I had a great time at the Sports Marketing 2.0 Summit in New York last week meeting new people and discussing new ideas. We had some great discussions on how the internet, social media and new technologies are affecting sports, and how to take advantage of some of these things. Panel topics included measuring sports fans online, engagement, widgets and social networking/user generated content.
One main theme of the day was access--giving fans exclusive content and making them feel like they're getting something unique/special. Some sponsors/teams are already doing a good job of this, but others should think about this more. I took a decent amount of notes so I won't make you read through all of them. But I do want to share some key points on widgets that I made note of.
Widgets can be a powerful way to reach people and spread content, though I think the majority of people still don't know what one is, so it's not easy to create a widget that spreads easily. People are lazy, and as content creators, we should think about ways to go to them, instead of asking them to come to us. The NBA has over 700 widgets (player stats, pictures, videos, etc) and monetizes by selling ads/sponsorship across units. The Washington Wizards Playoff widget was successful in generating ticket revenue last year.
Widget best practices
1) content needs to be exclusive
2) Individuality- let people take what they want and customize it
Thanks to Pat Coyle for organizing this conference. You can see some pictures from the event in the widget below.
Find more photos like this on Sports Marketing 2.0