A big focus of #sportsgeektrip was to see how much of the buzz around social media translated IRL (in real life).

Most of the teams & even some of the facilities now have a presence on Twitter, it’s how they use it is where it gets interesting.  For a list of League & Franchise Twitter accounts check out our Sports Geek Stars list.

The tweets from sports Twitter accounts fall into 4 categories.

Sports News Information

These tweets are standard fare for sports accounts generally relaying news & articles from the team’s website or local news reports.  These can use tech like Feedburner or TwitterFeed to automatically post to Twitter.  The key is to ensure these tweets are sent at a time when your fans want them and are sufficiently spaced out so you do not flood your fans twitter stream.

@thenyrangers Rangers alum Steve Vickers was this week’s guest on Rangers Radio, check out this week’s show here: http://bit.ly/5ubq1v

But sports twitter fans love the easy “insider” access that you can get with services like Twitpic to get closer them to the team.  It is these kind of updates that give your stream value & are unique to your Twitter “broadcast”. News & notes from practice or simple updates from your team’s road trip that are exclusive to your Twitter stream are more likely to generate buzz amongst your fans.

@VanCanucks http://twitpic.com/117p7l – All #Canucks Olympians wearing their Olympic gloves at practice this morning.

Promotions & Marketing

This is where you can make offers to fans.  Some might be ticket offers like below from the Clippers or sponsor promotions.  The New York Rangers were the only team that I witnessed on #sportsgeektrip that used Twitter at the game when they upgraded some of their twitter followers.  As more sports fans tweet during games expect sports facilities to start engaging with fans in the stadium.

@laclippers Here’s an exclusive offer just for our followers: buy 1 ticket to Sat’s game v. @Spurs, get 1 free: http://bit.ly/951eYQ /CODE: CLIPTWEET

Play By Play

Using Twitter for play by play or score updates can be fraught with danger as many fans may tune out the tweets or worse unfollow due to the high frequency of tweets in a short period.  It can work in a low-scoring sport like hockey or soccer where scores are rare but in higher scoring sports twitter doesn’t translate.  The key thing to remember before tweeting is “Am I providing value to my followers with this tweet?” if the answer is no then don’t hit that enter key.

Score update or highlight tweets however can help generate fervor in your fan base triggering your fan’s Twitter support.  It’s a fine line if you turn your in-game tweets into a more conversational stream (next category) you may see more Twitter action from your fans.

Conversational

This is where Twitter can really help you engage your fans.  Ask questions, answer questions, join in the conversation with your tribe.  Conversations can happen with a “corporate” sports account but many people like talking to a person rather than a brand.  This is where Peter Casey has had success when covering St John’s games via Twitter.

@stkildafc RT @BridgetteHEY: Lock and load! Got my @stkildafc membership today. Two more weeks checking the mail box #gosaints

@CFL Not anymore! Thanks for the heads up… RT @merlin67: @CFL you are missing @MrMann86 on your cfl players list

Here’s one of my faves from a game I was at at MSG

@Peter_R_Casey The ref just copped a feel on the other ref. Right cheek. #awkwardmomentsinsports #stjbb

In a future post I will look at the tech you can use to monitor, track & build your Twitter presence.

Read more about the #sportsgeektrip in these posts.
Contact Sports Geek for more info on how to manage your Twitter presence .