Social media in Sport

SOCIAL MEDIA IN SPORT

Social media has become a hugely popular mode of communication all over the sporting

world. It provides a way for sporting organisations, clubs, players and fan to interact

on a level playing field. The many different types of social media can provide a platform for

thoughts, feelings and information regarding any issue in sport that can be easily accessed by

people all over the world. This however can have both a positive and negative effect on the way people use social media and are viewed by the community. The following presentation will

explore the use of social media and the difference in use across a selection of sports.

WHO USES SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE NFL

Social media is used in all areas of the NFL. The league and franchises use

social media as a means of advertising, sharing league and team news, and for

special events, eg. The recent NFL Draft.

Players and supporters also use social media, but use is generally on a more personal level. Social media provides

the platform for players to voice opinion and let fans know what is

happening in their personal life. It gives fans the chance to communicate with players like they never have before.

All types of social media are used in the NFL. The main platforms used by the league, fans and players are

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Alternative modes of social media, such as blogs, are used more

by fans and reporters who are following the game

WHAT TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA ARE USED?

NFL Facebook Page:7.2 Million Likes

NFL Quarterback Joe Flacco:

100,133 Twitter Followers

Philadelphia Eagles:295,479 Twitter Followers

Reggie Bush:120,00 Instagram

Followers

POSITIVE INFLUENCES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

There are many NFL players and franchises that use social media, particularly Twitter, for good in the

community. NFL Quarterback Drew Brees is one on these players. Brees uses twitter to advertise his

his charity, Brees Dream Foundation, and also advertise upcoming charity events and ways to

donate.

NEGATIVE INFLUENCES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall caused both national and international controversy

following his tweets regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden. His tweets outraged much of the population of the United States given the sensitivity of the topic of terrorism

and the September 11 attacks on New York. Although Mendenhall was not punished by his team, the Pittsburgh Steelers quickly distanced themselves from the comments

(Ostrow, 2011) and Mendenhall lost a sponsorship deal with corporate sponsor Champion.

WHO IN RUGBY UNION USES SOCIAL MEDIA

The Qantas Wallabies are one of the most prominent users of social media out of any of the codes in this country. After recognising quite

early on in the boom of social media, they tapped into the free avenue of connecting supporters and players alike.

Players using social media have been able to invite people into their lives and share the highs and lows of being a sports star. It is also a wonderful way for a player to market themselves to sponsors and endorsements. Sometimes players on social media are becoming more prevalent than

the sports that created them!

Fans are what undoubtedly make the game. One of the most important aspects of any sports team is that they have a loyal, growing fan base

who feel that they are valued and will therefore stick by the club through success, failure and middling results (Westhenry 2012).

WHAT TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA ARE USED?

55,666 183,180 56,073 21,687

560,296 104,510 839,760 93,000

Quade CooperQLD Reds, AUS Wallaby@Quadecooper

*as at 14.5.13

Qantas Wallabies@Qantaswallabies

Within Rugby Union there are four MAIN forums of social media used: Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. On the left demonstrates the sheer number of followers an organisation and a high profile player have on each of the different types of social media.The uniqueness of these four different forums of social media is that they are completely different in the way they connect to a large audience for free which gives them a opportunity to engage.

POSITIVE INFLUENCES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Melbourne Rebels and Wallaby James O’Connor recently used social media for a charitable cause. In February 2013, he made it his mission to raise $10,000 for Spectrum Superstars, an Autism-Awareness initiative. He used twitter and Instagram (@jamesocconor832) to announce to his fans that he needed to raise the amount in order for him to shave his head off, of which there was a particularly rotten haircut already! After two weeks of repeated tweets and links to the donation page James had his haircut done by AFL friend Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin with the $10,000 going straight to charity. It is through his social media fans and supporters he was able to selflessly do this at a benefit to the community.

NEGATIVE INFLUENCES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

After a record 64-7 loss the the Durban Sharks in South Africa, the Melbourne Rebels were embroiled in controversy for other reasons besides the score line.After the game Kurtley Beale and Cooper Vuna allegedly had a late night punch up. Vuna (@CVUNA) took his frustrations to Twitter with an extremely damaging effect upon his team and the club. Some sources say that if Vuna had kept his fingers in his pockets then it could have been kept as an internal problem. Instead both players were sent home in disgrace (Irish times 2013) from South Africa on separate flights. Vuna was banned from social media and suspended for a game. Beale was stood down indefinitely with a $40,000 fine.

WHO IN AFL USES SOCIAL MEDIA

There are a large quantity of AFL players and officials that use various platforms of

social media. These platforms include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which

are all verified and official accounts of the players and officials.

Superstars of the game including Lance Franklin, Dane Swan and Gary Ablett Jnr are some just some of the examples of

players who have fully verified and up to date official Twitter and Instagram accounts with tens of thousands of

followers.

The AFL, teams and several media partners also use Twitter as a way of

communicating with the public with news and other information.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA USED

Twitter is the main type of social media outlet that is used by both

players and officials in the AFL. Every team in the AFL has an official twitter

account that is up to date and provides insight into the life of the

clubsAnother form of social media which is used is YouTube. YouTube is used by

the AFL body and the clubs to communicate with the public. This

includes videos of press conferences and interviews with the clubs that give

credible opinions and informationFacebook and Instagram are two other services which are used by players and the organization. These two platforms in particular give a great look into the worlds of AFL clubs and players with

pictures and information that is available to the public.

POSITIVE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN AFL

YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have all had a positive influence on the AFL.

Facebook and Twitter have enabled clubs to give up to date information with games and club events. This is evident in a recent charity event that was run by the

Adelaide Football Club and injured star Taylor Walker in which would shave his head to raise 50,000 for the

Leukaemia. The exposure of this event would not have been possible without the use of social media and the

Official Adelaide FC Facebook page.

AFL clubs have used Facebook and YouTube channels to give the public a view into the depth of the club.

Collingwood for example is one club which has an official YouTube channel that provides interviews with players and match highlights that can be viewed at anytime. This has had a positive response from supporters because it has given them an opportunity to see what goes on in and

around the club.

NEGATIVE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN AFL

To some degree social media has had a negative influence on the AFL. There have been cases

where players and clubs have been fined and had sanctions placed against them for breaching rules

of social media use.

One example of this is of Melbourne Demons players James Frawley and Ricky Petterd (now at

Richmond) both received $2500 fines for criticising a fellow players suspension over Twitter.

This can have a damaging effect on a club and players reputation as they are criticizing officials.

WHO USES SOCIAL MEDIAIN THE NBA?

Social Media is used by the NBA, its players, teams, fans and related media. The NBA can utilise social media to reach its fans and grow the game. Fans can benefit from greater access to their favourite teams and players. Players can build their profile and popularity making them more marketable to endorsers.

The image right shows the most listed NBA players (Fanpagelist) and as can be seen with players having millions of followers, the use of social media by players and fans is very popular

WHAT TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA ARE USED?

A wide range of social media is used. Here is a sample of Lebron James’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts

POSITIVE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The 2013 NBA All-Star game gave fans around the world the opportunity to vote daily for their favourite players as starters for the 2013 NBA All-Star Game in Houston. For the first time ever, NBA fans voted via social media networks, including Facebook and Twitter.

Twitter voting allowed fans to tweet a vote for one player each day throughout the All-Star balloting period. The tweet must include a player's first and last name, along with hash tag #NBABALLOT. Facebook voting allowed fans to fill out one full ballot (three frontcourt and two guards from each conference) per day, through a custom application on Facebook.

Kobe Bryant received the most votes with 1,591, 437

(NBA, 2013)

NEGATIVE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Former Nuggets superstar Carmelo Anthony offered up $5,000 to the first person to show him video footage of someone slapping Kat Stacks. Melo deleted the tweet saying that his account was hacked. Unfortunately his wife was later quoted bragging about the incident..... (Bleacher Report 2012 number 4)

The New York Knicks lost to the Miami Heat in 5 games in the NBA playoffs. Obviously Amare Stoudemire was in a bad mood after the loss replying aggressively to a fans tweet. (Bleacher Report 2012 number 9)

Overall use of social media has been hugely positive for the growth of the NBA. The fan experience is improved in so may ways and players have embraced the use of social media to reach their fans. It is true that there have been some misdirected comments from players which will disappoint some members of the public. However , a large segment of fans enjoy seeing honesty from their favourite players. It shows that they are human and makes them easier to relate to. As fans we get an insight into players personalities that we would not normally get to see behind the clichéd, controlled and robotic environment of professional sports. As social media grows, so will the sport and I for one cant wait to see where it ends up.

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES(Fanpagelist) Fan Page List, Most listed NBA players on Twitter, viewed on 18 May 2013, http://fanpagelist.com/category/athletes/nba/view/list/sort/lists/

(NBA 2013) National Basketball Association, 2013, Top vote-getter Kobe earns record 15th straight All-star trip, The National Basketball Association, viewed 18 May 2013, http://www.nba.com/2013/news/01/17/all-star-2013-starters-announced/index.html

(Bleacher report 2012 number 9) Lee, Amber, 2012, The Biggest Twitter Disasters in Sports, Bleacher Report, viewed 18 May 2013, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1282707-the-biggest-twitter-disasters-in-sports/page/13

(Bleacher report 2012 number 4) Lee, Amber, 2012, The Biggest Twitter Disasters in Sports, Bleacher Report, viewed 18 May 2013, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1282707-the-biggest-twitter-disasters-in-sports/page/18

REFERENCES CONTWesthenry 2012, “Sports stars on Twitter: Marketing Genius or Massive Twits?”, Bleacher Report, 12 October, viewed 14 May 2013, <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1365810-social-media-in-sport-fantastic-future-or-tweeting-twits>

Irish Times 2013, “Kurtley Beale stood down from super rugby again”, Irishtimes.com, viewed 12 May 2013, <http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/kurtley-beale-stood-down-from-super-rugby-again-1.1387333>

https://twitter.com/JamesOConnor832 https://twitter.com/QuadeCooper https://twitter.com/QantasWallabies https://twitter.com/CVUNA

REFERENCES CONTFox Sports, Guy Hand, Melissa Woods. 2013. AFL Fines Melbourne Demons Players. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership. [Accessed 16 May 13].