Introduction
Sports has been used by humanity since time immemorial as a way of interacting, associating and understanding one another. There are as diverse kinds of sports as there are diverse people and cultures. Today, with the advent of social network services spearheaded by the worldwide web, sportspersons and their fans have found an avenue through to interact. In the long run, sportspersons have been able to communicate, advertise and reach out to their fans through the social network services because of the advanced technologies and the facilitation courtesy of the worldwide web.
History of Social Network Services, Statistics and figures of users
Sports in relation to social networks is itself a nascent concept that is yet to receive full utility and achieve its intended benefits. Social network services form part of recent history only having gained ground as late as in the mid-2000s. The sports social networks similarly arose around the same time merely borrowing the concept from the social media establishment. Up to date, statistics remain scanty as each and every sports has its own independent autonomous and unregulated sports network service. In addition, the networks have no definite jurisdiction or restriction as to subscribers. The fact that no registration is required to start social networks services has extended the statistical gap. However, there are a list of world’s most popular sporting social networks. The list is completed by over one hundred sport social networks. In the interest of both time and scope, this paper shall only mention what in its contention are the top ten sports network services globally. Take note that is largely subjective and depends on personal preferences and inherent biases. The list includes skimag.com, Sportswar network, Nike+, Access Athletes, NBA.com, rodeoUP.com Network, Sports for social change network, FanVoice, MyAFL, NHL Collect and Planet Orange. The social network services are as diverse as they represent either single or combinations of sporting activities. They are accessed by millions and millions of fans and players alike who would want to catch local and international sports vibes, current happenings, rating, scores, schedules, timetables, fixtures, among other sports related contents. They also serve to relay information, analysis and commentary on the performance, services, occurrences, games about leagues. NBA.com for instance serves as the official site to obtain information in relation to the national basketball association leagues. In that strain, it carries stories relating to the league teams such as Lakers, Hawks, Kings and Nuggets, among other teams.
Social Influences of the Social Network Services
The power of the social media cannot be underestimated. The social network services have occupied the niche in a modern society that can only be equated to what the mainstream media occupied in the traditional dispensations. In this regard, it ought to be appreciated that social network services play an influential role in the entire globe. This argument can be premised on to main reasons. One, sports personalities have the tendency of unifying their fans. As such, social network services have been used to enable communication between these personalities and their fan bases. Millions of fans often get the news from the social networks on the latest updates concerning their fans. People tend to mimic their fans or follow their advices and suggestions. For instance, in cases where charity campaigns are on-going perhaps in efforts to raise funds, often sports personalities use these social networks to communicate with their fans to contribute towards the fundraising. On the other hand, sports with all its competition often has the overall ability to unite and determine the trajectory that society follows. In this regard, social networks form the foundation that unifies the entire globe in peace and love. This ability has an influential consequence on the ultimate capacity of unifying society and educating society towards the pursuit of a moral objective. In many times, these networks have been used by people to communicate the message of peace and love. In the long run, the biggest influence that social network services have is the global audiences they attract. In a world that is largely diverse, with various systems in play politically, socially and economically, it is often difficult to get the collective attention of the entire world. Social network services have this rare ability which gives them an influential role in the entire globe.
Social Network Services for Marketing or Business
The large audience that social network services appeal to make it a hot cake for the business and marketing. Generally, the dynamics in marketing operates on the concept of accessing the most number of people with the product information. Access to people is not a merely easy task. It involves canvasing and navigating so as to reach as many people as possible with the utility of the least resource possible. However, sports social network services have unlimited and ready mass audience that should consume the marketing information. In that regard businesses spare a substantial amount of their marketing budget on social network services. In addition, some businesses are correlated to some sports in that sports fans and players tend to consume their products. In that light, these businesses are compelled to subscribe to marketing that maintains a presence in the social network services. A typical example could be cited in the beverages industries. Consumption of soft drinks has a direct correlation to some sports such as soccer. In order to tap on this ready market and audience, businesses advertise their products in the social network services. Others have taken this concept further and created or sponsored the actual network services. This enables these businesses own the site and censure the content that is communicated to the audience. This way they exploit every opportunities to advertise their products through these networks and conveniently obtain feedback from the audience about their products. In addition, some fans develop a product loyalty merely from such events. The thought that the business supports the sport he or she likes sways him or her into using and consuming the product. This communicates down to increased sales to the benefit of marketers and overall businesses.
Social Network Services for sport marketing
The social network services do not only suffice for purposes of business marketing, they could as well be used in the marketing of sports. The latter function has been executed successfully overtime. The networks are first used as mechanisms for generating a supporting base for a particular sport or a combination of sports. It is not limited to fan base only. The networks could as well be used to create a pull of sportspersons. Take the example of the sport for social change network, SSCN London. This social network is primary intended to pull a group of both supporters and sportspersons to engage in sporting activities with the overall objective of occasioning social change in the City of London. This approach ensures that sports are fully marketed and supported within the respective jurisdictions. It should be appreciated that sports in itself is empty and unproductive without a fan base. Sportspersons need to get an audience and a support that drives the game and give it the breath of life hence the need to market sports. In addition, there is a slight, subtle but significant connection between sports and income earned by sportspersons. Commercial endorsements that sportspersons usually win go into sustaining their livelihoods often depend of their levels of popularity to the target market of the endorsee company products. For example, Tiger Woods would win the Nike endorsements for the simple reason that Nike products target the market that associate and admire Tiger. In that respect, it remains essential for the sportspersons and related parties market the product as much as possible. This informs the need to use any available media for marketing sporting activities. It is on that premise that sports are marketed on such social network services. In addition, sports has overall objectives that it fulfils on society. These include entertainment, unity, promoting diversity, promotion of talents, among other functions. This informs a secondary premise for the marketing of sporting activities. The London based SSSN can be used illustratively in this case. Social network services form a convenient forum to drive the sports agenda. It finds the audience from there different localities and at different times. It easily achieves what could posit a logistical challenge for the promoters of sports. In addition, social network services have the advanced features that easily translate content from one language version to another. This facilitate a multilingual interaction convenient and necessary in marketing international sports that attract fans and sportspersons who speak different languages. These, among other efficiencies make social network services a good ground for marketing and promotion of sports activities.
Social Service Networks for sports players and teams
The social services network can be related to sports players and teams in a dual aspect. One it can be used by as a formal avenue for communication of fixtures, timetables, schedules, movements, transfers, among other things. On the hand, it could be used an informal avenue for players to communicate to their fans. This section shall briefly examine the two situations. To begin with, networks like NBA.com have used the social network as a formal site where official communication by the players, the teams and the league organizers are communicated. NBA.com site has comprehensive news on the league performance. In addition to the routine fixtures, the site also has a number of commentaries and analysis in relation to players. Any occurrence in the National Basketball is covered in this social network. There is also a slight portion where fans and analysts are allowed to post their comments and observations. This way the social network is a comprehensive meeting between two essential groups; players and fans. In analysis the operations of NBA.com, one cannot help but identify the distinct nature of its features. Other than the written set of information, the social network has highly integrated the site to the extent that it also has clips and video links showing the various game highlights that have taken place, the special moves and dunks that celebrated players did manage to pull in the court and the analytical combination of the games. This enables fans to watch the clips and remember their favourite sportspersons’ moves. In addition, the social network has comprehensive download and recording features that enable players and fans download and upload their favourite clips to the site. This effective places this site has the official communication site of the NBA tournament.
On the other hand, these social network services can be used by players and sports organizers for informal communication. In this vein, the service is made in a facilitative mode so that it enables interaction between the players, sports organizers and the fan base. The SSCN in London is a pretty good example in this vein. It allows for the communication by sports organizers and the players, both actual player and potential players. This system facilitates an informed position between the players and the fan base. It also promotes the sports for fans’ passion and appreciation of the game is affected in the positive through these reactions. In the long run the intention of these sites often is to enable the promotion of sports. Often, they have the background knowledge of that the fans generally consider sports as recreational and should not be blended with formality. This is the argument upon which the informal approach is premised on. However, it is indicative to note that some of these social network services assume a quasi-formal approach where the operations are a blend of formality and informality. This way sports administrators are able to communicate to the fans formally and the fans give feedback and communicate to one another informally. In the long run, the overall objective often is to establish and facilitate communication.
Application of SNS for sports business
Social services network has already been applied in facilitating sports business. However, it is this paper’s contention that enough has not yet been done. The social network service has tremendous potential that if fully utilized and exploited could facilitate sports business extensively. On the first part, these sites are largely non-commercial. As it stands, the site managers should introduce commercial elements in the network. Sports is about passion and ordinarily passionate fans would not mind parting with a dime or so in return for comprehensive information. The managers could provide some of the information that is detailed, well synthesised and correctly captured on a commercial basis. In addition, in light of sportspersons celebrity statuses, it would serve the network managers positively if they availed the sportspersons for interactive sessions on the networks on a commercial basis. The fan that would like to engage the celebrity would have to part with some income and in turn earn the chance of interacting with their celebrity. This would commute to sports business that could raise adequate funds for the development of the game and the sustenance of the people involved. In the long run, it should be appreciated that sports cannot occur in a vacuum, the need for fund cannot be overemphasized.
References
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Kikuchi, K. (2007). Investigating the use of social networking services in Japanese EFL classrooms. The Jult Call Journal, 1-13.
NBA. (2013, March 28). NBA League pass. Retrieved March 29, 2013, from NBA: http://www.nba.com/
Peck, J. (2007, December 10). 50 Sports Social Networking Websites. Retrieved March 29, 2013, from Take a Peck: http://www.jasonfpeck.com/2007/12/10/50-sports-social-networking-websites/
