Guest Post: Iain Taker is an associate at Kemp Little LLP, specialising in commercial and sports law, and a registered lawyer under the FA Football Agency Regulations.  You can follow him on twitter @iaintaker or on LinkedIn.  Following on the from the success of his last article here on UKSN, here is the first of two part look at sports bodies and clubs interaction with the public through digital media.

A digital media strategy is increasingly not only an accepted part of sports governing bodies, clubs and players (“parties”) interaction with the public but a necessary part.  This article will look at the importance of interaction with, opposed to merely talking at, the public.  A number of parties appear to have failed to harness the potential digital media offers but those who have understood its capabilities are reaping the benefits in both monetary and non-monetary terms.

This article will examine aspects of a digital media strategy that should be foremost in the mind when planning and reviewing such a strategy and extracting the maximum benefit from its use.  It is clear that there is no one size fits all strategy and that parties need to determine their individual requirements, budgetary constraints and the skills available to them before creating, implement and maintaining a suitable strategy.  A common complaint from fans of the parties is that there is often a lack of understanding in relation to the difference between having a digital media presence and using that presence to engage the fans.

Engaged or merely courting?

A vast number of parties now have a presence through digital media platforms and in particular an increasing presence on social media channels. However there is a significant difference between presence and successful engagement. Too few parties have been successful in achieving a sustained level of engagement. Often this is a result of not prioritising digital media efforts, lacking the sufficient expertise or having an ineffective policy.

Many may wrongly believe that a successful strategy is simply a case of being able to make the necessary resources available, but this is not the reality.  A recent survey by Newcastle United Supporters Trust found that only 3% of fans believed the club listened to them. Such a figure is not uncommon even amongst the higher profile teams and it is symptomatic of the argument that the sports industry (as a whole) takes fan loyalty for granted rather than seeking to build a business to customer relationship more akin to alternative ‘business led’ industries.

It is widely believed that the NBA in the United States has been the most successful sport in engaging with their public, as digital media opportunities have been pursued from the governing body, the teams and individual players. The NBA has developed its digital media strategy by embracing opportunities and learning what works and what has been less successful.  In the United Kingdom the slickest operation is undoubtedly Manchester City as exemplified through initiatives such as use of FanCam and streaming post-match interviews via their social media channels. One reason for their success is that their digital media strategy works in harmony with their long term overarching intention of creating a global brand.  It is by understanding the fan, their wants and likes that will enable a party are able to fully engage the public.

There are a number of factors behind many parties’ failure to actively engage the public such as an over focus upon increasing revenue from the outset and inadequate available skills within the employees which results in a failure for the parties ability to get to grip with the impact that digital media can have.  Richard Ayers, Digital Playmaker at Manchester City believes that the biggest hindrance faced by many is a lack of internal communication and co-ordinated planning.  Without understand what the aim of the communication is it is virtually impossible to create a consistent and effective on-going engagement with the public.

Considerations for parties

Strategy

In order to have a successful engagement with the public there needs to be considerable planning and consideration as to what the party is actually seeking to achieve and what would need to occur for the strategy to be deemed a ‘success’. As part of this the party should undertake a process to establish what an acceptable return on its investment would be (this may be commercial returns or cultural returns).  In order for the strategy to have a chance of being a success the aims must be line with an honest review of the budget, the time that key personnel are able/prepared to commit and the available skill set of the employees.

Without the commitment of the key people within the party any planned strategy is likely to be unsuccessful. In order to achieve this ‘success’ it is necessary to highlight shortcomings, and quite possibly advisable in the case of skill sets, to bring in a consultant to work alongside the existing employees of the party to create, implement and maintain a viable digital media strategy.  Digital media is a specialist area and the specialist skills required to fully utilise its capabilities should not be underestimated.  Successful digital and social media offerings are increasingly the result of utilising third parties experience. Manchester City for example decided that in order to become a market leader they need skills which were not available internally and brought in an external team.  Individual players are also increasingly using the expertise of consultants who take the player’s wish to engage with fans and turn it into a professional offering as shown by Wayne Rooney’s recent hiring of Jae Chalfin from Sports New Media.

Target

One key aspect to fully engaging fans is ensuring that the social media strategy is fully targeted. The Party should determine to whom the content is designed for. Some content will be suitable for the public as a whole such as Manchester City for example use the twitter hashtag #blueview on match days a simple idea to initiate but highly effective and has been equally well received by those attending the game and their international fans.

Where however this is not the case attention should be paid as how best to engage the relevant part of the public.  For example on a match day there are two separate groups that the digital content make seek to engage e.g. those attending the game and those who are not at the game.  Therefore it may be a possibility that those at the ground can be offered more targeted content e.g. traffic news, latest offers in the club shop etc. while those unable to attend may get different content e.g. latest offers in the online store. Where a party is seeking to maximise its engagement with international fans there are significant benefits to providing content in a range of languages along with region specific content e.g. heavier focus on players from that region etc.

Analyse and improve via feedback

To improve the level to which fans feel engaged it is important to ensure that the digital media analytics are effectively monitored as this will provide evidence see how the successful the engagement is.  For example by analysing social media data such as the number or comments on Facebook, replies or retweets on Twitter for example it will enable a greater understand of who the audience actually is.  In addition it will provide valuable information that will help to target content and improve the value of digital media offerings to the party.

While the digital media strategy must have a long term goal it is necessary to have built in flexibility in order to adapt to trend changes for example.  It is therefore vital to encourage the users to have their say on both the content and how it is being provided, e.g. weekly suggestion competitions with the winners getting a shirt/voucher/ticket etc. and importantly incorporating the suggestions. The provided content should be simple to use, interesting and fun for the public. By thinking from the mind-set of the target public (easily done through using their feedback) it is possible to understand what will be most appealing e.g. behind the scenes access or interactive content.

Make content engaging and authentic

Jae Chalfin believes a key aspect of having a successful approach is to embrace the ethos or personality in the offerings as fans will know, and been turned off, when there is a lack of authenticity.  Parties must understand that there is a significant benefit to focussing on producing engaging content for fewer platforms than a lesser presence on many. Dan McLaren, from here at UKSN, says that “a number of pitfalls are the result of parties doing something for the sake of it and not really understand why they are providing content.”  The content must engage the public and not be solely about the commercialisation of a party, by providing content that is authentic and interesting the party will see a greater uptake of their message.

As mentioned above parties should place themselves in the shoes of the public what content they would like to see? For individuals and clubs it is very much about contact, the behind the scenes access is constantly top of fans favourite features on social media surveys.  For governing bodies its again about removing the feeling of us and them and enabling the public to understand how the body functions. Governing bodies should seek to be informative and give the public an insight into the latest going-ons within the sport and utilise former professionals to give context around events.  For example the Rugby Football Union can use former players to discuss the upcoming Six Nations games as well as news about team line up, fixtures etc.

Traditional media v Digital media

There is a careful balance to be taken between an over reliance on either traditional forms of media or digital media as they each offer advantages and drawbacks such as the cost, speed, target markets that they will reach.  There is a need and benefit for undertaking a co-ordinated marketing and communications plan that embraces both types of media.  There has been a hesitancy by many parties in embracing digital media to a greater extent. This does not come as a surprise to many as the vast majority of decision makers have often built their careers during an age of traditional PR/marketing opposed to the relatively new phenomenon (particularly in relation to social media) that is digital media. This situation is slowly changing and with the addition of decision makers who have digital experience, or directors who are open minded enough to hire someone with such experience and give them sufficient authority, increasing synergies between the two forms of media are occurring.  Richard Ayers believes that it is this lack of digital experience coupled with the authority to act that is resulting in missed opportunities for many parties who often continue to struggle to make digital media part of their standard operating procedure.

It is vital that a party, who wants to maximise their opportunities and engagement, uses specialists within each area but also that these specialists work in conjunction rather than competition with each other.  Traditional media still has a very significant role to play and the different types of media can benefit from each other as many social media marketing campaigns cannot work without the awareness that TV, print, etc can bring and in turn digital media can reach a wider and different audience than traditional media.  When choosing the correct media to use it is still important to remember who is the target market is as some age categories and countries are more effectively reached through traditional media than digital media. This is shown by a quote given by an ICC spokesman when discussing the difficult balance they have between using traditional and digital media “particularly given that we are an international organisation trying to reach out to countries where consumers behave very differently when it comes to what kind of media they engage in.”

So what expansion ideas should be looked at?

The social media focus of most digital media strategies has been on Facebook and Twitter, which is not surprising due to the popularity and possibilities available on these platforms.  However, these platforms should not be relied upon to the exclusion of others for example Manchester City currently has nine separate components of social media available to their fans.  However it is prudent to build a presence on one or two platforms and build up rather than spreading the content too thin across multiple platforms. Prior to releasing content onto any digital platform the plan must be well-thought through and tested.

The ICC is very sensible looking at utilising the experience held by their broadcast and sponsors to find new and creative ways to engage fans at their marque events such as the ICC World Twenty20 later this year in Sri Lanka.  It is important to undertake market research as to what the targeted audience is looking for.  A governing body should seek to offer a different service to that of a sports club or player who will seek to engage their fans on a daily basis. The governing body should look to work with their members and collectively share their experiences as different members will have alternative strategies.

A few thoughts that the parties should consider are:

Be fan driven

It is the fan who generates a significant amount of revenue for the club and holds a passion for the team. It is important to always think of what content they would like to receive rather than just what you wish to provide.  Regularly interacting with fans is crucial ideas such as competitions, exclusive access, uploading fans photos and Q&A sessions may make them feel part of the team and in turn encourage others to join.  Taking the time out to reward particularly loyal fans shows that you are interested in their support. The cost to do this may be negligible but the value could be significant. You should encourage your fans to suggest ideas and encourage them to interact with each other e.g. offer a hashtag where fans can share their thoughts.

Remain focused and up to date

It is not necessary to try and put content out on every available platform and it is advisable to focus upon a few outlets (the most common being the body or club website, Facebook and Twitter).  Three considerations should always be borne in mind, content must be correct; content must be current and content must be of interest. Utilise the strengths of the platforms you are using to their maximum, the club webpage can provide significantly more details/stories etc, Twitter should be used for very quick updates the fan should hear the latest news from the party themselves not a third party.  Facebook offers an easy platform to upload interactive content and fan pictures etc.  

Where parties wish to utilise digital and particularly social media to drive revenues it is often a collaboration of non-revenue content that will enable this.  For example when a party is launching a new kit or event the videos of such a launch or announcement can be accompanied by a link to be the first to buy the kit or tickets. Fans will not be upset by having commercial driven content alongside relevant content, they will however be turned off it the content is primarily focused on increasing revenue streams.

Constantly benchmark against other sports team/bodies or players

Once a party has set up their digital media offerings they should always be looking at how to deliver an improved service.  A simple way of doing this is looking at what offerings other parties and brands are using.  Not everything that is successful elsewhere will work for every party but there are often elements that will help to ensure that your content is engaging.  If you think of an idea it is worth trialling it and making a point about its trial in order to: a) create hype around it; b) receive feedback; and c) enables it easily to be taken down if it is not successful. It is by trying new and innovative ideas that you will establish what works for you and your fans.  New ideas do not have to cost a lot of money but can really set you apart from the competition e.g. Manchester City and Vincent Kompany who held the Premier League’s first post-match interview on Facebook and Twitter. Another simple but clever initiative is being used by Sheffield Wednesday FC who allow supporters to use Facebook to find where their friends are sitting when buying a ticket.

Size of digital media market domestically and internationally

One of the most prominent advantages of digital media is that the vast number of people (both current fans and potential fans) that it enables a party to reach across international boundaries.  It is this fact only that should mean that the digital media strategy should be an integral part of any party’s business strategy.  The market enables quick and easy access to a greater number of fans than traditional media is able to.

Due to the international support that parties now have and the possibilities available through digital media platforms the content should be provided in a language other than just English, such as Manchester City providing their content in Arabic. The party should seek to utilise the international aspects of digital media in line with its core business plan, this has been shown by Manchester United’s development of mobile video highlights of its games across Asia and Europe.

Conclusion

Digital media is too often an area that many parties undervalue and its full potential is yet to be embraced by many.  The increasing popularity and acceptance of smartphones means that digital offerings can be viewed more often than ever. A successful strategy must be well planned and implemented but should not be in place of existing traditional media offerings utilised with such offerings. Digital media is not a fad and is a specialist industry in itself and often the cost of hiring an consultant to guide a party through the available opportunities will be money reaped back many times over.

A fan-centric approach should be adopted by parties as the culture of digital media, and in particular social media, is very different to traditional media.  Fans expect content to be tailored to be of maximum interest to them and when this is achieved will revenue generate activities be established. Facebook itself showed that by having patience in getting the offering correct prior to commercialising the platform can be very lucrative in the long run.  It is likely that an increasing number of parties will embrace the opportunities available through digital media in the coming years.  While there are some potential pitfalls where handled properly it can be an incredibly effective tool.

I would particularly like to thank the ICC, Richard Ayers (Manchester City), Jae Chalfin (Sports New Media) and Dan McLaren (We Are Social/UKSN) for their help in writing this article.

At the beginning of February the RFL announced team and match specific Twitter hashtags in time for the new Super League season.

The hashtags are designed to improve discussions on Twitter between rugby league fans attending matches or watching them live on Sky Sports.  All 14 Super League teams have been assigned a specific hash tag and each match will have its own unique hashtag.

The initiative by the RFL is a borrowed idea from their Australian counterparts in the NRL, which itself was copied from the AFL.

Super League specific hashtags were introduced towards the end of last season following a campaign led by fans with backing from rugby league newspaper League Express. However, in response the RFL released their own hashtags which led to confusion amongst fans over which hashtag to use.

This season both League Express and the RFL are using the same hashtags and the early signs would suggest that fans are taking to the idea.

The game specific hashtags have been a success in Australia with NRL games trending regularly worldwide. With a smaller audience and fanbase in the UK, the RFL will be hoping for similar success with their own match specific hashtags.

If you are rugby league fan and follow any of the UK teams then make sure you are using using these;

Bradford Bulls #Bra
Castleford Tigers #Cas
Catalan Dragons #Cat
Huddersfield Giants #Hud
Hull FC #HFC
Hull KR #HKR
Leeds Rhinos #Lee
London Broncos #Lon
Salford City Reds #Sal
St Helens #StH
Wakefield Wildcats #Wak
Warrington Wolves #War
Widnes Vikings #Wid
Wigan Warriors #Wig

Recent games in the Suiperleague have been using hashtags to help people follow the action….

Friday 3rd February
Widnes Vikings v Wakefield Wildcats = #SLWidWak
Leeds Rhinos v Hull KR = #SLLeeHKR

Saturday 4th February
London Broncos v St Helens = #SLLonStH
Salford City Reds v Castlefprd Tigers = #SLSalCas

Sunday 5th February
Bradford Bulls v Catalan Dragons = #SLBraCat
Hull FC v Warrington Wolves = #SLHFCWar
Wigan Warriors v Huddersfield Giants = #SLWigHud

And then more tags for discussing the Grand Final and the Challenge Cup…

Grand Final = #SLGF

Challenge Cup Final = #RLCCF

Lets see how this works out and whether fans will pick up on them during the season. 

Yes, I know Facebook has been around for ages and it is no shock that sports stars are on the platform.  What has been noticeable though is that although many have taken to Twitter over the past couple of years (there are too many to mention now) there have been fewer who have gone onto the bigger platform.

This last few months has seen a shift with Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Tom Daley and Kevin Pietersen (as of last week) launch their own Facebook pages, or in KP’s case account.  All them are still on Twitter and have been some of the biggest advocates of the 140 character way of communicating with fans and friends.

So is this a move by them to extend their reach and build up their ‘brands’?

It would certainly seem so.  Facebook does offer certain functions that Twitter cannot.  For example tweets have a shorter lifespan and thus needs to be updated on a more regular basis.  You can add in events, tabs for extra content or competitions, etc.

But rather than look at whether it should be one or the other, why not have both?  This is a good move for all of those athletes named.  They are already well known and now have another platform where a more controlled, visual message can be put across and will help in raising awareness but also create new revue streams both now and in the future.

It will be interesting to see who is next and how many, especially footballers and Olympians, make the same move.

It’s not often we get to talk on here about sports other than the big 3 (football, rugby and cricket) and most of that tends to be around football.  So its nice to get to hear about a social media campaign by another sport, and one that others can take something from.

The sport is that of Netball.  Netball is played by some 7 million people worldwide, of which over 1 million are in the UK, each week.  It’s also a sport thats enjoying greater coverage than it has for a long while with the SkySports deal to cover the recently formed Netball Superleague.

Over the last 3 years, netball has exploded on twitter, with teams taking to the social media platform to interact with fans and promote upcoming games.

But despite the high participation rates there is little in the way of mainstream media coverage outside of the Sky deal, of professional netball – so teams are taking to social media to get themselves heard instead.

Surrey Storm are the leading franchise on social media, with a good following on both Twitter and Facebook.  The reasons for the Storm’s development in the social space is clear to their Marketing & Communications Manager, Matt Burton;

“We have taken inspiration from MCFC and the way they are interacting with fans via social media.

As most fans can’t get to away games we started to tweet live updates from games and it took off from there. Where BBC would provide similar updates for football etc via bbc.co.uk, there was nobody doing this for netball, so we started tweeting and fans loved it.

We now tweet live from all games, offering fans from across the globe the platform to follow Storm when games aren’t on TV.  We are also looking to develop our youtube strategy and this season have started to add pre and post match video interviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/SurreyStormNetball“

To take this a step further the club have launched a Twitter campaign ahead of this Satursday’s sold out clash with Loughborough Lightening.  They are offering the chance for a fan to win 2 tickets to the Fiat Netball Superleague match, and get to work with the Storm media team to tweet live updates through the game.  The winner will also get to meet the players on the night.  An amazing prize for a big fan!

To enter the competition, you need to follow @surreystorm and tweet them with your reason on why you should be the official Storm tweeter for the match and include #stormtwittercomp to be considered.

Entries are now open and the deadline for twitter entries is 11.59pm on Tuesday 24 January, so not much time left to enter!

This is a really nice initiative by the club, showing their willingness to give more than just a prize but an experience.  Many competitions we see are for a pair of tickets or kit but what many dont see is how much a fan wants to be involved with the club, to be part of it (even just for a little bit).  They’ve shown as well that they are willing to give some control away, let the fans be in charge. Too many are precious about who can say what where and dont concede anything, thus keeping fans at arms length.

Another good move from the club is to also have their players on social media, helping to spread the word about the club, the sport, upcoming fixtures and give an insight into who they are.  This has worked well in sports across the US and, if managed correctly, can be enormously beneficial to all involved (awareness, sponsorship, press coverage and much more).

We’ve seen the advent of Twitter influencers being given press access to games in the US and prizes such as ‘Facebook Row’ here in the UK.  Now it appears to be spreading.

For sports who dont get the attention that football, rugby and cricket get from the mainstream press, the need to look at alternatives and be opportunitistic is there.  We will see more clubs/sports become ’media publishers’ as the realisation that they have so much content to give and the platforms to achieve this on are there now.

Well done to Surrey Storm and hopefully we’ll see more following in their footsteps this year.

Comcast’s Xfinity Service is launching a contest to hire an individual who will serve as the new voice of Xfinity in the sports social media space and go behind-the-scenes at some of the biggest nationwide sporting events in 2012, sharing exclusive insights and updates with fans.

The contest, entitled “Xfinity Presents: The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job,” runs from January 13 through March 25 in search of the next sports social media star.  It has been put together by our friends at GMR Marketing and especially Brian Gainor.

The winner will receive a one-year salary and will be responsible for tweeting from the @XFINITYSports Twitter handle on continual basis,  reporting live from premier sporting events throughout 2012, and educating and engaging avid sports fans in social media communities. In addition to live event access, the winner will also receive all the electronics for the ultimate sports pad, including televisions, home audio/video equipment, etc.

From January 13 – February 6, consumers can log on to Facebook.com/Xfinity and then go to the “Xfinity Presents: The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job” contest tab to submit video between 30 seconds and two-minutes in length explaining why they should be selected as the sports social media voice of Xfinity based on their sports knowledge, social media expertise, personality, and passion for Comcast.

The top video submissions will be featured on the Ultimate Sports Social Media Job contest tab located on Facebook.com/Xfinity for fans to vote on from February 9-19. The five entrants with the most votes will advance to the final round of the contest where they will cover one of five premier sports events the weekend of March 8-11.

Each candidate will receive access typically granted to event personnel, athletes and media and be asked to chronicle their live experiences behind-the-scenes with tweets, video uploads, and short posts that will be featured on the Xfinity Facebook contest tab as well as their own social media channels.

Following that weekend, a panel of celebrity judges will evaluate each performance and announce the winner of “Xfinity Presents: The Ultimate Sports Social Media Job” contest by March 25^th. The winner will travel throughout the year to the biggest rivalry games, championship games, and premier sporting events.

catch more articles back on the homepage here at UK Sports Network

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and enjoying the holiday period.  As I was having a look at the latest news and innovations in social media and sport I came across this from Intel.

Initially it has been launched on Android (interesting that chose this first with iPhone to come later – usually its the other way round) and it comes with many features that stato football fans from around Europe will be interested in.

The app offers to provide 2nd screen insights I imagine aimed more at the TV viewer than those at the game.  You can follow your particular team, get live match info on all key events (corners, goals, offsides, fouls, shots, yellow cards, etc), player stats which are updated throughout the game and fan chats.

This last element is interesting as it offers something more interactive.  It allows you to see up-to-the-minute comments, etc from forums, Facebook, Twitter and fan sites as the game is progressing.

This is available for teams in the top leagues of Germany, England, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Sweden. This covers most of the top supported nations in Europe including some we would not usually expect.

Is this going to appeal to most mainstream fans?  possibly not but it depends on how easy to use, interesting and interactive it really proves to be.  Intel is a tech company and the main aim will be to show off the tech side rather than making it a great user experience.

You can download the beta Android version now here

For more info they have provided a YouTube video to explain it some more….

As one of the teams that is continuously pushing the boundaries when it comes to engaging their fan base and trying new things, especially on Facebook, Real Madrid are at it again.

This is actually an idea I have had at the back of my mind for a while now but not had the opportunity to try out (someone was going to do it sooner or later).  What the club have done is launch a quiz app on their page that allows fans to indulge in that favourite football fan pastime of proving their footballing knowledge.

This app has a few different quizes available and there is a leaderboard for each one, each with its own prize at the end of it.  One nice feature is the countdown clock to show you how long the leaderboard is open for and how long you have to get to the top and win the prize.

You can prove your knowledge on a few different topics including; World Cups, Real Madrid, Zidane, La Liga and Pot Luck.  There are also ones for Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, though you have to have enough Facebook coins to play these ones.

This is one element I am less sure about. You can purchase coins to bypass having to win one of the quizzes and play the ones that require you to pay first.  This is a revenue driver for the club, but how much of one is to be seen.  I imagine this is a revenue share between Real Madrid and the company who made the game Supporter Arena.

Supporter Arena claims to be “a supporter interactive social media platform and the umbrella term for a suite of simple participation tools that encourage fan interaction on Facebook.  These tools help clubs, governing bodies and companies interact and engage with sports through social media, enabling them to grow, mobilise and ultimately monetise their communities.”

One downside with the game for me is that you can re-take the quiz as many times as you like and you get the same questions.  Thus anyone with half a memory can score 10/10, it then just comes down to who can be the quickest with their answers.

As an app it has the advantages that it pushes messages into your own ticker news feed saying;

Data collection will also be possible as you have authorised them to do so in using the app and you can invite friends easily through it as well.  Fan engagement is becoming more sophisticated on Facebook now and companies and clubs alike are trying new things.  A quiz is an easy and great way to find your top fans whilst giving them something entertaining and a reason top come back to the page again and again.

You can tell when Christmas is approaching when you write a blog.  The updates slow down as the pre-holiday rush to get work completed kicks in, as well as the christmas parties/drinks most evenings of the week.

Thus this week has been one where it has been head down and concentrate on the day job.  A quick thank you as well to everyone who came along to the drinks in London on Monday.  It wasn’t the best weather to be out and about but it was great to catch up with everyone.  Thanks as well to We Are Social for sponsoring the night.

This week in the world of social media and sport it also seems to have slowed down a little.  Less new campaigns and initiatives are being launched as people prepare for a week or two (or three!) off.  Here is a wrap up of those items that have caught the eye in the last few days.  As always just click on the title to link through to the full article…

Facebook Time goes live for everyone

Originally it was just New Zealand (any idea why just NZ?) that could get the new timeline set up for their Facebook profile, and the geeks amongst us who put the code in to get it early.  Now it is available to everyone to opt into having.  The testing phase where it is optional, giving everyone a short time to get used to the change before the old profile is dumped forever.  Here USA Today look at 9 things you need to know about the new Timeline.

Man City to extend Augmented Reality to include swappable content

The current Premier League leaders are again pushing the boundaries in the digital space.  I feel I could write something every week about something new they have launched or tested, they are going full tilt with plans and are not scared to fail along the way.  This week they have extended the AR capabilities of the membership cards to allow them to swap content using the built in RFID technology.

Premier League Social Media stats for December

Digital agency Freestyle Interactive, whom our very own Sean Walsh works for, have released an interesting infographic that summarises the social media stats of premier league football for the month. It looks mainly at the size of the Twitter and Facebook following and the rate of growth they are seeing.

Heres what People Look at on Facebook Brand Pages

This doesn’t have anything sports specific in it but for any club, NGB or brand with a brand page on Facebook it is interesting stuff.  It looks at where it is on the screen that people look when on a page which should help anyone running a page to make best use of the spaces most looked at and move away from those that dont.  I think its safe to summarise that people look at the picture gallery at the top and the top post the most.  Interestingly the tab links on the left are looked at only a few times.

OneUp turns live football (US) into a game of play-making bingo

Another Mashable article (shocking I know) and its from our friends in the US.  It is interesting as it another attempt to help gamify the sports viewing experience.  Many companies have taken variations of this and tried to help people do more whilst watching from the comfort of their own sofa.  There is a fine balance between adding a valuable extra experience and becoming too much of a distraction that it takes people away from the game itself.  Ahead of Euro 2012 and London 2012 there are going to be more of these types of 2nd screen experiences being developed for the sports fan.

5 social media tactics every football club ‘must have’

An interesting summary from Sean as he looks at what he has learned from looking at football clubs in the social media space over the last year or so.  Here he puts together those thoughts and picks out 5 of the most important areas a club must have to be successful.  Are these the key 5 in your opinion and are there others?

Lots of love for broken leg victim David Villa from fans and players on twitter

To finish on a positive note and show how Twitter can be a platform of support as well as aimless gossip and talk about food.  After the unlucky David Villa of Barcelona fractured his shin bone playing in the FIFA World Club Championships this week, fans and players alike took to Twitter to show their support for him at what would be a really difficult time for any player.  He faces 4 or 5 months out of the game and lot of work to get back to where he was before.  All the best from the UK David.

This weeks #DigiSport mash-up has brought together a whole host of great stories from the last few days.  With the seasons first El Classico coming up this weekend and Shaq O’Neill giving an insight into his social media plans its been all go.

To go to the actual articles and find out more on the story, click on the title of the article and it will take you straight there.  If you hear of any interesting #DigiSport stories during the week then tweet them to me at @danielmclaren or @uksportsnetwork and we’ll add them in next week.

For anyone still interested, the drinks on Monday in London has a couple of places (is just about full) so DM or email me for more details.  The great news is that We Are Social (my place of work) will be sponsoring the evening which is fantastic news!  Thanks guys

Have a great weekend all and enjoy the articles below…

Twitter launches brand pages – interesting for sports teams!

Tonight, Twitter has come out and made a major announcement in regards to a redesign of its platform and more interestingly what it is doing for brands.  The article concentrates on what is in it for brand marketeers but this is also interesting for sports teams and leagues.  Be interesting to see what more comes out in the coming days from all parties.

The Match Day Experience: a Social Media trial goes live

After last weeks post about Man City’s social media experiment they have again come out and explained more about whaty has been happening.  It is great to read about what they are doing, why they are doing and sharing their successes and failures.  I cant think of many other companies who would do the same. Well work keeping an eye on their MCFCgeeks website and twitter

Big Shaq talks up Social Media plans

The Big Aristotle announced via Twitter in June that he was done with basketball. But since then, he has busied himself by promoting his book, “Shaq Uncut,” and by preparing to team up with Charles Barkley as a TNT basketball analyst this year.  O’Neal has also been working on his website, Shaq.com, which is what he wanted to talk about during a phone interview last week. During a call that included his brand manager, Mary Gleason, he also discussed his business plans, dispensed social-media advice and talked a little Barkley and basketball.

Barcelona’s new website gives links to players social media profiles

Barca’s newly designed website has come with some really cool new features.  The one I was drawn to, unsurprisingly, was the players info area where not only can you find out about the usual player biog stuff but also see embedded news streams from either Twitter or Facebook pages.  Awesome integration!

Fastest growing Facebook pages in sport this year dominated by Messi and Barca

This interesting snippet of information as we near years end has come from Facebook and their ‘Memology 2011′ tab.  Here you can see the fastest growing sports (as well as music, news and entertainment) pages in terms of growth of fans.  Messi’s FB page launch this year means he went from 0 to 27m pretty quickly.  6 footballers are in the top 10 and Barca, Real and Man Utd make up top 3 in teams (shock).  Some interesting info none the less.

Real Madrid v Barcelona – social media battle

You may need Google Translate for this one but this Spanish article ahead of the first El Classico of the league season this coming weekend.  It compares the giants of both the football and social media world with some interesting stats and take on what they are doing well.  A good read from Sportwist.

Social Saviness – NBAers, NCAAers and Media members talk social media

An interesting look by Jeremy Bauman and Peter Robert Casey on Slam Online at the impact social media has had for fans, players and media alike in how they consume and follow the game.  They’ve snippets from players on their experiences and media alike.  A good read if a fan of basketball and social media in the US.

5 tips for marketing to sports fans on Facebook

Mashable spoke to reps from the pro world of Sports Marketing including Christy Berkery (New England Patriots), Jim Spinello (rEvolution), Dan Lobring (rEvoltion), Laura Clemente (New York Jets), Kristen Baier (NETS Basketball).

Marseille receive 60k submissions for ‘fan designed kit’ competition

Back in March we posted an article praising French team Olympique Marseille for their asking fans to submit their own designs for a new official kit. Marseille used the landmark of hitting 1 million Facebook fans to reward their international fanbase and are the first football club world wide to essentially crowd-source their jersey. This week the club announced that they received a staggering 60,000 submissions for the competition and that after months of development and judging – they let their Facebook fans have the final decision.

JD Sports get top marks for social media

A quick look by Football Trade Directory on the social media presence of the Bury based sports retailer.

Using social media to make your sponsorship budget go further

Apparently, the 2012 Olympic Games aren’t just any old Games. They’re the world’s first social Olympic Games. Sponsors are lining up their social campaigns, most notably BT’s Storytellers and Lloyds TSB’s ‘Local heroes’ campaigns. But what of the (hundreds) of brands sponsoring major but non-Olympic events? The Grand National, FA Cup, Six Nations, Wimbledon, and the soon-to-be-not-the-Carling Cup?

Social media in Sports and Entertainment: Three mega trends in 2012

Beverly Macy from Gravity Summit LLC takes an early look at the top 3 trends to watch out for in 2012, in this edition of the Huffington Post.

BMW launches iPad app for Olympics

Not so much an article but a link to new BMW iPad app brought out as part of their sponsorship of the London 2012 games.

Shaq’s Social Media Guru Shares Her Secrets

Amy Jo Martin, CEO of Digital Royalty, tells Mashable how Shaq took over Twitter, what makes for a successful online presence and where she sees social media going in the future.