Social media in sports is the use of social platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and YouTube by teams, leagues, athletes, media and fans to publish, share and discuss sport. Sport management research describes social media as new media technologies that allow interactivity, co-creation and user-generated content, and finds that they have profoundly changed how sport is delivered and consumed [1].
Key points
- Teams, leagues, coaches, athletes and managers all run their own social media presences, and the sport industry has embraced the channel [2].
- Athletes mostly post about their personal lives and answer fans’ questions, which increases fan–athlete interaction [2].
- Social media moved sport consumption from a one-to-many television model toward many-to-many participation [3].
- Research on the topic falls into three groups: strategic, operational and user-focussed [1].
Origin
Early scholarly work on the topic focused on Twitter. Pegoraro (2010) studied athletes’ tweets over a 7-day period, and Kassing and Sanderson (2010) tracked the tweets of cyclists during the 3-week Giro d’Italia [2][4]. By 2015, Filo, Lock and Karg had reviewed 70 journal articles from sport management journals and sorted them into strategic, operational and user-focussed research [1]. Pegoraro (2014) later argued that Twitter should be studied as a disruptive innovation in sport communication [3].
How it works in sports media
Television traditionally offered a one-to-many, single-medium framework for sport consumption. Twitter disrupted it with the many-to-many possibilities of internet-enabled, participatory consumption, and it was up to users to define how the platform would be used [3]. Athletes became media channels of their own. In the Giro d’Italia case, riders’ tweets gave fans commentary, opinions, interactivity and insider perspectives, which increased the immediacy between athletes and fans [4]. That closeness is why researchers described the athlete–fan bond on Twitter as more social than parasocial [4].
Examples
- Athletes’ own accounts. In a 7-day case study, athletes tweeted mainly about their personal lives and replied to fans [2].
- Live events. Cyclists tweeting during the Giro d’Italia let fans experience a major race through the platform [4].
- Athletes as media. Athlete accounts that fans follow directly are the base of the sports influencer and the influencer athlete (see the articles below).
Common questions
What do athletes post on social media?
In an early Twitter case study, athletes talked predominantly about their personal lives and responded to fans’ queries [2].
Why does social media matter to sports organisations?
It builds relationships between brands and individuals. Reviewers found that interaction and engagement are central to cultivating those relationships, which links the topic to fan engagement [1].
How is it different from television?
Television is one-to-many. Social platforms allow many-to-many participation, where fans, athletes and clubs all publish [3].
Related terms
- Fan engagement — how fans interact with teams, athletes and each other.
- Sports influencer — a sports figure whose online audience carries commercial value.
- Influencer athlete — an athlete who builds a following beyond the game.
- Athlete’s brand — the image an athlete builds and manages.
- Parasocial relationship — a one-sided bond between a fan and a public figure.
- Viral moment — a clip or post that spreads fast across platforms.
Read more on Play of Values
- The value of influencer athletes
- Media revolutions in the sports ecosystem
- The year of Caitlin Clark
- Matas Buzelis and hope
Sources
- Filo, K., Lock, D., & Karg, A. (2015). Sport and social media research: A review. Sport Management Review, 18(2), 166–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2014.11.001
- Pegoraro, A. (2010). Look who's talking—Athletes on Twitter: A case study. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3(4), 501–514. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.3.4.501
- Pegoraro, A. (2014). Twitter as disruptive innovation in sport communication. Communication & Sport, 2(2), 132–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479514527432
- Kassing, J. W., & Sanderson, J. (2010). Fan–athlete interaction and Twitter tweeting through the Giro: A case study. International Journal of Sport Communication, 3(1), 113–128. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.3.1.113