Fans want to participate too

by: Brian Gray

The idea of smart phones making access to sports and entertainment news is nothing new. Social networking and smart phone apps have allowed consumers to be closer to ‘the game’ than ever before.

Apps like NBA Game Time and ESPN Sportscenter have revolutionized the way consumers receive sports news. Live tweets from sporting events give us real-time updates on games.

But as technology becomes more advanced where do we draw the line between keeping up with sports news and actually participating in it?

The new trend of ‘Social TV’ is beginning to become more popular. It’s the idea that the audience becomes able to participate with their television viewing over real time. Whether it be sending their favorite choice for “American Idol” or tweeting a question to the live reunion episode of “Real Housewives,” consumers enjoy the feeling of participating in the show.

Since the sports business is blurring the line between sports news and entertainment, it will come across challenges when taking advantage of social media.

News outlets resist social input while entertainment is beginning to embrace a fan interaction. As the entertainment business is moving forward with ‘Social TV,’ the sports news business is left with a dilemma.

We know that sports fans are watching live, but are they looking for this type of “social” experience too? Sure, according to a recent poll of sports fans done by Coyle Media, a sports media blog, over 80 percent of fans who follow teams on Twitter are likely to go online via smart phones while watching sports on TV.

Sure fans can tweet to players on the basketball court and journalists can real time Tweet about the game, but fans are not getting a sense of participation from that. Sure athletes can tweet on their own time, but tweeting on the sidelines of a broadcasted game is against the rules.

The rule exists for a reason. Imagine if players could tweet about their thoughts during a game. But the economic benefits of ‘Social TV’ are exponentially increasing and it is only a matter of time before these rules begin to break.

At the end of the day phone companies and the sports industry want one thing, your money. If Derrick Rose live tweeting to a fan in his own living room makes money, then how long will it take for that to become a reality?