Sports Geek Look Book – @NBA edition

At Sports Geek we are constantly looking a sports websites to see what the latest trends are in sports marketing, digital activations and sports content marketing strategies.  We are constantly taking notes using Evernote to clip examples that we might use in the future with Sports Geek clients.  So we have decided to shortcut that method for you by creating the Sports Geek Look Book to profile sports websites, our first edition highlights the team websites on the NBA.

You can flick through all NBA team websites via the slides below or fill out the form and we will email you a link to download the full page versions in PDF form.

We hope you like the Sports Geek Look Book, please share it with your friends and colleagues.


To those at the NBA and NBA teams who have put in the hard work to produce these sites we thank you as a fan and as a Sports Geek.

Look Book on Pinterest


Look Book on Harf Time

We discussed the Look Book on Harf Time today as well as the unfortunate hacking on the Burger King Twitter account.

This week’s Harf Time segment looked a new tool Tint and a site called Thuzio.

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Blake Griffin – Dunk that stopped the Internet

Wow first LeBron jumped over John Lucas, but Blake Griffen topped that with this!

Tweets around the Sports world

Best mashup award?

Dirk providing the color commentary

Also did Kendrick Perkins delete his Twitter account after the dunk?

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ScottPendlebury.com launched

We are pleased to see the launch of ScottPendlebury.com yesterday as Scott was awarded with his second All-Australian selection.

Some of the new features include:

We look forward to the ScottPendlebury.com engaging fans fans as Scott builds his profile online.

Scott Pendlebury's new website built by Sports Geek

Featured on Tout

Thanks to the guys behind Tout who are doing a great job & have added Pendles to the Featured Users (the only non-US athlete profiled).

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Digital & TV rights – What to do?

Sports are entering a new world of media rights with the web/digital platforms becoming available becoming more viable as a serious broadcast platform. No longer are digital rights just the “steak knives” in the sports television rights deal.

What are digital rights?

Digital rights are many different things with various options, let me name the forms:

  • Live Web Video – Game TV broadcast available streaming becoming more viable as broadband capacity increases.
  • Live Web Audio – Live game coverage streaming, with many radio stations now streaming some sports are putting a price on these rights.
  • Web Hosting – Web development & advertising outsourced for sports in return for a web site & cash
  • Mobile – new developing area that can include video & audio as above as well as “official” apps for smartphones like iPhone, Blackberry & Android.

One example that we discussed on @SportzfanRadio was where digital rights clashed with TV rights was at The Masters.  The Masters enjoyed terrific TV & web coverage with the return of Tiger Woods.  However, The Masters iPhone application video features were locked outside of the USA.  I don’t think people would choose to watch The Masters on the small screen of an iPhone when HD coverage is provided via TV partners it is just an example of “old media rules” falling behind the technology.

At V21 it was interesting to hear at Sam Walch, who looks after all rights at the AFL, to talk about two types of consumers.  One who is “on the couch” who is served primarily by the television and the other who is “on the move” without access to a TV.  It is the “on the move” fan that sports are now looking to serve via the web & mobile platforms.  The next question sports face is then, “Who Pays?”

@_SportsGeek_ #v21 Being discussed. Content is King but who pays? With #AFL, #MySpace & Fremantle Media… Advertisers, Media or Consumers? 10:33 PM Apr 14th via Tweetie

The overwhelming response from fans is definitely not them but it is up to leagues like the AFL, NFL, NBA & MLB to come up with revenue models that work with the digital & mobile platforms.

How should digital rights deals be structured?
What do you think?

Looking forward to hearing more about digital rights at Sport Research Group Conferences in July 2010
Contact Sports Geek for more info on SSMI and ways to develop your sports brand

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Fantasy sports – The first wave of social media?

Recently my inbox was bombarded with emails concerning NBA fantasy trades in my local NBA fantasy competition.  It got me thinking that if social media is defined as connected discussion then the boom of fantasy sports online could be seen as a pioneer in social media.

Like social media, fantasy sports connects people bringing them together over a common interest.  It stimulates off-line meetups like we see on Twitter with tweetups.  Our NBA fantasy competition regularly holds our draft night each year in company board rooms or stadium corporate suites.  Do you meet with your fantasy sports friends IRL (in real life) if so let us know how?

We keep hearing the statistics on how much time people are spending on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter & YouTube.  Fantasy sports is a huge driver of web site traffic as the guys at SuperFooty can attest with SuperCoach.  Not only is there a huge spike in traffic when the teams are announced each Thursday, fans flock to the site for the final match of the round on Sunday to check the progress of their weekly matchup.

On that note there are still spots available in the SuperCoach Twitter League Code 404204 please join in the fun.

What do you think?
Can fantasy sports be regarded as social media?

Why do you play fantasy sports?

Connect with Sports Geek on Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn
 Contact Sports Geek about the Sports Geek Social Media Workshop.

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Working with League brands

One of the biggest challenges many teams face is differentiating themselves whilst adhering league brand guidelines.  It was a common theme with the teams I met with on #sportsgeektrip.

Many leagues across the globe follow a similar digital model.  League web sites are developed and team web sites are created under the league umbrella.

MLB.com, NBA.com,  NHL.com, AFL.com.au are some examples of these Leagues that follow this “Umbrella model”.
(*edit thanks for comment: Essendon stand alone as an exception running independently of the AFL very successfully with EssendonFC.com.au)

If you take a look at team websites e.g. LA Dodgers Vs New York Yankees or Collingwood Vs Hawthorn you’ll see some team customization but they are locked into a League framework.  The NBA follows a similar model but teams are using custom landing pages (or splash pages like the Mavs do) to offer fans special deals.

Other leagues like the NFL.com & PremierLeague.com have decoupled the League’s web deal from the teams.

What’s better?

The “Umbrella model” makes administration of League branding much easier and sometimes can lead to a better sponsorship deal as it is league-wide.  However, it can be restrictive both creatively and financially to the teams who want to push the Web 2.0 envelope.  From a technical prospective a league wide CMS (content management system) does reduce the need for in-house web staff for teams but many people who use these systems find them too restrictive.  Leagues that abandon the “Umbrella model” face the problem of a potentially creating a tech gap between the have and have-nots.  Some teams like those run by MSG (Knicks, Rangers, Liberty) help promote their teams outside the standard team’s sites through the stadium (TheGarden.com), then again with so many sports properties MSG is a unique business.

What are your thoughts?

  • Does the ability for league’s to secure deals outweigh a team’s desire to innovate?
  • Would teams do a better job if they could go it alone?
  • Would small-market teams struggle maintaining own website?

Ask Sports Geek a question on FormSpring.
Contact Sports Geek if you want web advice to keep your fans coming back

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Are Athletes Obligated?

Athletes for Hope has got athletes talking about whether they’re obligated to give back to the community.

NBA player now commentator Charles Barkley once famously said “I’m not a role model… Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”

It appears more and more that Barkley is in the minority with several athletes running their own charity foundations or spending time supporting charitable causes

Please check it out – Are Athletes Obligated?

Some of the biggest names in sports have responded – Tony Hawk, Mario Lemieux, Ben Roethlisberger, Steve Nash, Alonzo Mourning, Mia Hamm & Jeff Gordon.

Wonder what Tiger Woods feelings on the subject are?

Need help starting a discussion about your charity or passion?
Contact Sports Geek to get to your fans talking.

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AFL Draft Machine, keeping fans involved

AFL Draft MachineOver the past 10 years the AFL Draft has grown in profile, just 3 years ago it was a 1 hour highlight show on Saturday afternoon, this year it will make it’s debut in prime time on Fox Sports on Thursday night.

Some purists may suggest that this is just another example of the AFL following the lead of US sports like the NFL and NBA, but why not follow? The NFL draft is so successful it is covered by TWO networks!  USA Today describes the NFL Draft as “the next step in the evolution on the highest-rated TV sports where nobody moves much”.

The AFL Draft will be a HIT in prime time as fans are missing their footy fix. The draft provides one thing to all footy fans, hope.  The televised AFL Draft will be slightly different to the NFL as the top 10 picks will be announced in reverse order from 10 to 1. Will this work? We’ll see on Thursday.

The AFL is promoting the Draft on AFL.com.au with the AFL Draft Machine . It allows fans to sift through draft prospects and try to determine who their team may pick up. Online promotions like this are terrific in allowing fans to participate in an event. It allows the AFL to “crowd source” data regarding the popularity of picks and report back to the fans. This exactly what Mark Cuban was talking about on why Live Sports is still the king on TV.

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