At this point the words Twitter, Facebook and Linked In have become commonplace in our world. If you don't have an account with one of them, you probably know someone that does. But how are these tools being integrated into sports? And, are they achieving any success?
Social networking is another way of starting conversations. In the case of sports, these conversations revolve around fans and participants to make their experiences better, create awareness and ultimately drive sales.
With the majors (NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL), starting conversations is fairly simple given their large and strong fan bases. (Here is an article from USA Today about NBA players and Twitter and another one from Yahoo and Ball Don't Lie) But for minor league teams, starting these types of conversations can be more difficult. And, unlike their major league counterparts, they likely don't have the same amount of resources to establish conversations.
The advantages of using these tools are clear. First, it is cheap. Basic services are free and easy to set up. Second, the work can be done from anywhere and anytime as long as you have internet or a mobile application. Of course, with any tool, the rewards only come when there is a clear strategy and a commitment to use it.
Minor League Usage
We spoke with a few minor league teams to see how they are utilizing the social networking tools. The Idaho Steelheads (hockey), Idaho Stampede (basketball) and Boise Hawks (Baseball) are all using social networking in different ways.
For the Steelheads, the social networking responsibilities appear to be split between marketing and public relations, providing a mix of team news and fan interaction. Their passionate fan base seems to be utilizing the hockey team's offerings based on the number of interactions they receive.
The Stampede are just getting into this realm. Their goals are to create more awareness and generate fan interactions. In the future, they also indicated that they will explore targeted promotions and experiment with how these tools can expand their in game production.
Probably the most promising usage is from the Boise Hawks. They definitely have the most well defined social networking strategy and their goals are ambitious. While they use their full time staff to blog, tweet and post to Facebook they also utilize their intern's channels to push out their messages. The next step for the Hawks is exploring Linked In and the potential benefits of that platform. The baseball club is also looking toward the future. They see a demise of more standard current channels and are working to establish themselves as their own media outlet.
All of the teams agreed that MySpace is no longer a social networking channel that they will continue to pursue.
Evaluating results
At this point, there is little agreement about the best way to evaluate social networking success in sports. Without a direct tie to profit teams will need to look at the indirect ties such as content sharing, re-tweets, interactions and increased web traffic. These all give an indication of the depth that fans are digesting the information.
Some of the tangibles like number of followers, fans, and subscribers are helpful to analyze the reach of awareness but fail to measure the depth of the reach.
In the end, it appears that these new tools are just that - tools. Like any tool, your success depends on how well you use it. But there are lots of tools in the bag and right now it is hard to tell which one is the best tool to use.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Event planing starts the day after
Recently, we completed our second annual BAM Jam 3 on 3 charity basketball tournament, www.bamjamboise.com. The feedback was great and as far as we can tell, there were no major incidents. At the end of the day, it was a successful event that grew by almost 40%. Time to take a few months, recharge the batteries, worry about other things and then get ready to go on the 2010 version.
That is exactly the wrong approach.
I'm the first person to admit that putting on a great event takes a toll on those that host it. However, if you truly want to improve and make the event better the next time, the last thing you want to do is take time off following its completion.
The reason you can't do this is valuable information is lost. Have you ever heard the theory that if a homicide is not solved in the first 48 hours, the chances of solving it at all go down by 50%? The reason is people forget things when its not fresh in their minds. They remember things incorrectly. The same is true with events, even sporting events.
That's why, within a week of BAM Jam, I sit down with Clint, the other director, and we spend hours going over everything from the past year. We grind out a review of the promotions, sponsorship sales and plans, accounting procedures, the website, and the event from set up to tear down. We look at what worked, what failed, where we can improve and what we could add the next time. It's grueling. It's time consuming. And it leads to a good chunk of next year's success.
But that isn't the end of it. After that, we sit down with all of the unit directors and do the same thing with them. We run past them new ideas and ways of doing things. They tell us what they liked, what they would change and present new ideas to us. Now we are getting close.
Some of the most important information comes from (you guessed it) our sponsors and participants. We sit down with our sponsors and let them grade our performance. We survey our participants and see what they think. We'll even talk to the local agencies (police, fire department, downtown businesses) to get their input.
Now we have a more complete picture of where we need to go next year. And we are only 3 weeks removed from the conclusion of this year!
Could we do all this later when we are more rested? Of course. But you lose some valuable emotional ties to certain things. For example, we got feedback from one team about the registration process (which is a nice way of saying that one mom yelled at several of us for about an hour**). Some of this feedback, though childishly communicated, had valid points. However, if we waited a month or two before discussing the points, the edge would have worn off. It may not have seemed as significant and we could have missed something important. When it's fresh, it's harder to forget.
**Parents, please note that I am not recommending nor am I in favor of a juvenile berating of grown adults. We prefer calm communication.
Teams and organizations that are seasonal should consider this review as well. Hockey, football, basketball, baseball and soccer teams as well as college sports should be constantly reviewing their home games.
Each of these examples has game operations director. Especially at the professional level, the director is writing a game script that includes entertainment, sponsor activities, music, announcements, etc. You control everything other than the players, coaches and referees. That means that every single one of these can be improved.
When I was directing games at the Idaho Stampede, I always had an idea of how I wanted my games to unfold. I had various goals that I wanted to achieve. We would usually have a three game homestand (Wed, Fri, Sat) and then a break. I found that in between homestands was a great time to review the games...starting Saturday night around 11:00pm. Did we start the game on time? What promotions worked? How was the volume on the music and PA? Did the halftime show take too long? Could we have run the 20 second timeouts better?
Like any event or game, you are trying to put on a great show for your spectators and participants. So start by asking them questions. One thing I would do differently is interact more with the fans and sponsors, seeking their feedback. The die hard fans will always give you their thoughts. Yet it is the quieter more casual fan that represents the majority of your crowd so find a way to hear from them.
You can never start planning too early. If you wait, it is probably too late.
That is exactly the wrong approach.
I'm the first person to admit that putting on a great event takes a toll on those that host it. However, if you truly want to improve and make the event better the next time, the last thing you want to do is take time off following its completion.
The reason you can't do this is valuable information is lost. Have you ever heard the theory that if a homicide is not solved in the first 48 hours, the chances of solving it at all go down by 50%? The reason is people forget things when its not fresh in their minds. They remember things incorrectly. The same is true with events, even sporting events.
That's why, within a week of BAM Jam, I sit down with Clint, the other director, and we spend hours going over everything from the past year. We grind out a review of the promotions, sponsorship sales and plans, accounting procedures, the website, and the event from set up to tear down. We look at what worked, what failed, where we can improve and what we could add the next time. It's grueling. It's time consuming. And it leads to a good chunk of next year's success.
But that isn't the end of it. After that, we sit down with all of the unit directors and do the same thing with them. We run past them new ideas and ways of doing things. They tell us what they liked, what they would change and present new ideas to us. Now we are getting close.
Some of the most important information comes from (you guessed it) our sponsors and participants. We sit down with our sponsors and let them grade our performance. We survey our participants and see what they think. We'll even talk to the local agencies (police, fire department, downtown businesses) to get their input.
Now we have a more complete picture of where we need to go next year. And we are only 3 weeks removed from the conclusion of this year!
Could we do all this later when we are more rested? Of course. But you lose some valuable emotional ties to certain things. For example, we got feedback from one team about the registration process (which is a nice way of saying that one mom yelled at several of us for about an hour**). Some of this feedback, though childishly communicated, had valid points. However, if we waited a month or two before discussing the points, the edge would have worn off. It may not have seemed as significant and we could have missed something important. When it's fresh, it's harder to forget.
**Parents, please note that I am not recommending nor am I in favor of a juvenile berating of grown adults. We prefer calm communication.
Teams and organizations that are seasonal should consider this review as well. Hockey, football, basketball, baseball and soccer teams as well as college sports should be constantly reviewing their home games.
Each of these examples has game operations director. Especially at the professional level, the director is writing a game script that includes entertainment, sponsor activities, music, announcements, etc. You control everything other than the players, coaches and referees. That means that every single one of these can be improved.
When I was directing games at the Idaho Stampede, I always had an idea of how I wanted my games to unfold. I had various goals that I wanted to achieve. We would usually have a three game homestand (Wed, Fri, Sat) and then a break. I found that in between homestands was a great time to review the games...starting Saturday night around 11:00pm. Did we start the game on time? What promotions worked? How was the volume on the music and PA? Did the halftime show take too long? Could we have run the 20 second timeouts better?
Like any event or game, you are trying to put on a great show for your spectators and participants. So start by asking them questions. One thing I would do differently is interact more with the fans and sponsors, seeking their feedback. The die hard fans will always give you their thoughts. Yet it is the quieter more casual fan that represents the majority of your crowd so find a way to hear from them.
You can never start planning too early. If you wait, it is probably too late.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Opened your eyes? Now they won't close.
Sports are just like any other business. While trying to put out the best product possible, your revenue has to be more than your expenses. Otherwise, there is no product.
My eyes were first opened when I took the Public Relations Director position for the Idaho Stampede, then with the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). The managing investor and general manager asked me to go through the pregame set up before the season started. The lights were out, the baskets were hardly visible to shoot on and the music was so loud you could barely concentrate. They asked me what I thought. I told them it was terrible, that no player could warm up in this. Of course, they saw things from the fans' perspectives. "Vince, this isn't basketball anymore. This is entertainment."
Before you actually work in the industry, especially when you've played the game your whole life, you don't fully grasp everything that goes on with a professional franchise, college team or even club program. As a player, you come to the games and play. As a fan, you walk into the gym or arena to support your team and hope for a good game. You don't think about the set up, the ticketing, the sponsorships surrounding the floor, the t-shirts and hats being sold and the people that are being paid to run the show. But believe me, once your eyes are opened, you'll never see anything else.
.....................................
I graduated from the University of Idaho in 2000 ready to make my mark. I took a product management job near San Francisco. My education was in electrical engineering but my passion was in marketing. And sports. And being an entrepreneur. After several attempts to return back to the Treasure Valley with a job in one of the sports franchises (Hawks, Steelheads and Stampede) it became very clear that I needed more education. Which led me to the MBA program at Georgia Tech.
About the same time, I was invited to coach with Idaho Select Basketball, a high school non-profit program. After a summer I was hooked. I managed to stay involved with the program, even while living in Atlanta. It was a challenge but I saw the bigger picture, at least I hoped there was a bigger picture. I figured I could take my education, gain some more experience and turn Idaho Select into a full on business. I learned what I could in the classroom. And I got out into the Atlanta sports scene, attending as many Yellow Jacket, Falcons, Hawks, Braves and Thrashers games as I could. On a college budget, you sure get creative getting tickets.
...............................
My first full time job after Tech was the PR Director for the Stampede. It was great. I made next to nothing and worked about 80 hours a week but I learned a ton. Not only did I get to see how a franchise ran from the inside, I got to see how a league was run and decisions were made up close and personal (the CBA office was located in Boise).
The next milestone was the Stampede's move the NBA D-League. What a change! The NBA is so structured and has a policy for almost anything. But the Stampede, along with the other three teams that joined that year, were a new type of minor league franchise. Locally owned and in better touch with their fans, the NBA D-League had to re-write several policies and adjust to the gray area that existed.
I spent the next year in charge of sales and marketing, eventually ending up as the vice-president. For the first time I got to build and manage my own staff. It meant I could track our success, try new things and apply some of the things I'd learned. It also meant doing one of the hardest things there is, firing people. But it taught me a lot about knowing your personnel, investing and working with them. In one year we were able to increase ticket sales by nearly 10% and group sales went up over 40%.
..............................
Eventually, you have to jump out on your own and take a chance. My time came in September of 2007 when I went full time with Idaho Select. It was exciting and scary to say the least. We now had budgets to set and meet, insurance needs, websites to keep up to date and only one full time employee. Of course, we started with some great coaches which was key. And they knew other great coaches. And they knew people that knew other people.
Somehow, we made it work. And we're still making it work. The program has grown exponentially over the last few years. We introduce new events each year and continue to improve on the current events.
Through it all, I've seen some great things. I've worked with great people and learned from some of the best. And I continue to see the bigger picture. I just hope the picture continues to get bigger.
My eyes were first opened when I took the Public Relations Director position for the Idaho Stampede, then with the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). The managing investor and general manager asked me to go through the pregame set up before the season started. The lights were out, the baskets were hardly visible to shoot on and the music was so loud you could barely concentrate. They asked me what I thought. I told them it was terrible, that no player could warm up in this. Of course, they saw things from the fans' perspectives. "Vince, this isn't basketball anymore. This is entertainment."
Before you actually work in the industry, especially when you've played the game your whole life, you don't fully grasp everything that goes on with a professional franchise, college team or even club program. As a player, you come to the games and play. As a fan, you walk into the gym or arena to support your team and hope for a good game. You don't think about the set up, the ticketing, the sponsorships surrounding the floor, the t-shirts and hats being sold and the people that are being paid to run the show. But believe me, once your eyes are opened, you'll never see anything else.
.....................................
I graduated from the University of Idaho in 2000 ready to make my mark. I took a product management job near San Francisco. My education was in electrical engineering but my passion was in marketing. And sports. And being an entrepreneur. After several attempts to return back to the Treasure Valley with a job in one of the sports franchises (Hawks, Steelheads and Stampede) it became very clear that I needed more education. Which led me to the MBA program at Georgia Tech.
About the same time, I was invited to coach with Idaho Select Basketball, a high school non-profit program. After a summer I was hooked. I managed to stay involved with the program, even while living in Atlanta. It was a challenge but I saw the bigger picture, at least I hoped there was a bigger picture. I figured I could take my education, gain some more experience and turn Idaho Select into a full on business. I learned what I could in the classroom. And I got out into the Atlanta sports scene, attending as many Yellow Jacket, Falcons, Hawks, Braves and Thrashers games as I could. On a college budget, you sure get creative getting tickets.
...............................
My first full time job after Tech was the PR Director for the Stampede. It was great. I made next to nothing and worked about 80 hours a week but I learned a ton. Not only did I get to see how a franchise ran from the inside, I got to see how a league was run and decisions were made up close and personal (the CBA office was located in Boise).
The next milestone was the Stampede's move the NBA D-League. What a change! The NBA is so structured and has a policy for almost anything. But the Stampede, along with the other three teams that joined that year, were a new type of minor league franchise. Locally owned and in better touch with their fans, the NBA D-League had to re-write several policies and adjust to the gray area that existed.
I spent the next year in charge of sales and marketing, eventually ending up as the vice-president. For the first time I got to build and manage my own staff. It meant I could track our success, try new things and apply some of the things I'd learned. It also meant doing one of the hardest things there is, firing people. But it taught me a lot about knowing your personnel, investing and working with them. In one year we were able to increase ticket sales by nearly 10% and group sales went up over 40%.
..............................
Eventually, you have to jump out on your own and take a chance. My time came in September of 2007 when I went full time with Idaho Select. It was exciting and scary to say the least. We now had budgets to set and meet, insurance needs, websites to keep up to date and only one full time employee. Of course, we started with some great coaches which was key. And they knew other great coaches. And they knew people that knew other people.
Somehow, we made it work. And we're still making it work. The program has grown exponentially over the last few years. We introduce new events each year and continue to improve on the current events.
Through it all, I've seen some great things. I've worked with great people and learned from some of the best. And I continue to see the bigger picture. I just hope the picture continues to get bigger.
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