in a leaderboard. You are not limited to just following these 40 as the site enables you to follow any player, popular or not.

The most active tweeters will have the opportunity to become ‘Fanbassadors’ that will be recognized on the tournaments official web site.

But it is not just fan twitters that are available. The tournament has staffed @AustralianOpen, a 24 Twitter feed. For the less serious, or more I guess, there is a feature for predicting outcomes as well as one that enables you to put captions onto photos. You can even submit a short film about the ‘Tennis Essence’ with the winner being played at the tournament.

Of course you can follow on Facebook, but if that is too static there are mobile apps for both Apple iPhones and Android based smartphones. There will also be the more traditional information you would expect-draws, schedules, how to get tickets and an overall event guide.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Mashable, Smartphone, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,

Urban Meyer: No Twitter for Ohio State Players (Update: Or Maybe Not?)

January 3, 2012 by 5 Comments

DOUBLE SECRET UPDATE: So was USA Today incorrect? Several media outlets (and one observant commenter, below) have now chimed in saying the Twitter ban never happened. Can we get some real reporters in Ohio please?

Our guess — Meyer probably said something like “no Twittering during this meeting.” How is it possible that nobody on the scene ever actually asked Meyer or OSU if there was an official Twitter ban? Guess it is offseason for more than just the players.

In a move sure to clinch the Big Ten championship, new head coach Urban Meyer has banned players at Ohio State from using Twitter. According to USA Today, Meyer made the announcement as part of his formal I’m-here press conference. While the effect of the ban may never fully be understood, without a doubt this is just the first in what Mobile Sports Report expects to be a year full of interesting actions involving players and social media.

The ban was confirmed, ironically, on Twitter by a Buckeyes player, Reid Fragel:

New staff new rules. No more twitter, not a big deal and probably for the better. Love our fans, love this place. Go Bucks #2012

January 3, 2012 10:05 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@Fragel88

Reid Fragel

The big question seems to be, who owns the online persona of a player or team employee — the actual human, or the entity who writes the paycheck (or supplies the scholarship)? In the Ohio State case it may just be that Meyer wants to batten down the media hatches but if you extend this kind of thinking further out to the professional realm (where some stars are already reaping extra income from their tweets) it’s probably not too long before we start hearing of contract terms or broadcast rights that include players’ Twitter posts.

Wonder if our friends at places like Public Knowledge have a take on whether or not such a move violates free-speech rights. We’re reasonably sure that the folks at Twitter are not amused. Our guess is that this battle is just starting.

UPDATE: Jason McIntyre over at Big Lead Sports supports Meyer’s move, in part by reasoning that college kids aren’t ready to handle new media. Not sure I agree, but here is his take and the money quote:

I applaud the move by Meyer. College kids who are 18-21 years old are going to make mistakes online. Not all of them can be as bright and articulate and witty as Jared Sullinger (also, it’s significantly easier to keep tabs on 13 college basketball players as opposed to 85 football players).

Hundreds of writers will follow the OSU football players, and anything remotely controversial will blow up into a story. Why deal with those headaches? What, exactly, can the program possibly gain from letting these kids use twitter? If they want to learn how to use social media, do it without all the eyeballs … after leaving school. Then the players’ screw-ups online aren’t OSU/Urban Meyer problems.

At this juncture I would say I disagree — I think hearing about the life from the player’s point of view is interesting, and adults aren’t any smarter about using Twitter than 18-year-olds. If that makes life harder for Meyer, so be it. That’s what the big bucks are for.

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, NCAA Football, Twitter Tagged With: , ,

Are Athlete Online ‘Chats’ Worth Fans’ Time?

December 22, 2011 by 1 Comment

After reading that the NBA is going to host an online Town Hall on Facebook tonight I wondered: Are these Internet interactions really valuable from a fan’s point of view? Or are they not really worth the time or bandwidth?

I mean, if you are a big fan of the player involved it’s cool to have a chance you might not ever get in real life, to interact directly with the star. Even though it’s through a virtual channel there is some pleasure in seeing your question asked in public and then having it answered. It’s the same kind of gratification that keeps people on hold for hours on radio talk shows, just on the slim chance of hearing their voice out loud.

But after participating in a few Twitter chats sponsored by Verizon Wireless and its NFL Mobile app, I am fairly underwhelmed by the experience. The biggest problem is one of flow — given the asynchronous nature of mediums like Twitter and Facebook, it’s extremely easy to lose the stream of questioning. On Twitter in fact it’s almost impossible and unless you asked the question you often have no context as to what the answer is about. Somewhere here I smell an opportunity for an app that automatically collates questions with answers and then displays them. Until then we’re all stuck with trying to click on the usernames to see what the hell they just asked the athlete who just answered.

The second problem is the sanitization factor — in that if you ask a tough, hard or uncomfortable question it is almost routinely ignored. As a professional interviewer I know that the hard questions are almost always the most interesting; and they are also the least liked by the subject. So during tonight’s NBA questioning you are probably not going to see someone asking the NBA players things like “do you think David Stern is a jerk?” because they will simply be removed from the question-stream. If the Verizon chats are any indication these things usually devolve into basic fan-worship stuff (“Who’s your biggest inspiration?”) or bland competitive questions (“Who’s the hardest guy to defend?”). It’s guaranteed to be not as interesting as simply following these guys on Twitter for the moments when they spout off without a PR filter around.

Again, if you are a devoted fan then by all means hang in there, log on and see if you can coax an answer out of the star you follow. But for most of us, I am guessing there are better ways to spend our time while we wait for more-engaging or more personal forms of social media interaction to evolve.

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Facebook, NBA, Twitter Tagged With: , ,

ESPN’s NFL32 Turns to Social Media for Topics With ‘Facebook Faceoff’

December 8, 2011 by 1 Comment

ESPN will enable Fans to determine some discussion topics

ESPN, Looking to increase the level of interactivity with its and the NFL’s fans, has developed a segment in one of its new NFL programs, NFL32, that will allow fans to submit questions via Facebook — questions that will hopefully help the ESPN show create feisty debate in a segment called Facebook Faceoff.

NFL32 is designed to be a yearlong one-hour show that features ESPN’s Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortenson as hosts and includes a variety of the network’s other NFL analysts. It uses a free-flowing format that the company touts as being highly interactive.

Now the show is taking interactivity to a new level by soliciting input from members of its Facebook friends. On its Facebook page NFL32 has posted the following:

Want to help stir things up on our NFL32 panel? Thursday we debut a new segment called “Facebook Faceoff”. Submit topics you want to see us debate on TV, and we’ll see which ones cause the biggest differences of opinion.

I have to say I like this plan on many levels. It helps bring broadcasting out of its shell and enable it to more directly interact with fans. I often turn on a sports program and find that it just seems to be a regurgitation of what I have heard on every other sports program. While there is always the danger that ESPN will select issues that cater to this mindset, at least there is a chance that it will open new avenues of conversation.

Broadcast sports programming often seems to talk down to sports fans. On the other hand I find on a variety of sites around the Internet where fans who can intelligently talk about issues that go much deeper than Brady vs. Tebow but about the impact of losing an offensive line coach or the lack of blocking issues from a tight end.

I doubt that the new show will dig down to this level of detail since those topics are not controversial, but it does open the door to more fan interactivity on sports shows. In the past it seemed that the only interaction that ESPN and others had was the annoying Twitter feed at the bottom of the page. If I want to read a Twitter feed my TV is not the place I want to do so.

A quick look at some of the first topics offered for “Facebook Faceoff” include Tebow, Raiders and Tebow, coaching changes in Chicago (Paul did you submit that?) and should the Lions draft another cornerback or a left tackle. Not earth shattering but it is a start.

Just the start for social media
It seems that networks and even news sites are starting to embrace social media and the ability to interact instantaneously with fans. The growth and popularity of Twitter, especially among athletes is just one example.

ESPN struck Twitter gold earlier this week with its hour mostly devoted to Tim Tebow. The show was the most popular on Twitter during its broadcast and was picked up and rerun on several sites. We expect that ESPN will use that program as a template in the future to boost ratings during off-peak viewing times.

Another use of social; media is CBS Sports live “5th Quarter with Gary Danielson” chat which has been running after SEC football games. You do hear regional baseball broadcasts that also will answer select Twitter questions but it always seems canned. Maybe we will start seeing a segment in pregame and postgame shows that enables fans to directly interact with either athletes or the broadcasters as they talk with the athletes.

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, CBS Sports, ESPN, Facebook, NFL, Tim Tebow, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,

Jerry Rice and Warren Sapp, Special Trending Units

December 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Since I was away from the Internet most of the day Wednesday I was surprised as lots of people who saw Jerry Rice and Warren Sapp trending on Twitter, for no apparent reason. Maybe it serves us right to be so uninformed, or maybe we’re just not following the right news breakers. Anyway, I was not alone in my confusion. Apparently there are plenty of folks out there now who look to see what’s “trending” before they go and consult some of that heavy-load Internet stuff, like Google.

why the heck is warren sapp trending? did i miss something?

December 7, 2011 10:16 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@ClevFanLinq

Spencer Linquist

Of course some people immediately assumed the worst:

Warren Sapp is trending. I hope he got arrested for something stupid.

December 7, 2011 8:54 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

And then there were some with more vivid imaginations:

Saw Warren Sapp and Jerry Rice trending at the sane time and I though Warren and done eat Jerry or something.

December 7, 2011 10:09 pm via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@_ScottieG_

Scottie Footpenis

Of course you could just go to Jerry Rice (@JerryRice) or Warren Sapp (@QBKILLA) on Twitter to find out what really was going on:

Make sure you catch me & Warren Sapp (@) TONIGHT on Law & Order SVU, at 10pm on NBC (@) #SVU

December 7, 2011 5:51 pm via FacebookReplyRetweetFavorite
@JerryRice

Jerry Rice

Yes Zirr. RT @: Ain’t QBKILLA on svu tonight

December 7, 2011 8:10 pm via UberSocial for BlackBerryReplyRetweetFavorite
@QBKILLA

Warren Sapp

So no, nobody ate nobody and nobody drove a slow Ford Bronco anywhere. We’re not big SVU fans but apparently enough of the world is to get the former players trending. Anyway.

And the the GOAT pulled the NFL Countdown catch phrase on a follower:

@ I had a small part on Law&Order!Com’On Man

December 6, 2011 10:56 am via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite
@JerryRice

Jerry Rice

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, NFL, Twitter Tagged With:

Will MLB’s New Deal Kill or Enhance Players’ Access to Social Media?

November 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Just catching up on Major League Baseball’s off-season news prior to the hot stove league heating up with the arrival of the Winter Meetings and I came upon an interesting piece in Baseball Nation about a change in social media usage in baseball.

It pointed out that there is a single line in the new collective bargaining agreement that says “All players will be subject to a policy governing the use of Social Media.” That is it, no details and no policy.

I have no issue with baseball, or any sport, having a set of guidelines for the athletes to follow in regards to social media. For instance you probably do not want people Tweeting shower scenes, which has already happened in basketball. Or sending images of their junk, which has (purportedly) happened in the NFL.

The question is will MLB simply move its rules for team employees to now also cover players or will it create a new set of guidelines, one that might be designed to always put MLB in a good light?

The new players’ policy is so short it is hard to give it the title of policy, but the open-ended nature of it does give you reason to pause. Currently baseball, and for that matter most pro sports, are pretty open about the use of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media as a tool that its players can more directly with the fans. Outside of outlawing tweets from the free-throw line or the line of scrimmage, it’s pretty much an open game.

And rightly so. Curt Schilling has had the blog 38 Pitches for years where he posts his opinions and people can chime in. That seems almost old school (yes I know he also Tweets and uses the two for different purposes) now with the ability to follow players’ feelings and opinions in almost real time. A quick look at the web site tweeting-athletes shows the huge number of players from around the globe and around sports that are active at some level in tweeting.

Fans enjoy hearing directly from players. It may not be the most insightful sometimes, but it is often colorful and much more interesting than the canned quotes that players tend to give to live broadcasters.
I see the need for rules and a cooling off period, so that in the heat of the moment a player does not post something that he and possible his team, will regret, but I worry about leagues taking it too far.

The NFL feels no qualms about fining coaches for criticizing refs even when everybody in America has seen the replay that shows how wrong the ref was on a play. Let’s not even talk about fining people for wearing the wrong color cleats. It really is earning its title as the No Fun League. The NBA has been increasingly worried about its image over the last decade and has dictated how players will dress. However they both do seem to have an open mind on the topic of social media.

The existing rules for MLB employees and contractors can be found here– and it is pretty much what you would expect it to be: don’t pretend you are speaking for MLB, no confidential information, no using logos and property of the league and so on.

I think baseball, and all sports, need to embrace social media as an adjunct to marketing and advertising efforts. What could be better than players directly accessing fans? I guess if the players are unhappy and the team is poorly run bad things can happen, but on the whole I think the net results will be positive.

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, Baseball, Facebook, Major League Baseball, Twitter Tagged With: ,
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