The first Mashup of 2012 (last one here) and this start to January has been a very eventful one for social media and sport in the news.  Some of it has been positive as social becomes more intertwined in major sports event and this week sees the start of the Australian Open tennis down in sunny Melbourne.

It has also been a time for apologies and fines in equal measures as sports stars take to Twitter to let their views been known.  Some has been a case of some careless banter and have received no more than a ticking off, while for others it has been much more costly.

If you haven’t caught our look into the future of social and sport we ran recently, you can via the links here for the USA/Spain Social Media 2012 predictions and for 2012 Predictions in the UK.

Anyway, there is much to get through so here we go (click on titles for full articles)….

Mark Williams set for disciplinary over twitter comments

Snooker star Mark Williams is set for disciplinary with the governing body over the use of offensive language on Twitter.  The players were warned about the use of social media platforms during the summer by letter from the board.

Snooker Star Ronnie O’Sullivan faces fine for Twitter comments

Carrying on the snooker theme, the star who always seems to get on the wrong side of the snooker laws has been threatened with a fine.  This time it was not for anything said about snooker but the 36-year-old, and three-times World Champion, criticised the Welsh glamour girl for going to the High Court to clear her name over claims she had tried to blackmail the Manchester United star over their six-month fling.

FA Cup game highlights available in iTunes

The FA has taken to step of making the FA Cup highlights, something that has always been reserved for TV and the broadcaster websites, onto iTunes.  You can now buy a ‘season pass’ to watch highlights from every round and from last season final.  If your a fan of cup football then this looks like a great purchase.

How the Australian Open is acing digital

The 2012 Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament may just be the most digitally connected major sporting event of all time.  This Mashable article looks at how the fist major tennis event of the year is showing the way for the rest of sport in 2012.  A Slamtracker already provides real-time updates of qualifying play that began on Wednesday, and fans can relive and share their favorite moments via Facebook and Twitter through a database of classic matches.

Wales captain Aaron Ramsey takes to Twitter to clarify comments

The Arsenal midfielder took criticism for saying he was disappointed at players not being consulted over Gary Speed’s replacement. But in a series of tweets, Ramsey clarified his comments to defend what he had initially said.  It should how Twitter can be used to defend players reputations and come at at the press for what they see as quotes being taken out of context.

Oxford City sack Lee Steele for homophobic tweet

A footballer who posted a homophobic remark on a social media website has been sacked by his club.  Oxford City striker Lee Steele made a comment on Twitter about the gay former Wales rugby player Gareth Thomas.

Tweeting about Thomas’s appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, Steele, 38, wrote a “strongly-worded” message about being in a bed near the contestant.  Oxford City manager Mike Ford said: “On this occasion Lee’s had to pay for his error of judgement.

Leo Messi shares Ballon D’Or win on Facebook with most shared post ever?

The Argentinian genius strolled to his third World Football of the Year award in a row last Monday and to celebrate this achievement his sponsors adidas put together a video with the man himself.  The video was released solely on Facebook and YouTube with no other promotion around it.  Since its release on Monday night it has racked up 1.9m views on YouTube together with 372k likes, 45k shares and 41k comments!  Is this the most ever in the sports world?

Rory Lamont apologises after Twitter blast at Barack Obama

Scotland and Glasgow Warriors winger Rory Lamont has apologised after describing Barack Obama as a “whore” on a social networking site.  The rugby international has used his Twitter account to make disparaging remarks about a number of politicians.

These have included the United States president, Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  The Scottish Rugby Union has described the language as “inappropriate” and the 29-year-old has apologised via Twitter.

Premier League Social Media stats – January 2012

Finally, here is the last infographic by Freestyle Interactive to enjoy showing the lastest social media stats from the Premier League….

Thank you to everyone who read and shared the first part of our 2012 series, looking at what the year ahead could offer from those who work in the industry in Spain and the US.

It was really pleasing to see your own comments on what will be big this year and that the article was published on the website ‘Social Media Today’ where it was shared hundreds of times.

This week we’ve brought together some more great social media and sport people, this time from the UK, to share some of their thoughts on what opportunities they expect the next few months to hold.  They come from a variety of people who cover sports as diverse as Cricket, Football, Rowing and Rugby.

I’d like to thank Mark Segal (ITV), Steven Dent (ECB), Tom Hines (RFU), Chris Hughes (Sine Qua Non International) and Mike Dunphy (MD Media Consultancy) for contributing.  They’re a brilliant group of people who we can all learn a few things from.

Tom Hines (@Hiiino) is Digital Editor at the Rugby Football Union, working on digital and content strategy for the RFU’s online communications. Established and developed the RFU’s presence in social media.

“Let’s start with a safe bet, while the planet’s finest are setting records in east London this summer, the social sphere will generate a record amount of noise around a single sporting event. Sports fans will get unprecedented Olympic access from athletes, journalists and volunteers alike (sorry BOA, but you can’t control 70k of them!).  It will be one of those events that throws so much into the social sphere that what works will quickly find its way into other sports.

More broadly, there are a handful of significant trends set to hit in 2012, but the two that will have most visible impact for fans are Social TV and online Stadium-Based Services.

New devices and software will start to put social media at the heart of the home-viewing experience. I think we can expect broadcasters to roll match specific hash tags at the start of all games and events, instantly creating a way for brands to engage with very focussed groups of sports fans for the duration of an event.

As wifi and 3G coverage improves in stadiums, the sharing of live match experiences through social media will become easier and sponsors and organisers will focus more on harnessing these opportunities. The eager ones will troop off to live events with tablets and promo staff to capture data and social sign-ups. The integration of offline content, like programmes, with social media and online commerce should also make a step change.

Finally, a couple of personal thoughts around social and sport for me in 2012: firstly how, as a Governing Body, the RFU can best use social media to increase participation; and secondly what would an organised F1 assault on social media look like? The sport is ripe for it and 2012 may finally be the year they nail it.”

Steven Dent (@Steven_Dent) is the Social Networking Executive for the England & Wales Cricket Board, looking after all the England team sites on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

“2011 saw social media and sport take a massive step forward. More sports stars than ever are jumping on board, realising the power of interacting directly with their fans for the first time in this social media age. I can only see fan engagement growing in significance in 2012. With Facebook’s changes to Pages highlighting more openly the level of engagement or ‘talking about this,’ community managers will start to place more emphasis on increasing their one on one engagement with sports fans. Sport has always had the benefit of passion and emotion to call upon it’s fans, but the next step is listening and responding to those messages to truly be social.

2012 will a be a year where we see increased efforts to transfer engagement from offline to online. The in ground/in stadium audiences, or those following more remotely, will be actively encouraged to involve themselves in online activities in more creative ways using mobile devices and Facebook apps. As a result the amount of touch points fans can have with sports will increase. In turn that will mean an increase in stadium Wifi and interactive locations around sports stadiums to ensure fans get involved. Geo-location and near field communication (NFC) will start to become commonplace for fans as they absorb more of the experiences around sporting events.

With the speed of advances in technology and new social ideas emerging all the time, 2012 is going to be another year where digital media takes a step forward in the prominence of sporting organisations. It’s an exciting year ahead, and I for one can’t wait!”

Mark Segal (@segalmark) is a freelance football journalist writing for a number of national magazines and websites. Formerly football editor of Teletext and ITV Football, he is now production manager  of the ITV website.

“At some point in 2012 you will be able to see live, real-time stats on your television while watching a sporting event. I expect internet-connected TVs to move into the mainstream during the year and a number of companies are already developing products which will immerse a viewer even deeper into the game they are watching. The opportunities are endless with live stats, extra replays and even Twitter streams being available for a user to see while watching the game.

Sports fans will be the big winners in 2012 as clubs look for ever more ingenious ways to reach out to them. Thankfully the days when organisations took to the social media sphere purely to make money are now gone and most realise the medium is a great way of building a more rounded relationship with their supporters. The phrase social media stadium will be heard a lot more as clubs follow the example of the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona in making the voices of their fans heard on matchday.

On a more cautious note I expect more sports stars to get into trouble in 2012 for what they post on Twitter. Social media training should now be essential for those in the public eye, but a more grown-up approach from sporting bodies would also be a welcome development.”

Chris Hughes (@chrishughespr) is the Head of PR and Communications at Sine Qua Non International with extensive experience in the motorsport arena. Chris also works with Olympic gold medallist and triple rowing World Champion Zac Purchase.

“For much of the sporting world, 2012 will be the year when social media becomes a naturally integrated element of a wider communications and marketing platform. Sports teams, athletes and event organisers have spent sufficient time exploring and experimenting with social media to know which platforms work best for them and what approach will engage and grow their respective fan bases. There will always be new tools, new apps and renewed focus on a particular area (it’s widely believed that 2012 will be a breakthrough year for mobile), but social media is no longer the shiny new toy that it has been for the last couple of years.

The impact of social media on global sporting events has been witnessed already, from the 2010 Football World Cup to the Ashes to Formula One; social media is now a fundamental, unavoidable part of fan experience and engagement.

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will, however, be the first summer Games to take place with such widespread understanding, adoption and, perhaps most importantly, expectation of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. As a result, London 2012 will be the fastest moving, most openly debated Games in Olympic history, which opens up a raft of opportunities for athletes, as long as the powers-that-be do not interfere.

Willingness to embrace social media during London 2012 is not going to be widespread with confirmation this week that the tens of thousands of Games Maker volunteers will have to conform to stringent social media restrictions. Quite how these restrictions will be monitored across 70,000 volunteers is another matter entirely.

The IOC has at least recognised the importance of social media for athletes with a set of guidelines already established to give athletes an element of “controlled freedom” when it comes to online posts. The stipulation is for first person narrative rather than third person commentary, and there will inevitably be stories of wrist-slapping for contravention of the rules, but it is far better to encourage social use rather than try to impose a blanket ban from the outset.

The influx of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls to Twitter has already begun and follower numbers are increasing. London 2012 could well give our home heroes the chance to shine online and what an exciting prospect that is. Much like the Games itself, the athletes are looking to establish a legacy for themselves long after the closing ceremony and public engagement through social media will be a key factor in achieving that.”

Mike Dunphy of MD Media (@mdunphy) who works with numerous football clubs and agencies including Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid.  

“The convergence of social, location and mobile will become the opportunity for clubs and associations to engage productively with fans in 2012. Those who still live in the world of “pc websites” will be left further and further behind. Those that are embracing mobile optimised services will now be in a position to have more than enough traffic to commercially exploit in an empathetic manner. However, there are still opportunities for traditional mobile plays in the developing world.

 The most interesting things I am looking at are around taking mobile and social network followers to the next level. Of course there are opportunities to do more with Facebook in the “pc website” world, such as having Facebook stores, but we must not forget the Facebook traffic that is not on the fixed web, maybe over 50% for some brands.”

Some great insights I’m sure you’ll agree.  If you’d like to add your own then please do so in the comments below.

At Social Media Week week back in February we held the massively popular Social Media & Sport stream with huge amounts of held from Sophie Brendel at the BBC.

One of the speakers was Tom Hines from the RFU who gave an insight into how they approach social media.

Tom summed up really nicely how the NGB was going about tackling the new means of communicating and engaging with English rugby supporters. The 3 main purposes of their strategy include to;

- Increase the breadth of communication

- Alter perceptions

- Gather knowledge

Here is his take on it through his slides…

Will Carling famously referred to the game in England as being run by ’57 old farts’ back in 1995 when he was national captain. However, English rugby (union) has come a long way since then. Admittedly results haven’t been entirely awe inspiring following the 2003 World Cup triumph – but in commercial terms the future looks rosy.

According to SportsPro magazine, in 2009 “games at Twickenham generated £29.2 million for the RFU, accounting for a quarter of their £118 million turnover. The union’s gate receipts have actually increased by £4.1 million since the 2006-2007 season.” Last season in the 6 nations “England could have sold out its 82,000 capacity Twickenham stadium twice over for each of its two home games”.  Additionally, “England received the largest economic boost from the tournament, with a total of US $132.82 million spent by fans on match tickets, transport, food and beverage sales, accommodation, merchandising, and at city attractions, and by sponsors on marketing”.

Hospitality and marketing have been important aspects of the increased commercialisation of rugby in the country where Webb Ellis first picked up the ball. In terms of sponsorship, England’s involvement with O2, its principal sponsor since 1995 when it was known as BT Cellnet, has been both beneficial and lucrative for rugby. England’s mixed broadcasting package, unique to the home unions, with both Sky and the BBC ensures strong annual TV revenue. The BBC covers home games in the 6 nations while Sky covers the autumn internationals and much more – from U20 internationals to the Army and Navy game. Looking to the future, England will also host the 8^th Rugby World Cup in 2015. The Rugby World Cup is the third largest sporting event after the football world cup and the Olympics. When staged in France, in 2007, it delivered “a total economic impact estimated at up to £2.1 billion” for the host nation.

Domestically the picture looks bright too. Aviva, the fifth largest insurer in the world, has recently replaced Guinness as the official title sponsor of England’s premier club rugby competition. In a 4 year deal, Aviva will pump £20 million into the renamed Aviva Premiership. In another exciting move, JP Morgan Asset Management earlier this year launched a Sevens tournament for the 12 premiership clubs. This is a bold move which aims to build on the momentum that entry into the 2016 Olympics has given the shortened version of the rugby game.

There are, however, some small dark clouds for rugby in England. The so-called ‘Bloodgate’ scandal has left a bad taste in the mouth (quite literally). The affair has tarnished the image and reputation of both Harlequins (one of the oldest clubs in the game) and the sport in general. It would certainly have been scrutinised by sponsors even though Etihad Airways has signed a one year extension to its sponsorship with the Harlequins club.

The relationship between the Premiership clubs and the national squad is not always a comfortable one. Like in football, there are arguably too many overseas stars in the domestic game. If selection of these players curtails the long-term playing development of home grown talent the results of the national side may suffer in years to come. Some players in the national side are also plying their trade overseas and this has led to friction between their respective clubs and Martin Johnson’s national squad. This was notably the case when the French club Toulon refused to release Jonny Wilkinson for a recent England squad summer camp. To keep revenues coming in, the RFU needs to carefully manage these issues to ensure that its strongest side runs out at Twickenham in order to attract sponsors, broadcasters and keep fans streaming through the turnstiles.

The upcoming season promises to be an exciting one as the rugby community looks forward to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Whether Martin Johnson and his England team will get their hands on the Webb Ellis Trophy again remains to be seen.

One thing we do know for sure – on the commercial front English rugby is in great health.

Under Armour is a Global sportswear company that has built a leading brand name in the hi-tech athletic gear. Under Armour traditional focus has been on compression (tight fitting) performance attire, but with a strategic marketing approach has also begun to offer a wide variety of products in other sports such as Football.

In a highly competitive sport, Under Armour launched in 2006 its first American football boots and gained 20% of the market that year. The company is constantly growing. For the fiscal year 2009, net revenue grew 18.1% from 2008 to $856.4 million.

I am interviewing Blair Tripodi. He is the Under Armour International Marketing Director. Blair has an extensive marketing experience and worked for the US Olympic Committee for 6 years as Director NGB Marketing, Director of Consumer Products and Brand Marketing Director. He is at Under Armour since 2006 and I am getting his views on Under Armour expansion in football and ultimately how Under Armour can challenge the largest established football brands.

1/ Blair, Under Armour is growing significantly and is nicknamed “the next Nike”. Is it an accurate nickname?

It is flattering to be referred to as being the next great sports performance company however I like to think we are doing things the Under Armour way and even though we make product in similar categories, our stance and position in the market is also very different than our competition.

2/ Matt Powel (Sportsonesource analyst) said: “Under Armour captured the minds of the high school kids playing American Football. It’s kids selling to other kids it’s a social networking almost…” Is it a similar strategy Under Armour has towards football? Will the new Cristiano Ronaldo wear Under Armour products?

I would love it for the next Ronaldo to pick up a pair of UA boots or clothing and give it a go because we make great product.  Matt’s comments are correct that in any sport Under Armour is popular or present in; we have a very organic presence.  We don’t pay many athletes to wear the brand, most of the times you see the product on someone is because they or their team bought it from us.  That is truly where I think we are a cut above because people choose to wear Under Armour even if they have to buy it

3/ What are the main differences between Under Armour and adidas, Nike, Puma?

There are lots of differences and lots of similarities but the one thing which truly sets us apart is the fact that everything we make is designed too make the athlete better.  Even our hoody’s and sweats are made from performance, moisture wicking fabrics. We’ve also developed products like the coreshort, recharge and Armour Bite – not as huge revenue drivers but as a tool to clearly position ourselves as the athletes one stop brand for all performance needs

4/ What are the main difficulties to penetrate football in Europe?

I think the difficulties are pretty clear.  A lot of brands want to win at football and quite frankly a lot of good brands with a lot of history behind them.  We fully respect the pecking order as it sits today and are taking our approach one athlete at a time.  We believe there is room and then some for Under Armour and that the consumer wants another – different – brand to compete with the current players.  And it has been seen by the players who have chosen to wear Under Armour already (Marcel SchaefferPaul Robinson, Bobby Zamora and others) that the product is fit enough for some of the worlds best players.

5/ Under Armour is the official outfitter of the Welsh Rugby Union. Is Rugby a platform to penetrate football in Europe?

Rugby feels good to our company as a sport to be in our sights to win at.  The sport itself is what inspired American Football in the US and so the fit from a cultural perspective is terrific.  Our program with the WRU also makes a lot of sense because we like to partner with passionate people and organizations and you could argue that no other country in the northern hemisphere is as passionate to Rugby as the Welsh are.

6/ Kevin Plank (Chairman and CEO of Under Armour) started the company with the success we know now. What can you tell us about him?

Kevin is a remarkable individual.  He is driven and motivated like all great CEO’s but I also know he believes we have yet too make our signature product as a company.  He is pushing everyday for our company to innovate in everything we do from how we build product, to how it gets delivered to the story we tell and that is exciting to work for a company that doesn’t sit still and expects change.  Very refreshing and personally gratifying.

7/ Who could we expect to see wearing Under Armour football shoes during the 2010 FIFA World Cup?

Well for sure you will see Marcel Schaefer on the German team.  We have some exciting special boots in the works for him which would turn some heads for sure.  Additionally of course we are holding out hope that Paul Robinson or Bobby Zamora will have some luck and be selected for the England squad.   We also have hope that Bochum’s Joel Epalle from Cameroon will receive selection.  These players are all contracted UA athletes however I am sure you will see several other players wearing boots quite frankly because they are very comfortable and perform well.

8/ In South Africa this summer, 12 Federations are sponsored by adidas, 9 will wear Nike products, and 7 National Teams will endorse Puma outfits. How long do you think it will take to Under Armour to have national teams at a major football event?

A national team program is something we have thought long and hard about.  As I previously mentioned though, it isn’t just about getting on field with a team, it is getting on field with a team that fits the brand.  So I think as a result our company will show a good deal of patience in picking the program that fits well with us.

9/ More and more football brands and clubs are using social medias to reach out to their fanbase. What is Under Armour approach?

Social media is playing a much larger role in some of our key markets.  From a UK perspective we have started using tools like Facebook and blogger networks such as soccerbible and footy boots as tools to tell our messages to the consumer.  We also launched our football boots on-line through our website – www.underarmour.com/UA11.  This was a groundbreaking program that I think acknowledged the movement of the consumer to the internet as a one stop shop for all their brand information