Sports & Social Media:- Whys & Wherefores Part I

This week we start publishing some articles from one of the moderators and contributors to this blog. It has been a long time coming and a bit of arm-twisting here and there. Richard is currently one of the writers for Marketing Africa magazine where he contributes for the sports marketing column. Here's an article on Sports, Social Media and Digital Platforms;

Champions League
The UEFA Champions League 2011 and the whole world is glued to their screens; flat, HD, projector or otherwise. Its kick-off and the hallowed pitch that is Wembley Stadium is buzzing as is the streams of news coming through major channels be they sports or cable news ones.
Even ‘louder’ is the buzz created in the social media circles of Twitter, Facebook and among others. The first goal is scored by Pedro, the whole game now went into overdrive and the social networks were red-hot.

(Image courtesy of www.linkbuilding.net)

For anyone not watching the game live, a second-by-second update was running on Twitter and this came through in positive comments about the favoured team, barbs and jibes thrown at the losing team and faltering players along with histories around players and teams.
Gone are the days that we had to wait for the television and radio updates to know the highlights and scores of a game.

Shaq Attack
A few days later, one of sports easily recognisable figures, Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal nicknamed ‘Shaq’, ‘The Big Daddy’, ‘Diesel’, to use but a few of the many names announced his retirement via YouTube and instantly the news was trending in Twitter and other social media platforms. Perfect way to leave the basketball world!

(Image from www.uksportsnetwork.com)

Yes, sport has slowly and is now synonymous with social media. We have seen many spoofs or what you might call product endorsements done using short clip videos posted on YouTube and Facebook and these links tweeted and retweeted by brand followers, ambassadors and admirers.
Even at a local level, sports disciplines such as football and rugby have started appreciating the use of this platform. Talk of the Kenya Premier League and the various club fans and sports media enthusiasts will tell you which club is playing where and the fans in attendance, their cheer songs and other enticing offers.
These technological developments are slowly helping us maintain and establish new connections and reconnect with those we know or knew from previous engagements. The connections too are not restricted to individuals but include companies, brands, and for the sake of our discussion, clubs, players and relating sources.

Converse not Command
Social media tools are becoming integral tools of communication and this is favoured channel for most if not all sports participants. The demographics show us the numbers of those using the platforms are the ages between 18-30 years. The platforms had initially swung in favour of the PC but are slowly tilting towards the mobile telephony thanks again to this age group.
The main bane though as is usually the case for new technology, how successful it is in implementation will be from understanding it. Be it an individual or team start by developing a proper strategy that forms part of a larger marketing strategy.
Remember social media is about creating conversation, not one-way or one-sided communication from the brand, individual or team. It should not be a simple posting of updates and news but a long-term and continuous process that could enable you to get feedback from your fans and the wider sporting and non-sporting audience.

One Millionth Man
NBA – the US professional basketball league teams have been able to utilise these social media platforms to make for very interesting interactions with their fan base. For example, one of its biggest players (quite literally too and the new gentle ‘Superman’) Dwight Howard playing for the franchise Orlando Magic has perfected this.

(Image courtesy of www.mediafunnel.com)
From communicating about his daily engagements, he also pushes for the brands he endorses and acknowledged his 1 millionth follower with an all-expenses paid trip to Orlando for a game and hang-time with the rest of the team stars. (As of the time of going to Press, he had over 2 million followers on this @DwightHoward, one million more than his team @Orlando_Magic)
One must remember that sporting events, sports personalities and teams as well as news around sports has made the growth of social media platforms explode in the last 3-5 years. Major events from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa all made use of social media and were able to keep vibrant conversation going about the events.
Sample this, the nuisance and widely controversial vuvuzela had an iPhone App which became the number 1 app on iTunes in 50 countries in June 2010. Nike with its ‘Write the Future’ World Cup advert had over 19 million views on YouTube.
As sports enthusiasts hunger for fodder for more and more about their favoured teams or individuals there is definitely a need and demand created and these teams and individuals have to oblige albeit trying to maintain as much professionalism and true personality as they would in real life.

{Part II coming soon...}

Moi University to offer Sports Management - Good Progress ...

This is a most laudable move by one of the public universities in the country. We at SportsKenya had thought that some of the more established higher learning institutions especially the private ones would have taken a lead in this. No sweat maybe some have something in the works.
It has also been a labour of love for sports entrepreneurs who need to hone their skill in sports business and management of this oft overlooked but lucrative industry.

A causally look at sports and the business around it in Kenya and the African region, we have a serious deficiency in training of skilled people to manage sport. Suffice to say, much of the rot in sport can blamed on lack of formal structures upon which sports administrators can hone their skills in building viable sports teams, entities and ultimately brands.
A few South African and also one Egyptian higher learning institutions have been offering these sports management courses such as UNISA, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and Cairo University (the latter 2 of these having been selected to carry FIFA/CIES programme).
Such programmes can be used to provide practical skills from retired or active sports people who can be perfect sounding boards for the budding talent that is waiting in the wings. Who wouldn't want to learn a thing or two from past heroes; Kipchoge Keino, Douglas Wakiihuri, Benjamin Ayimba, Steve Tikolo and many of our retired heroes. It can also provide a nice incubation nest for development of cutting edge products for use in sport. See what Nike has been able to do? (in any case it was borne out of an individual's zeal to succeed on the track and his institution believed in him...)
Moi University kudos! It is a great step forward and should believe as earlier stated more higher learning institutions can take this up. Surely there is room for diversity in your programmes. We're watching...

Kenya Budgetary Estimates 2011-12 - What is in it for Sports?

Coming at a time when the Kenyan Government is easily finding it hard to raise revenues as well as make capital expenditure, we in the sports industry have put our lot in there too. From the Budget Statement - Fiscal Year 2011-12, as presented by Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, a similar token given to the development of sport in the country in 2008-9 by then Minister Amos Kimunya makes a comeback.

Quoting the statement,
"...apart from engaging in these activities, I would also like to encourage them to nurture their talents in the realm of sports. Time and time again, our young people have made this country proud by their exemplary performance in the international tournaments in various disciplines. (... all good so far)
I believe that a clear investment in sports backed by proper management, can turn this activity, which attracts thousands of our young people into a sustainable employer. Our youth should be able to follow their dreams and establish careers in sports ( ....well put Mr. Minister Sir)
To this end, I have allocated KShs. 210 million ( 1 million per constituency) towards competitive sports for youth countrywide. This will be used for purchase of trophies, monetary award to competing teams and compensation for officials overseeing this initiative. ( ...now you sound ambiguous Sir, which sports discipline & that amount's too measly unless you hold 1 tournament per year)
The private companies under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) budgets to match this amount, at least on a shilling-for-shilling basis." (...nice one throwing the challenge to private corporate firms making obscene profits but committing measly amounts to sport BUT that word CSR word just craps me out! )

Not belabouring the points above, we believe there is more that the Ministry could have done to give incentive to the sports industry. Just like we have said before (and he's also quoted), sports can be an employer of many if the right investments and management are put into place.

• Our infrastructure has suffered considerably and one way they can aid this is by offering tax incentives to private investors willing to build stadia, sports arenas and community centres. In fact some of the KShs.210 m should go to building of community centres, since a one-off amount is more like a quick-fix but no long term work envisioned beyond that.
• Tax waivers should be accorded to suppliers of sports equipment too to entice clubs and communities to invest in these longer term projects.
• Still on a longer term basis, and especially with the new dispensation having counties some options for private investment through infrastructure bonds should be pursued.
• Allow and encourage counties and local governments to introduce various preferential measures to support the sports industry. Most of the local governments have lost control of parcels of land meant for stadia and other sports centres making it difficult to move forward.
• Tax holiday to the winning individuals and teams across the world?
  Here's a sample of what some top officials in Nigeria are doing to entice the private companies to invest in sports.
  

As for now, nice effort Mr. Minister, but this is to us at SportsKenya is just a drop in the ocean! What say you good people of Kenya?

Sports Business in Kenya - Budding Investment

Thanks and appreciation to all who contacted us (so far) on the sports marketing and business industry in the country. It is a good thing to note that the Kenyan sporting scene has started appreciating the need for professionalising sports. There are quite a number of firms engaged in sports management, sports events management and branding in sports. There are also sports marketing firms which have specialised in various sports disciplines but are hoping to diversify their offering.

Kenyan Sports - Getting Paid at Last ?

From initial feedback, the main sports in consultancy are athletics, football and rugby. Secondary ones include cricket,volleyball, swimming and basketball. The figures in the sponsorship are our closest aim to the findings. This shall be tabulated soon and we shall hope to inspire our sports specialists to invest more in sport as we look to being a major sporting nation in the continent and the world - our rightful place.