No less than 84% of sports fans feel their engagement with the sport and the teams or players they support has improved as a result of their use of social media.
This is one of the results of our survey of Social Media in Sport published this morning as part of the Sport for Business Members’ Round Table on the subject.  Among those participating today are the GAA, Cricket Ireland, The Irish Sports Council, Google, Accenture, WeRInteractive, Thinkhouse and Ulster Bank.
We will be looking at four key themes of how social media is changing the way fans engage with sport and sponsors; how sports organisations are harnessing the power of their content; how brands are developing new models to tap into these new media; and what are likely to be the main drivers of engagement in 2013.  How close do brands need to get to the Gatorade Social Media Control Centre pictured above?
100 people took part in the survey which also looked at the main reasons why people engage with sport through the different social media channels; which of those channels were the most popular as a primary and secondary source; which of the major sports in Ireland were perceived to be making best use of the medium; and to what extent people were likely to follow, like or favourite their teams.
Twitter emerged as the principal source with 60% of respondents indicating that as their primary channel.  Facebook and You Tube were close in second and third with the former picking up 15% of first preferences and You Tube 5% but the video medium coming through strongly as the second and third choice.
In terms of the reasons why and how people use the new media, 96% use it for news, 72% to check on results after an event and 56% to [ismember] follow a match or an event through peer commentary.
The main sport to be using the different social media to best effect was deemed to be Rugby with 41% of those responding highlighting that as the best exponent.  Soccer came next with 25%. The GAA was third with 9%, ahead of Horse Racing with 4%.
Other sports came in strongly as well with 21% of those who answered the question indicating a preference for a sport outside of the big 4.  This would include the likes of Cricket and Hockey both of which maintain a strong presence across the social spectrum.
72% of respondents said they either followed, liked or favourited the teams they support through one or other of the social media and 84% that their engagement with those teams had increased through the greater access they were now able to enjoy.
Key take away for Sport: While earned media is hard to get for minority sports, and bought is too expensive, the third path of owned media offers great opportunity to reach directly to existing and potential fans
Key Take away for Business: Any commercial partnership with sport must have a clear strategy towards involving the brand in increasing use of social media.[/ismember]
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