Greetings,
As we all know, the influx of
social media played a major role in altering the environments of the industries
attached to it. From news to cartoons, or cinema to sports, each one of these
said industries no longer run in the same manner that they used to before the
arrival of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. In the sports industry,
specifically basketball, this holds correct.
Today, almost every NBA player
can be found on social media. Everyone seems to be using it, and not only do
the fans know that, but so do the teams. For NBA organizations, fan relations
are one of the most important aspects of the business- after all; it is the
fans that pay to watch. Teams now understand this and they have taken to social
media to connect with their followers. Sometimes you will see it through a
Tweet from the @ChicagoBulls, posing a question to its followers and retweeting
a few of the replies. Furthermore, it isn’t unlikely to see a conversation on
Twitter between a team and one of its players, two teammates, or even two rival
players commending each other. These are the types of things that fans enjoy
seeing and the NBA knows that. This is the reason why teams such as the Golden
State Warriors featured the Twitter handles of their own players on the back of
their warm-up shirts, and although that is just one example, these patterns are
becoming more and more apparent. The league knows social media is a new
frontier in engaging its’ fans and they are now beginning to exploit that. At
the end of the day, like every other professional sports league, the NBA is a
business and as long as there are fans, there will be revenue. Social media is
doing its’ part to help bolster this income.
There
are two main groups of individuals when it comes down to professional sports:
those who entertain (owners, players) and those who are entertained (fans).
Both groups depend on each other, but a certain group adheres to both parties:
the sports media. The media is essentially what puts the professional in
professional basketball. They need the fans as much as they need the teams and
the players; however, the only relationship they really can’t sour is the one
with the fans. For this reason, companies such as ESPN, and FoxSports for
example, have hit the network in their attempt to connect with the fans. By
polling their followers or offering prizes for correct sports trivia answers,
these companies are building themselves a stronger fan base. Not to mention,
the information they provide, biased or unbiased, is necessary in adding drama
and excitement; something both the league and fans crave. The NBA is an
entertainment business, but in order for it to make money like a business, it
obviously needs to entertain first. Whether it is Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago
uploading a video interview with one of the players, or Jason Patt of SB Nation
tweeting trade rumors that will probably never happen, fans are intrigued, and
when they are intrigued, they want to know and watch more.
It is a case of the customer always being
right. Fans on social media made Lebron James a villain when he left Cleveland
for Miami. The best player in the league was scrutinized for two years for
leaving his hometown team for a better one and as soon as he won his first
championship, his image turned to that of a hero. It’s the very same fans on
social media that fueled the argument of whether Lebron James is better than
Michael Jordan, a pointless dispute that still goes on and has no real answer.
Dalton Russell of Yahoo Sports even points out that Michael Jordan was lucky he
played in a time where social media didn’t exist. MJ had his fare share of
off-the-court issues and Russell states, “There is no question MJ would have been
more famous playing in today's NBA, but he might also have become more infamous
as well.” Today’s players such as Lebron
James can blame social media and they can thank social media, but one thing they
can’t do is ignore it. The presence of social media is too overwhelming to
disregard it. It is becoming the greatest influence among fans and fans are the
greatest influence to the organizations. There’s no way around it, everyone
needs to start playing by the rules.
Matt
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