Daily Telegraph ran with reports from the NRL Media Manager’s meetings with NRL and Facebook is social suicide and Penrith Panthers ban players from Facebook, Twitter after Australian Federal Police raise security issues.

Should Athletes be on Facebook?

YES, why shouldn’t they be able to stay in touch with family & friends like the rest of us?  That is the key, family & friends, people they know.  Facebook is a personal social network, you should connect with people you know IRL, In Real Life.

Should Athletes connected with fans on Facebook?

NO, not using their personal account as they lose their privacy and the privacy of the people they are connected with.

YES, they can connect using the correct platform in Facebook’s case the Fan Page.  The Fan Page allows fans to get updates from an athlete but provides the athlete with the separation from the fans.

Examples of athlete Fan Pages include – AFL’s Harry O’Brien & NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal or for a company like Sports Geek.

How can clubs & leagues help?

• They can ensure players understand the privacy settings in Facebook to remain invisible to the general public.
  • Choose Your Privacy Settings –> Basic Directory Information  –> Search Friends Only
  • Limit Friend Requests –> Friends of Friends Only
  • Hide Friend List –> Friends Only
• They can assure fans that NO athletes are on Facebook accepting friend requests from fans.
• They can point fans to official fan pages & sites of athletes. Like the Phoenix Suns do with Twitter accounts.
• They can report fake profiles to authorities.  Contact Sports Geek for more info on how to eliminate fake accounts in your sport.

Want to know more about how athletes can effectively use social media platforms?  Then please check out our Social Media Athlete Training program.

Other articles that may be of interest include:

• Athlete Twitter fakes!!! Ah who is real?
• Fake sports stars can damage a personal brand
• 10 New Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know
• Facebook Identity Theft Protection Guide: 6 tips to protect your identity on Facebook
• Every Privacy Feature explained

Still collating my notes (or should that be tweets) from 2 great conferences in Sydney & Auckland.

A big thanks to Simon Arkwright from Sport Research Group for inviting me to speak at the conferences as well as collecting a stellar lineup that will be tough to match next year.

Twitter testimonial

The response from the delegates to the conference was amazing, tell us in a tweet what you loved – #scau or #scnz

It was great to see interaction from around the world as the sports business world joined in the conversation via Twitter.  Welcome to all the newbies to Twitter as many people joined Twitter while attending the conferences.

Link up

If you want to link up with other delegates on Twitter then check out the @SportsConference/Attendees list.

Additionally if you want to connect with sports marketers then join these Linkedin Groups – Asia Pacific Sport Marketers or Sports Geek on LinkedIn.

While you’re in connecting mode, please connect with me on LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/seancallanan.

Here is my presentation from the Sydney & Auckland conference, stay tuned I will be uploading more presentations from the great lineup of speakers soon.

Here is my presentation in PDF form for easy printing.

Connect with Sports Geek on Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn
Contact Sports Geek to activate your sports brand & connect with your fans

“Sport Is Fantastic 2010″

Eden Park, Auckland – July 19 & 20

Follow @SportConference for tweets on the latest from the sports digital marketing world.

Great lineup of speakers for 2 whole days at Auckland’s Eden Park.

Remember to hashtag it #scnz

If you follow #scau in Sydney last week, get more info from Auckland

“Fan & Participant Engagement in the Digital Age”

Star City Hotel, Sydney – July 13 & 14

Follow @SportConference for tweets on the latest from the sports digital marketing world.

Great lineup of speakers for 2 whole days at Sydney’s Star City.

Remember to hashtag it #scau

Next week in Auckland #scnz

If you don’t know by know LeBron James will choosing his next NBA team (or perhaps staying in Cleveland) via ESPN in a prime time special at 9pm ET.

Why will LeBron break the Internet?

Joined Twitter as @KingJames yesterday… 279,400 followers when I started this post now 280,748…

Where is LeBron?

Want to know where Lebron (or at least the person tweeting for him) is?

Take the Location details from his Twitter account and put the numbers into Google Maps.

Hint: Turn off Location update when tweeting from UberTwitter.

Perhaps LeBron needs some training from Sports Geek?

View Larger Map

LeBron Online Launch?

Why not launch a personal site & take control of your Facebook Fan page while you have the world’s attention?

What is it doing? Collecting email addresses, smart strategy why not hit up the sports world email boxes with new offers from King James?

But the most staggering is the traffic hitting up his new website from that one tweet via Bit.ly.

Still not convinced about social media being an effective platform for sports & athletes?  Why not?

Where will LeBron end up?

Happy to have LeBron as a Sports Geek ambassador

Connect with Sports Geek on Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook & LinkedIn
Contact Sports Geek to better leverage your sports properties via social media

Cristiano Ronaldo has used his social media profiles to make a big announcement, not going through traditional media press release.

However, it was a little cryptic from his Twitter account @Cristiano. Which leads to a longer post which received 199,185 views.

But his Facebook fan page was more clear.

I’m sure this will be where sports news and athlete news specifically is headed as athlete’s take control of their message via social media rather than traditional media.

What do you think?  Is this change good for sports fans? How will sports media react to this change?

Best of Digital Sports World #10

This coming week may be the biggest in NBA history as the free agent class of LeBron, Wade & Bosh among others decide where they will continue to ply their trade.  Teams & fans are in a frenzy at the possibility of landing one, two are perhaps all three. Chicago Bulls sold 1500 season tickets in 48 hours just on speculation alone.

Darren Rovell does are great job breaking down what LeBron’s worth maybe to each potential destination.

Latest release of SSMI was released this week looking at the NRL clubs and how they use social media platforms to connect with sports fans.  Hear more about it on @SportzfanRadio this Sunday at http://SportzfanRadio.com.

@WeThinkSocial thank social media for lifting profile of soccer in the US looking back at the Twitter rates during the USA Soccer run.

Good video captured by @JasonPeck at Social Media event in DC.

Great piece on ambush marketing at the World Cup with Bavaria Vs Budweiser.

Sacramento Kings engage fans during NBA Draft hat tip to @BrianGainor

If you’re reading this then I recommend you read 30 Sports Blogs you should be reading.  Note: @SportsAndaLatte just moved here.

Look out Steele Sidebottom, back to back titles seem unlikely as QB Fudge Van Hooser commits to Tulane, becomes an early Name Of The Year favorite

#localfooty connecting with fans

Sports Geek getting the Southern Footy League up to speed with social media promoting this Saturday’s via a Facebook promotion with half-price entry to anyone who RSVPs on Facebook.

Best On Ground

Wimbledon using Facebook & Livestream to create a mashup to connect the press room to Facebook fans.

Video Clip of the Week

More from Wimbledon since it is reaching the pointy end…

Book your ticket for SRG Conferences
Got your ticket yet? HUGE lineup with speakers from Real Madrid, NBA (Trailblazers & Timberwolves) & Tottenham…
Engaging Fans & Participants in the Digital Age Sydney – Star City – July 13 & 14

Back in March we took a look at the AFL teams using the Sports Social Media Index (SSMI) developed by Sports Geek, now we take a look at the NRL.

Wests, Broncos, Rabbitohs lead the way

The Wests Tigers head the NRL SSMI leaderboard with good use of Facebook events to stay connected with fans.  Brisbane Broncos are close behind taking advantage of the Facebook photo galleries to run promotions with fans sharing great snaps at the game. The South Sydney Rabbitohs scored well with a well branded Twitter account that is interacting with fans definitely “joining the conversation.”

Link #fail

Unfortunately it is very hard to determine “official” accounts from fan-run or imposter accounts.  The main culprit is the “Connect with the NRL” page on NRL.com which links to several unofficial accounts on Facebook & Twitter.  To make matters worse some of the club sites link to the incorrect accounts as well.  Some of the clubs with bad links include Melbourne Storm, Newcastle Knights, North Queensland Cowboys, NZ Warriors, Parramatta Eels, Penrith Panthers & Sydney Roosters.

Good moves

Some teams are trying a few initiatives that should be applauded to create a community for fans with Penrith going “old-school” social media providing a fan forum with Panthers Interactive.  The NZ Warriors have teamed up with their major sponsor in Vodafone to deliver Vodafone One Tribe.  These sites do well to foster community amongst fans and would be improved if integrated with Facebook Open Graph to allow fans to share via Facebook.

NRL Clubs on Twitter and Facebook

NRL SSMI findings – Club by Club

About SSMI

Sports Geek has developed the Sports Social Media Index (SSMI) to rate the performance of sports franchise using social media. The SSMI cover the key platforms of sports social media, how each platform is used and how they engage their fan base.

SSMI rates teams on execution on social media platforms, are they using best practices exhibited by teams leading the way in digital sport marketing like the Dallas Mavericks, LA Kings & New York Knicks.

If you want more information on SSMI please contact Sean on 0407047200.

Best of Digital Sports World #9

While World Cup teams have banned players from using social media, others are using it as a launch platform for endorsement exposure.  In Cristiano Ronaldo’s case exposure is exactly the right word with his Armani photo getting 32k likes and 11,780 comments.

Twitter reports the massive spikes in traffic from the #worldcup but it was the Lakers’ win in the NBA Finals that broke records.

NBA Championship between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. The Lakers’ victory generated a record 3,085 TPS as the game ended.

Darren Rovell reports IMG lost $4.6M in income due to Tiger Woods’ issues.

Big brands are following the lead of sports teams befriending Facebook.

Great tips from @ChrisBrogan on using Twitter.

@BrianGainor releases another Partnership Activation newsletter if you don’t subscribe to it I suggest you do.

Fox Sports take a peek behind the scenes of the NBA use of social media, it’s a slam dunk.

Good advice from @TrevorYoung – I Urge You to Ignore Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare et al

Amazing game at Wimbledon

Can’t got past without mentioning the amazing 5 set match between Isner & Mahut that took 3 days to complete and ended with a 70-68 Isnet win in the 5th.

But here is the tweet of the tournament so far from Andy Roddick.

Best On Ground

Toyota Racing have done well offering NASCAR fans the ability to create their very own NASCAR, great sport-sponsor digital promotion with Sponsafier 2.

Video Clip of the Week

NBA using Vimeo to as part of broadcast package of the NBA Finals…

Book your ticket for SRG Conferences
Got your ticket yet? HUGE lineup with speakers from Real Madrid, NBA (Trailblazers & Timberwolves) & Tottenham…
Engaging Fans & Participants in the Digital Age Sydney – Star City – July 13 & 14

Best of Digital Sports World #8

Sports on Facebook is tracking the Facebook activities of World Cup fans by passion, popularity, intensity, region & group.

World Cup getting strong TV ratings in the US after the draw with England.  Even 2M+ Australians got up at 4:30am to watch the Socceroos fail against the Germans.

From the world of NBA USA Today talks to Jeanie Buss about Twitter, Phil Jackson and working in the NBA.

32 Creative and Clever Sports Posters to Inspire You

@Mashable took us Inside Gatorade’s Social Media Command Center

Andy Pawlowski (@pawlow34) uses his learning from the Digital Disciple series with Facebook: 5 Things NCAA Programs could steal from the NBA

A look at the roles involved in social media in college athletics from @ZachLassiter, what do you think of the Protector, the Entertainer, and the Interactor?

Dwight Howard building his endorsement base via his Superman persona from @sports_business

@Harry_O is running another competition via Twitter engaging with his fans looking for a “fresh” photo.

If you didn’t catch it, here is our look at the Andrew Johns saga and how the Australian Twitter community responded, a must read fro any athlete manager.

Welcome to Twitter – AFL Insider

Good to see the @AFL mix it up engaging with fans via different Twitter accounts. Waiting for @NRLHQ to tweet…

Best On Ground

Twitter is doing it’s best to bring World Cup fans together with it World Cup 2010 page.  You can track tweets from games providing a twitter commentary when you mute the TV for vuvuzela relief.

Video Clip of the Week

Kobe Bryant fan needs to be seen to be believed…

Book your ticket for SRG Conferences
Got your ticket yet? HUGE lineup with speakers from Real Madrid, NBA (Trailblazers & Timberwolves) & Tottenham…
Engaging Fans & Participants in the Digital Age Sydney – Star City – July 13 & 14