Comments on: Phoenix Suns and Twitter

By: Kaylee Lopez

Kaylee Lopez — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:12:11 +0000

If the Los Suns were wearing their uniforms to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, I would be all for it.

By: » Barça 1.0 Assajos sobre la realitat

» Barça 1.0 Assajos sobre la realitat — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:54:46 +0000

[...] tot tipus d’expectatives. El paradigma d’entitat esportiva segueix sent a nivell de la NBA els Phoenix Suns, i a nivell d’esportistes nord-americans, són reconeguts twittejadors Shaq O’Neal, Steve Nash [...]

By: Carson McKee

Carson McKee — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:31:38 +0000

Great post – thank. Looks like the Suns are doing some exciting things, I’ve quite impressed with what the Chicago Blackhawks have been up to as well (http://salesdirection.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/facebook-twitter-and-sports-marketing/)

Great engagement!

By: Jason Peck

Jason Peck — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:30:31 +0000

The key thing is that these efforts and more can EASILY be done by other teams. In today’s economy, they should be doing anything and everything they can to generate extra publicity and really connect with fans. It’s not a magic-bullet/cure for all ills but it does work for building relationships.

It’s also important to realize that Twitter is only one piece of the puzzle. There’s probably an equal or greater opportunity to bring together fans and influencers who write blogs, discuss team news on message boards, etc.

By: Russell Scibetti

Russell Scibetti — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:34:42 +0000

The Suns are really lucky to have a person like Shaq availabile for this. He isn’t doing this just because the team asked him to – he LOVES being able to interact directly with the fans. He always has, all throughout his career.

You can see the differences in personality in how athletes use Twitter. Steve Nash has started using it, but he’s never going to engage people as often as Shaq will.

The athlete definitely needs to realize that this goes well beyond the request of a team. This is about their own public image and a unique opportunity to interact with their fans in a way that still offers distance (its only through the web) and control (they can write about what they way, respond when they want, etc.).

By: Brian Gleason

Brian Gleason — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:59:40 +0000

Ryan makes some good points. In my experience working with professional athletes it isn’t difficult to get a player to agree to things like this, but getting them to follow through is an entire different story.

You definitely need to create buy-in and find a creative way to show them the results/incentive.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:24:53 +0000

Any idea what Shaq is getting from the Suns for doing this? I think that compensation/a sense of commitment to the team would be the #1 road block from other teams doing something similar. With players having their own websites/blogs, they need an incentive for doing it through the team. Not that they necessarily should need an incentive, but that is generally how things are in the sports world.