The Social Media Season: Instagram at Sports Stadiums.
Passionate sports fans expect to connect to the game on a whole new level than before. Looking around the stadium, vast numbers of fans have their phones out: taking photos and videos; uploading them to Instagram and Twitter; giving updates and insights on the game through Facebook and checking in with FourSquare, to let friends know they are at the match. It has become expected to be able to use smartphones and Wi-Fi connectivity within sports stadiums, to do all of these things.
One football club who is taking this social media wave by storm, with a compelling in-stadium experience is Barcelona, who currently has the most liked Facebook page in global sports and 815,947 followers on Instagram. Barça FC’s Camp Nou recently teamed up with Telefonica to provide Wifi within the stadium. Barça understand the importance of social media, for example, for the final at Wembley, more than 6,000 Twitter messages were sent per second and Barça received more than a million mentions around the world.
This isn’t just a European trend though. A Mashable article highlights how social media is changing the NFL. Former defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans John Thornton says. "Twitter has changed everything."
"Social media has taken the place of autographs” Thornton states, “Before, you wanted players' autographs, now you want players to say something back to you on Twitter."
Whilst of course sports teams are doing this for fan engagement, new business opportunities can hardly be ignored.
Revenue Generating Opportunities
Sean Walsh, (Founder of Digital-Football and leading Football Social Media expert) believes that venues around the world should be taking advantage of the user generated visual content created in their stadiums and showcasing it on their big screens. Tens of thousands of fans on their mobile devices want to connect to their favourite brands and are also creating new revenue-generating opportunities.
1. Sponsorship and advertising – can tailor their messages, which can be shown on the big screen intermittently between social media and targeted to different areas such as VIP or club areas.
2. Customized and targeted promotions – Every event can be turned into a customized experience with branded digital content based on fan demographics.
3. Exclusive fan services – Social media at events give fans an opportunity to participate in—and pay for—exclusive, in-stadium services such as special video channels or instant access to team stats. Premium seats or VIP Club access with instant upgrades could also be sold.
