Tweeting from the field: Sports meet social media

October 26th, 2009

Social media, for all its downfalls, has proven to be a powerful tool for organizations to interact directly with customers and fans. This is especially true for athletes, musicians, and other celebrities—people love communicating directly with their favorite icons via Twitter and Facebook. The celebrities seem to enjoy it, too. Just look at the camaraderie that THE_REAL_SHAQ (Shaquille O’Neal) has built on Twitter. Even I follow him, and I don’t care about basketball anymore.

Unfortunately for professional athletes, their respective sports leagues haven’t always been receptive to this whole social media “thing.” Like many corporate overlords, some sports leagues have run screaming from the idea of allowing their assets—that is, the players—to tell the world what’s going on right this minute, especially if this minute is happening during a game or at a team’s facility.

Other leagues, however, have embraced the world of social media as a way to generate more interest and ultimately a larger fanbase. Which American sports leagues get it, and which need to be hit with a social networking clue-by-four?