Yet Another Reason To Play In The Social Web Space? Increased Access to Professional Athletes. Will it Be Embraced?
Category: Blog - December 12, 2008
Remember the days when reporters would hang around with pro athletes, maybe even have dinner with them after the game? Me neither. Excluding NASCAR, access to professional athletes, especially the stars, continues to decrease on a yearly basis.
Today's salaries (ego), endorsements (ego), visibility and popularity (ego), free agency, etc. have all but put an end to a fan greeting their favorite player after the game, or the media being able to have an honest conversation with an elite professional athlete for longer than 30 seconds. The leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB) will claim privacy, security and reputation control (see Sean Avery) but come on, really? These guys are more of a threat to themselves then anyone being a threat to them. See Plaxico Burress, or the NFL in general.
Each of the four major leagues has strict media availability policies limiting media to certain amount of player/locker room access after games and practices. For fans, good luck getting a glimpse of your favorite player unless it's on the playing field, in a commercial or at one of the three community events or autograph signings their contract requires them to attend.
Friend or family? Even Minnesota Wild forward Marian Gaborik's representative was recently banned from the friends and family area of the event level. Is he really a threat to the Wild's locker room? Since there doesn't seem to be any type of reform brewing within the leagues to promote their athletes through fan and media access like NASCAR has been credibly praised for, is connecting through social media a good alternative?
[Side note: a NASCAR driver who drives 500 miles at speeds of 200 mph inches away from other cars will do 3-5 hospitality visits and interviews the day of a race prior to getting in the car. Other leagues: good luck getting within 100 ft of the backup's backup the day of a game.]
I recently heard that a certain prominent professional athlete claimed he sends 300 text messages a day. That's 300 SENT, not including received. Assuming this guy is awake for 14 hours/day (8 am - 10 pm), that comes out to almost one text message being sent every three minutes for the entire 14-hour a day. Wow.
If the leagues aren't going to embrace face-to-face access it may make sense to establish one, or any, of the following:
- Get a team cell phone and have a "player of the week" who fans can text and get responses to their questions. 300 texts? Send 10 of them to fans.
- Assign a representative (preferably a player) from each team who can maintain a Twitter or Plurk-type account on what the guys are doing, what's being heard/said, etc. Maybe do it just on the road or on game day. Something more than a team blogger who's employed by the PR department.
- Create a team Facebook page and have players, coaches, trainers and equipment managers share their favorite songs, foods and cities they like to visit when on the road. Use the page to distribute weekly videos of what's happening in different player's lives on and off the field. Fans could vote to determine the player of the week they want to hear from and answer their questions. The fans would help determine the content of the next video.
Give us something! No wonder there is so much speculation and rumors in today's sports news cycle.
Several high-level athletes like Tiger Woods maintain their own Web site, which I believe helps eliminate rumors, speculation and leaks since you're hearing it straight form the individual. But for those who don't, there should at least be a way for them to be visible - we certainly know the leagues won't let them. Critics will point to the Sean Avery issue, but an idiot will always find a way to be an idiot.
And, fewer injuries? Maybe if there was better access Gaborik would have been chatting with the media or fans instead of playing an intense game of hacky sack and injuring his groin. Sorry, "lower body injury" (another topic for another day).
Matt Hansen
Account Supervisor
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