Posts Tagged ‘nfl’

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A look at the “Super Bowl effect”

February 18th, 2010

An interesting post from Twitter blogs about the effect showing the effect the Super Bowl had on Twitter traffic.  Twitter is a great outlet for sports fans to share their own special comments.  A great job by NFL in their “Tag it #sb44″ promoting a specific hashtag for all social media platforms.  They got a great response from NFL fans, look at the results from fans at the Tag the Super Bowl site.

I guess my question was answered?

@seancallanan: Can sports pick hashtags? Won’t #superbowl get a good run? RT @NFLprguy: We will be using #sb44 for all things Super Bowl-related. #sb44 4:57 PM Feb 1st from TweetDeck

Graph credit – Twitter Blog

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Working with League brands

February 8th, 2010

One of the biggest challenges many teams face is differentiating themselves whilst adhering league brand guidelines.  It was a common theme with the teams I met with on #sportsgeektrip.

Many leagues across the globe follow a similar digital model.  League web sites are developed and team web sites are created under the league umbrella.

MLB.com, NBA.com,  NHL.com, AFL.com.au are some examples of these Leagues that follow this “Umbrella model”.
(*edit thanks for comment: Essendon stand alone as an exception running independently of the AFL very successfully with EssendonFC.com.au)

If you take a look at team websites e.g. LA Dodgers Vs New York Yankees or Collingwood Vs Hawthorn you’ll see some team customization but they are locked into a League framework.  The NBA follows a similar model but teams are using custom landing pages (or splash pages like the Mavs do) to offer fans special deals.

Other leagues like the NFL.com & PremierLeague.com have decoupled the League’s web deal from the teams.

What’s better?

The “Umbrella model” makes administration of League branding much easier and sometimes can lead to a better sponsorship deal as it is league-wide.  However, it can be restrictive both creatively and financially to the teams who want to push the Web 2.0 envelope.  From a technical prospective a league wide CMS (content management system) does reduce the need for in-house web staff for teams but many people who use these systems find them too restrictive.  Leagues that abandon the “Umbrella model” face the problem of a potentially creating a tech gap between the have and have-nots.  Some teams like those run by MSG (Knicks, Rangers, Liberty) help promote their teams outside the standard team’s sites through the stadium (TheGarden.com), then again with so many sports properties MSG is a unique business.

What are your thoughts?

  • Does the ability for league’s to secure deals outweigh a team’s desire to innovate?
  • Would teams do a better job if they could go it alone?
  • Would small-market teams struggle maintaining own website?

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Posted in Sports Marketing, Web

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Cowboys Stadium… WOW!

January 16th, 2010

Yesterday I toured Cowboys Stadium, I know they say things are big in Texas but that was ridiculous.

The screen alone cost $40M weighs as much as a full Airbus.  The roof sagged 5 inches when it was first attached.

I was lucky enough to take the tour while the Cowboys were preparing for their playoff encounter against Brett Favre’s Minnesota Vikings.  To simulate the the noise expected by Vikings fans they pumped crowd noise throughout the stadium.  While standing in the end zone I recorded this, have a listen.

Crowd Noise During Cowboys Practice

Unfortunately no video was allowed but check out the Cowboys Stadium photo gallery for some great shots.

I wouldn’t be Sports Geek if I wasn’t impressed with the full-on DataCenter that is the heart of the stadium.  Standard stuff from an IT point of view but everyone seemed very impressed with the Mission-Impossible style description “6 seconds to get out if there’s a fire, as the oxygen is sucked out of the room”.

Additionally Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys spent $1.4B in conjunction with the City of Arlington on the stadium but only 90% suites have been sold so if you can help him out with the other 10% click here.

I jokingly referred to Cowboys Stadium as the “Death Star” which I think Jerry Jones would like.  Little did I know that is one of the names the locals have given it.  Tours have been extremely popular with 150,000 people touring the venue in it’s first 127 days.  It has a staff of 6,200 on game day and will host the 2010 NBA All-Star game and the 2011 Super Bowl.

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Posted in Stadiums

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Televised AFL Draft… we’d like to see that

November 26th, 2009

There have already been a few reviews on the Fox Sports coverage of the AFL Draft.  To say reviews were mixed would be kind. Rather than point out what went wrong, here is the Sports Geek suggestions for AFL Draft 2011 (which by the way will be a tough cover with every 2nd pick going to the Gold Coast).

  1. Lose the reverse order top 10 announcements – It doesn’t “build anticipation” when most question marks on picks start at 7 or 8 but you announce pick 10 first.
  2. Move to a bigger venue – I would hold the draft at a venue like Rod Laver Arena, tickets could be sold to fans and make the draft an entertaining night.
  3. Let Andrew Demetriou announce all picks - Following the NBA & NFL model, apologies to recruiting managers in the future you will submit your picks in allocated time to be read out by AFL CEO who would then greet and congratulate each pick.
  4. Slow down – Allow the broadcasters some time to report on and analyze the picks.  The pace was furious making it hard for TV producers and web producers alike.
  5. Build drama – Quite surprising that one of the bigger stories of the night being Luke Ball was largely overlooked in the Fox coverage.
  6. Discover draft stars – Agree with Ed Wyatt allow some fresh TV talent be discovered as a Draft Expert.
  7. Integrate the fans in the coverage – Why not embrace the chatter on Twitter & Facebook and work it into the coverage with a ticker the same way MTV does?
  8. Use technology available – Costs are involved but the AFL Draft is a perfect vehicle to showcase the multi-channel options on Fox Sports.  e.g. Highlights, Interviews, Stats, Multiple Audio are just a few that would’ve fit well.
  9. Talk to the players – The stars of the night are the players yet we didn’t hear from many of them at all.  Sure they are kids but most would’ve been interviewed a few times during the lead up.  A few standard “How excited are you?” questions give the fans a little insight into their new recruits.
  10. Who’d we pick? – Answer the most important question of the night, ALL NIGHT.  Make sure the talent on hand knows the players picked and can give some info to the fans.  Remember all footy fans want is hope and it goes a long way in selling memberships.

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AFL Draft Machine, keeping fans involved

November 23rd, 2009

AFL Draft MachineOver the past 10 years the AFL Draft has grown in profile, just 3 years ago it was a 1 hour highlight show on Saturday afternoon, this year it will make it’s debut in prime time on Fox Sports on Thursday night.

Some purists may suggest that this is just another example of the AFL following the lead of US sports like the NFL and NBA, but why not follow? The NFL draft is so successful it is covered by TWO networks!  USA Today describes the NFL Draft as “the next step in the evolution on the highest-rated TV sports where nobody moves much”.

The AFL Draft will be a HIT in prime time as fans are missing their footy fix. The draft provides one thing to all footy fans, hope.  The televised AFL Draft will be slightly different to the NFL as the top 10 picks will be announced in reverse order from 10 to 1. Will this work? We’ll see on Thursday.

The AFL is promoting the Draft on AFL.com.au with the AFL Draft Machine . It allows fans to sift through draft prospects and try to determine who their team may pick up. Online promotions like this are terrific in allowing fans to participate in an event. It allows the AFL to “crowd source” data regarding the popularity of picks and report back to the fans. This exactly what Mark Cuban was talking about on why Live Sports is still the king on TV.

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