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Internet
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Written by Maury Brown
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Friday, 03 August 2012 11:07 |
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No, Derek Jeter is not getting a sex
change. Hackers said the shortstop was
on the Yankees Facebook page yesterday |
Ah, the joys of social media in sports. You grow your fan base, market directly to them, and (if you do your homework), convert them into ticket buyers.
But, if there’s a platform that isn’t wholly controlled by a business (and even then, it can be breached), you can find yourself hacked.
Case in point, Facebook and Major League Baseball. Like every other sports league, having a Facebook presence has become mandatory. That can lead to problems, and yesterday, it did.
According to a report in the Wall St. Journal, several MLB Facebook accounts were hacked and with it, the hackers posted various content to the account Walls. On the Yankees FB page, shortstop Derek Jeter was the target, and with it it was announced that the future Hall of Famer was getting a sex change:
"We regret to inform our fans that Derek Jeter will miss the rest of the season with sexual reassignment surgery. He promises to come back stronger than ever in 2013 as Minnie Mantlez," the team's page stated at around 3:30 p.m.
There was more.
The Marlins page said that the first 18,000 that attended the game last night would get a free pit bull. The Nationals page said they were relocating back to Montreal as the Expos. And the WSJ reported more saying, “The page for the Padres noted that handicapped fans, while permitted to attend ballgames, are not encouraged to attend. The Giants page expressed distaste for the head of the company Chick-Fil-A, which has been in the news recently due to President Dan T. Cathy's opposition to gay marriage.”
MLB Advanced Media handles this sort of thing and would be investigating. In a statement they said, “We are working with Facebook, Major League Baseball Security and, where appropriate, legal authorities to determine the circumstances surrounding this situation."
 Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes.He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
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Written by Maury Brown
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Tuesday, 10 July 2012 18:46 |
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One thing that has taken sports by storm is the amount of social media activity, especiially through Twitter. While it's created some difficulty, for the most part, sports leagues have embraced it.
Such is the case with this year's MLB All-Star Game festvitiies. Starting yesterday with the State Farm Home Run Derby (@StateFarm #HRDerby on ESPN) and the 83rd MLB All-Star Game (@MLB #ASG, Tuesday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX) the two together promise to be the most social events in baseball history.
During the All-Star Game, computer stations will be set up adjacent to each clubhouse allowing players -- once they are no longer competing in the game -- to quickly reach out to fans via social media while completing their other media obligations before returning to the bench. And during the State Farm Home Run Derby the previous night, stations will be set up on both sides of the field near the dugouts for the second consecutive year, where players will be able to log into their own social media accounts while uploading photo and video content shot on their personal mobile devices. This initiative is a collaboration between Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association (@MLB_Players) and MLB Advanced Media, with support from both ESPN and FOX for their respective events.
Below is a list of those accounts along with other official accounts that will be actively posting content during the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby. Players who are not active social media users will have the opportunity to participate via the official MLB/MLBPA accounts.
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American League
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National League
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Other
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Elvis Andrus (@ElvisandrusSS1)
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Jose Altuve (@JoseAltuve27)
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@MLB
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Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19)
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Carlos Beltran (@carlosbeltran15)
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@MLB_Players
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Billy Butler (@BillyButlerKC)
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Jay Bruce (@JayABruce)
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@MLB_PR
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Miguel Cabrera (@ogundameyi24)
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Melky Cabrera (@MelkyCabrera)
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@MLBFanCave
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Robinson Cano (@RobinsonCano)
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Ian Desmond (@IanDesmond20)
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@AllStarGame
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Ryan Cook (@ryancook_48)
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R.A. Dickey (@RADickey43)
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@Cut4
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Yu Darvish (@faridyu)
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David Freese (@dfreese23)
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@MLBONFOX
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Adam Dunn (@adamdunn_32)
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Carlos Gonzalez (@cargomedia5)
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@buck C11
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Curtis Granderson (@cgrand14)
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Gio Gonzalez (@GioGonzalez47)
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@Ken_Rosenthal
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Josh Hamilton (@thejoshhamilton)
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Cole Hamels (@TheHamels)
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@ErinAndrews
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Felix Hernandez (@RealKingFelix)
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Joel Hanrahan (@hanrahan52)
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@ESPN
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Adam Jones (@SimplyAJ10)
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Matt Kemp (@TheRealMattKemp)
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@ESPN_MLB
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Mike Napoli (@MikeNapoli25)
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Clayton Kershaw (@ClaytonKersh22)
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@ESPN_BBTN
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Joe Nathan (@JoeNathan36)
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Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22)
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@KarlRavechESPN
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David Ortiz (@davidortiz)
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Wade Miley (@wademiley36)
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@pedrogomezESPN
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Chris Perez (@ChrisPerez54)
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Yadier Molina (@Yadimolina4)
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@Buster_ESPN
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David Price (@DAVIDprice14)
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Buster Posey (@BusterPosey)
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@Kurkjian_ESPN
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CC Sabathia (@CC_Sabathia)
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Pablo Sandoval (@KFP48)
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@JohnKruk_ESPN
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Mike Trout (@Trouty20)
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Giancarlo Stanton (@Giancarlo27_)
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Mark Trumbo (@Mtrumbo44)
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Stephen Strasburg (@stras37)
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Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander)
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C.J. Wilson (@str8edgeracer)
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At MLB.com/the140club, fans will be able to utilize a live, curated news service to follow what the world, including All-Stars, MLB teammates, professional athletes, celebrities, journalists and other fans, is saying on Twitter about the All-Star Week events, including the State Farm Home Run Derby on ESPN and 83rd All-Star Game on FOX. Photos, live and on-demand video, games, sweepstakes and more will give fans insight into the All-Star Week experiences of their favorite team’s All-Stars through the MLB and 30 official Club accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Fans in attendance at Kauffman Stadium for the State Farm Home Run Derby and All-Star Game can check-in with MLB.com At The Ballpark, a free mobile app for supported iOS and Android phones, share their check-in across social media through Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare and enter sweepstakes for Authentic All-Star prizes.
Source: Major League Baseball
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes.He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter
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Written by Maury Brown
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Friday, 10 February 2012 16:54 |
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While full details will not be available till 2/29, some good news is already coming in for fans that are looking to stream MLB games via computer, and other devices.
For the first time, a subscription to MLB.TV Premium ($124.99 for the season, up from $120 last season) will come with a free copy of At Bat 12 (released on 2/29, details then). Last year, At Bat 11 cost $15.00.
See details
As an added bonus, for the first time ever, an MLB.TV Premium sub will allow you stream games to your Xbox gaming console when internet connected.
More details as they become available.
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He writes for Baseball Prospectus and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter
Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook |
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Written by Maury Brown
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Monday, 31 October 2011 00:00 |
Click to see Twitter World Series info |
If you engage in social media, and were on Twitter during the World Series, you know that it became a party within a party – a way to engage and get informed while watching the game.
But, what you might not know is, how much, or which games.
Based on data from Spring Creek, we know that 785,194 tweets used the #WorldSeries hastag. Who knows how many more there were just discussing without using the hashtag?
Unsurprisingly, the peak for Tweets was during the incredible Game 6 (by Spring Creek’s accounting, well above 250,000 used #worldseries.
Click on the Infographic above to see full details on Twitter use during the World Series.
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
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Written by Maury Brown
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Thursday, 13 October 2011 14:08 |
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 The liberal group, "Americans United for Change", has targeted MLB Advanced Media, MLB, and some clubs in larger markets in the US, in an effort to get them to drop Glenn Beck from MLBAM’s backend hosting of his online show.
On Thursday, Americans United for Change is launching the website Strike Out Beck, asking people to sign a petition asking MLB to quit hosting Beck. That website will have a companion Facebook ad campaign in select MLB markets such as St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore and Milwaukee -- that will encourage people to check out the site and join in.
“When it comes to unhinged anti-government conspiracies, fear-mongering for personal gain, sexist remarks, and race baiting, Glenn Beck is in the Major Leagues -- and certainly in a league of his own when it comes to disrespect for families of 9-11 victims," said Tom McMahon, executive director of Americans United for Change. "That’s why it’s so troubling and disheartening that the good folks behind Major League Baseball would agree to what even FOX News couldn’t stomach to do any longer: providing Beck with a platform to peddle more fear and spew more hate,” according to the Huffington Post.
As we reported in June of this year (see Glenn Beck Marries with MLB Advanced Media for New "GBTV" Online Show), while you may be scratching your head asking what right-wing politics and baseball have in common, it’s all about the streaming video platform.
To support what Beck’s Mercury Radio Arts company has in mind, they brought in MLBAM to stream the shows. With more than 20 sports and entertainment brands in BAM’s portfolio, including ESPN3.com, CBSSports.com, March Madness on Demand, TigerWoods.com, along with MLB.com, it’s a natural fit if you want to have a robust, scalable platform.
Before baseball fans think that MLB is full of right-wingers, they should think again. In an article we published 2007 (see Money, Politics, and MLB's Political Action Committee), we found that baseball owners are virtually split down the middle between Republican and Democratic donations.
What MLBAM did was leverage its reputation of being able to have the backend infrastructure, white label services, operational support and mobile app development that has helped serve millions of streaming game views each year for MLB, works as one nice calling card to whoever wishes to reach a large audience on the web…. fringe politics, or not.
OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK:
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter
Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook |
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Written by Maury Brown
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Thursday, 22 September 2011 18:26 |
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If you take social media seriously, you’ll find that there’s more to it than just following others or asking them to follow you. Social media is about engagement, increasing brand, and if you’re a business, engaging directly with your consumer base.
For the longest time, the metric used for success was really about just a pure “follower” number. The logic being, the higher the number, the more successful you’re marketing yourself, right? Well….
Really, it comes back to that thing “engagement”. How will are your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Foursquare postings being received?
It’s been hard to balance social media here on the Business of Sports Network. After all, content is the bread and butter, but the ability to have social media as a platform to provide links to that content, and gain commentary from it almost has to be spread through social media outlets.
Frustrated about tracking divergent sources, the launch of Klout (Klout.com), has been a boon to understanding and seeing real or near real-time feedback on how you are being received via your Klout Influence Score that taps the social media platforms.
For sports franchises, who are now actively engaging in social media, Klout would seem near mandatory. Media outlets should do likewise to gauge how effective they are.
Measuring your impact in social media is paramount now. Klout seems like a solution for many to follow.
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter
Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook |
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Written by Maury Brown
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Tuesday, 20 September 2011 08:48 |
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 Yesterday, we ranked all 30 teams in Major League Baseball by the number of Facebook fans. It was a good look at how pure brand power elevates national interest (the Yankees and Red Sox lead the pack), and with some proactive social media direction, how you are in the standings or your market size can be slightly overcome (the Cleveland Indians).
Today, we thought it would be interesting to see how the teams fare on the other major social media platform, Twitter.
In a sign that Twitter is still in the shadows of Facebook, the total number of followers for all 30 teams in MLB on Twitter is 2,362,301 a fraction of what Facebook has in term of fans (as of yesterday, 22,838,066).
The key difference is that instead of the Yankees or the Red Sox leading the pack, the most followed MLB team account on Twitter is the Philadelphia Phillies at 645,771. To put that in perspective, that total on Facebook would have ranked 13th.
In terms of the lowest follower and fan base across Twitter and Facebook, the award goes to the Florida Marlins (28th on Facebook and 30th on Twitter).
Here’s the league counted by Twitter followers as of 9am ET on 9/20/2011:
| Rank |
Team |
Twitter Followers |
| 1 |
Phillies |
645,771 |
| 2 |
Yankees |
442,769 |
| 3 |
Giants |
185,699 |
| 4 |
Red Sox |
140,896 |
| 5 |
Braves |
100,322 |
| 6 |
Dodgers |
71,200 |
| 7 |
Blue Jays |
63,386 |
| 8 |
Cubs |
60,322 |
| 9 |
Rangers |
59,085 |
| 10 |
Reds |
52,228 |
| 11 |
Mets |
47,800 |
| 12 |
Twins |
46,894 |
| 13 |
Cardinals |
44,798 |
| 14 |
Brewers |
34,211 |
| 15 |
W Sox |
33,068 |
| 16 |
Rays |
31,833 |
| 17 |
Royals |
30,039 |
| 18 |
Mariners |
29,830 |
| 19 |
Indians |
29,187 |
| 20 |
Angels |
25,451 |
| 21 |
Tigers |
24,105 |
| 22 |
Orioles |
23,849 |
| 23 |
Athletics |
23,032 |
| 24 |
Rockies |
21,055 |
| 25 |
Nationals |
19,914 |
| 26 |
D-Backs |
19,303 |
| 27 |
Pirates |
17,926 |
| 28 |
Astros |
16,291 |
| 29 |
Padres |
11,035 |
| 30 |
Marlins |
11,002 |
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
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Written by Maury Brown
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Monday, 19 September 2011 14:36 |
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Social media. It’s no longer a novelty; it’s a key driver in fan engagement across the sports landscape.
Today, the Boston Red Sox announced that they surpassed 3 million fans on Facebook, adding 1.2 million fans since Jan. 1, alone.
So, how do the Red Sox rank against the other 30 teams in MLB on Facebook? Unsurprisingly, they’re second behind only the Yankees who see a stagger lead of over 1.4 million fans.
But, what should surprise some clubs (and should be something that they take note), those that have an active social media presence and have made it part of their outreach to fans, see significant distance over others, even if they are in small markets and not performing well in the standings.
The best case in point may be the Cleveland Indians who rank 15 out of 30, a higher ranking that the Angels or the Diamondbacks (who rank 29th out of 30), the latter of which is running away with the NL West and the Angels who have a solid fan base and have been flirting on the edge of winning the AL Wild Card.
How does the league shake on out Facebook? A total of 22,838,066 “Liked” team pages as of 4pm on Monday Sept. 19, 2011. Here they are by ranking.
| Rank |
Team |
FB Followers |
| 1 |
Yankees |
4,548,205 |
| 2 |
Red Sox |
3,002,235 |
| 3 |
Cubs |
1,394,810 |
| 4 |
Giants |
1,172,045 |
| 5 |
Phillies |
1,054,336 |
| 6 |
Braves |
928,489 |
| 7 |
Cardinals |
890,632 |
| 8 |
Rangers |
809,369 |
| 9 |
Dodgers |
793,205 |
| 10 |
Tigers |
785,577 |
| 11 |
W Sox |
752,396 |
| 12 |
Twins |
688,387 |
| 13 |
Brewers |
484,041 |
| 14 |
Mets |
475,985 |
| 15 |
Indians |
460,694 |
| 16 |
Reds |
452,789 |
| 17 |
Mariners |
424,204 |
| 18 |
Rockies |
392,846 |
| 19 |
Rays |
354,900 |
| 20 |
Astros |
354,645 |
| 21 |
Angels |
351,959 |
| 22 |
Blue Jays |
335,585 |
| 23 |
Padres |
327,472 |
| 24 |
Orioles |
303,676 |
| 25 |
A's |
278,080 |
| 26 |
Pirates |
263,099 |
| 27 |
Royals |
257,876 |
| 28 |
Marlins |
201,410 |
| 29 |
D-Backs |
183,476 |
| 30 |
Nationals |
115,643 |
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
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Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook |
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Written by Maury Brown
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Tuesday, 07 June 2011 11:31 |
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MLB Advanced Media, the digital rights arm of Major League Baseball, has been a lucrative revenue stream for baseball, filling the league’s (and each of the 30 owners) coffers with a steady flow of dependable cash. One of the key reasons – maybe the biggest – is that they are seen as the industry standard for video online.
So, while you may be scratching your head asking what right-wing politics and baseball have in common, it’s all about the streaming video platform.
Glenn Beck is moving from FOX to his own online network called GBTV. It’s a daring move – going all online – but Beck is gambling that as the adoption of streaming video online becomes more common place (see Netflix, as an example), paying for streaming content will become the norm.
To support what Beck’s Mercury Radio Arts company has in mind, they have brought in MLBAM to stream the shows. With more than 20 sports and entertainment brands in BAM’s portfolio, including ESPN3.com, CBSSports.com, March Madness on Demand, TigerWoods.com, along with MLB.com, it’s a natural fit if you want to have a robust, scalable platform.
Before baseball fans think that MLB is full of right-wingers, they should think again. In an article we published 2007 (see Money, Politics, and MLB's Political Action Committee), we found that baseball owners are virtually split down the middle between Republican and Democratic donations.
What is happening is MLBAM’s reputation of being able to have the backend infrastructure, white label services, operational support and mobile app development that has helped serve millions of streaming game views each year for MLB, works as one nice calling card to whoever wishes to reach a large audience on the web…. fringe politics, or not.
SPECIAL BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK REPORTS:
The Labor Battle in the NFL. See BizOfFootball.com for details
Welcome to the 2011 Business of Sports Network Autism Challenge
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, as well as a contributor to FanGraphs and Forbes SportsMoney. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter
Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook |
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Written by Maury Brown
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Wednesday, 16 March 2011 10:06 |
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 In an experiment to see how fans, through social networking, engage with streaming content, you can now watch one MLB.TV Spring Training game in HD per day, free through their Facebook page.
Games started streaming on Facebook two days ago, beginning with the A’s Indians game. MLB.com informs that they have created a special player that embeds the streaming content within the Facebook interface.
Get in on it while you can. According to MLB.com, the experiment will only be going on during the rest of Spring Training. So, get in on at least 2 weeks of online goodness.
In related news, the same offer of one free Spring Training game streaming in HD per day is also available through the At Bat 11 app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
SPECIAL BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK REPORTS:
The Labor Battle in the NFL. See BizOfFootball.com for details
Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, as well as a contributor to FanGraphs and Forbes SportsMoney. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.
Follow Maury Brown on Twitter
Follow The Biz of Baseball on Twitter
Follow the Business of Sports Network on Facebook |
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Internet
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