Sport generates passion like almost nothing else in modern life – and that passion comes to life on social media. People across the world flock to see the triumphs and trials, the human stories that are told through sport – and sports clubs, athletes, governing bodies, broadcasters and fans are rapidly accelerating their use of social media to experience great events.
Over 40% of all tweets are sent about sport and football players have some of the largest facebook followings. This year has seen the #RISE of England cricket’s social media through the Ashes, and then there was the incredible swell of online activity that happened around the Olympics. More recently, another Premier League season has kicked off with a flurry of transfers – but it’s not just the cash that transfers, this session will reveal the social media impact on players and clubs.
Is the ability to influence your sporting community and the wider media landscape through social media is a blessing or a curse?
Is there risk for of raising your head above the parapet? Do the haters make it hateful or exciting?
What do sports and their participants want out of social media? Reach? Retention? Revenue?
And what about all the participation in sport that goes on every day but isn’t professional – is there more return to be had on the social media investment of all those runners, cyclists, swimmers, golfers… ?
And how on earth do you measure engagement anyway, when all the platforms’ analytics are black boxes.
This panel conversation will deal with all these issues and more. Seven League will be unveiling some exclusive research carried out over the 2013 summer of sport and a select panel of top-flight sports people will be debating the issues and giving their insight. We look forward to seeing you there and handling your questions.
Moderator: Richard Ayers, CEO, Seven League
