Social Media within Football (Soccer) - is there a place for it?

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Knapp on December 9, 2009 at 10:52am

Common misconception: with social media you are not controlling the views of the public. You will never be able to control their views but rather you connect with them and you make them feel a part of the brand you are with.

If a football club is out to control the public's views, they will have quite the impossible task on their hands.

Of course there is room for social media in football, there is room for social media in all areas. The question is: Why should x company get into it?

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Permalink Reply by Andrew McConachie on December 11, 2009 at 10:51am

Thanks Ryan,

I agree, but it seems that most football teams that have this association with pressure areas are reluctant to venture into social media because of this. Maybe the answer is to make the social media more community centred?

I understand also your last point because I have also had contact with football teams recently who fail to see that involving social media would directly relate to hard profit. I am of limited experience obviously but I understanding the benefits of social media, I cannot think of any reason why this would not benefit financially if the fans are to embrace in the brand.

I am at the moment trying to source together a best practice examples case study in order to try an answer these questions.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher on December 16, 2009 at 7:48am

Hello andrew, Soccer is the worlds most popular sport, however just one sport could be limiting yourself, and sports unlimited so why limit yourself ? Its just my opinion anyway!

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Permalink Reply by Andrew McConachie on December 21, 2009 at 7:02am

Yes and within research I am currently putting together I will be comparing social media activity not just within soccer teams but discussing the different challenges between the sports. For example the NFL, NBA, Rugby, and Cricket websites.

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Permalink Reply by federico smanio on December 16, 2009 at 8:05am

Hi! I think there is great place for social media within football clubs. In general I hope this could happen soon. In my opinion this could work if the club is able to interact with the fans by answering to all questions and comments (especially the most critical and embarassing ones) and by establishing a code of conduct. I, as a fan, know that I can interact with my clubs protagonists and i can express my views freely but I cannot offend. I cannot incite violence or make any racistic comment... but i think the most important aspect is the possibilty given to the fans to help improve the club environment and ... idealistally take part to its success or failure. I think this is such an interesting and fascinating topic and there's so much to work on.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher on December 16, 2009 at 8:18am

yes i favour this opinion by federico

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Permalink Reply by federico smanio on December 16, 2009 at 9:36am

Also, I would like to add that this opportunity is absolutely independent from the kind of sport we are dealing with... thanks Christopher!

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Permalink Reply by Kris Gotsch on December 16, 2009 at 10:43am

Absolutely, but rather than controlling the language/opinions on forums for example I think the bigger challenge is to clearly define what the objectives are for a club getting involved with social media? Does a club only want to facilitate discussions and hence run the platform or complement the role of fan (discussion) sites OR does a club actively want to engage with fans this way? More and more soccer clubs are getting themselves actively involved in social media, look at the BVB website, the Fulham webste etc.

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Permalink Reply by federico smanio on December 19, 2009 at 6:51am

Yes Kris, I think you are absolutely right. In Italy the situation is much worse than U.K but at the same time this could represent a great opportunity for Italian clubs to enhance this dialogue. We still have major issues with fans behaviour inside the stadium and I guess unless the government and the clubs are able to resolve this it will be really hard for the football market to grasp this chance.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew McConachie on December 21, 2009 at 6:59am

I think the situation in Scotland in particular is also similar to that of Italy. The Celtic and Rangers and particular have faced difficulties with fan behaviour. When addressed however it seems as if they are not willing to uptake social media in any sort of push/pull format to help the clubs but as a way to sell more. Which I feel is the wrong approach. The Fulham website as addressed by Kris is one of which I have looked at and believe is an good example. However if looking at club websites for social media you must not overlook The Shed section of Chelsea FC.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher on December 17, 2009 at 1:00am

http://www.onlinesportscommunity.com/SportsRelatedArticles/17/264/

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