Twitter as The Ultimate Communication Medium for Sports

Running head: TWITTER: THE ULTIMATE COMMUNICATION MEDIUMFOR SPORTS 1
Twitter: The Ultimate Communication Medium for
Sports
Tom Fraser
PBRL-6019
Apr. 8, 2016

TWITTER: THE ULTIMATE COMMUNICATION MEDIUMFOR SPORTS 2
Abstract
The purpose of this literature review is to determine how Twitter is used
as a communication tool in connection with sporting events. Since Twitter’s
arrival in 2006, the media landscape has changed to include Twitter as an
important platform for news and information. This review includes an analysis
of how Twitter is used in times of crisis, how fans use Twitter to complain, the
second screen phenomenon, and how players and sports organizations use
Twitter. Overall, the platform is found to be a crucial part of communications
when it comes to sports to the point where the once common press release has
been deemed obsolete (Gibbs & Haynes, 2013). Additionally, it is revealed
sports fans are trying to get as close as they can to the game by consuming
content related to their favourite players, teams, and leagues, each of which
communicate directly with fans.

“Twitter gives fans something that other media cannot provide as easily
— access to instantaneous information from both official and unofficial
sources. Both the accelerated delivery of information on mobile platforms
via the internet and the ability to interact with that information is
changing how fans consume content” (Williams, Chinn, & Suleiman,
2014 p. 36).
The arrival of social media has changed how messages are
communicated in the sports world. As team news is made public, Twitter is an
essential part of the communications plan for all stakeholders, whether it is the
news media, fans, or other teams. Teams must think critically about how they
want their message to be perceived digitally because that is how a growing
number of fans are receiving it. Meanwhile, anyone is able to create a Twitter
account and formulate opinions and views as well as interact with the
messages that are sent out. The information hits a target audience and is
immediate and succinct (tweets have a 140-character limit). Fans are able to
disseminate the message quickly and share it, discuss it with others, and look
to other sources for more information or reaction. Similarly, sports fans on
Twitter are able to follow along with live sporting events by watching on TV and
through their social timeline, a phenomenon called “second screen.”
Twitter has also redefined how sports leagues, teams, and athletes
communicate with their fans because of its immediacy. Twitter is a round-the-
clock platform that can break news at any moment. This lends itself perfectly
to an industry that deals with communications on an hourly basis. Whether it

is the outcome of a game, an event that happened during a game, or news
regarding the sport, fans now have a digital voice which can be heard by other
fans, athletes, teams, and leagues. These digital voices use Twitter as an arena
where they can have conversations about sports at all hours of the day while
surrounding themselves with like-minded voices. The use of Twitter has also
gotten fans closer to the game as they receive communications from their
favourite players similar to a text message, as well as seeing what players are
seeing through pictures and video.
Background
Commonly known as the four major sports leagues in North America, the
National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), Major
League Baseball (MLB), and National Hockey League (NHL) all joined Twitter
over a seven month period between December 2008 and June 2009, ahead of a
massive influx of new Twitter users globally which grew from 30,000,000 to
200,000,000 between 2010 and the beginning of 2013 (Statista, 2016). The
NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL now send out communications to about 48,000,000
combined users through their Twitter accounts. Since Twitter’s arrival in 2006,
it has changed significantly from a primarily-desktop to a primarily-mobile
system allowing its users to take the social media platform on the go (Liu,
Kliman-Silver, & Mislove, 2014). As technology has improved over the last
decade, using Twitter has become easier. Users are able to access Twitter at
their convenience instead of needing a desktop computer to access the millions
of messages being tweeted every day. As a result, more than 50 per cent of

tweets come from mobile devices (Liu et al., 2014). This has introduced a new
phenomenon called “second screen viewing,” in which a user is watching a
sporting event and is supplementing that by monitoring another screen, such
as a mobile device. As recently as 2015, up to 87 per cent of consumers use a
second screen while watching TV (Mann et al., 2015). Finally, Twitter has
provided yet another avenue for crisis communications when it comes to
sports, bypassing traditional means of communicating like press releases to
the news. Since 2006, there have been just two lockouts in the four major
sports leagues in North America. These leagues utilized Twitter during the
crisis to provide information, reassure stakeholders, and keep in contact with
fans albeit in an indirect manner (Frederick, Hamrick, Clavio, 2014).
Literature Review
Twitter During a Crisis in Sports
The 2012-13 NHL season was shortened due to a lockout over a lack of a
collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players’ association
(NHLPA). The lockout was announced on September 16, 2012 and lasted until
January 6, 2013. Frederick et al. (2014) analyzed 148 tweets by the league
during a one month period of the lockout and found that 42 of the tweets had a
media engagement theme. Other themes analyzed were “hope for the future,”
“reminders of the past,” and “information and reassurance.” At a time when the
possibility of a season taking place looked bleak, the NHL used Twitter to keep
fans informed and interested in the sport. The NHL’s goal through their
communications, no doubt, was to minimize the loss of revenue from fans

while ensuring that they held a favourable impression of the league. A player
strike like the one that the MLB had gone through in 1994 would have a
devastating effect on the league (Associated Press, 2004). When the league and
NHLPA resolved their issues with a new collective bargaining agreement,
Twitter was abuzz with the latest information. One writer called the end of the
lockout a Twitter-exclusive event, with journalists breaking news on the
platform for fans around the world before writing their stories to blogs or news
sites (Dowbiggin, 2013). This event thrust Twitter into the spotlight as an
effective tool for the NHL, sports media, and for fans to get information as
quickly as possible.
Twitter Use to Voice Displeasure
There was a lot of anticipation on Twitter’s end leading up to the 2012
London Olympics as they signed a deal to be the official narrator of the Games
with one spokesperson calling it a way for new users to sample the platform
(Social Times, 2012). Twitter partnered with NBC to live tweet the events and
encourage fans to watch the pre-recorded broadcast at night due to the time
change. However, trouble emerged when Twitter announced the outcomes of
the events before NBC viewers ever had a chance to watch them. The majority
of the major events were being recorded, edited, and delivered by NBC in prime
time in an effort to maximize advertising revenue (Nee, 2015). While fans were
following along with the events on Twitter, they became angry when they were
not able to watch them happen, especially in cases where Americans won
medals. Almost as soon as the Games began, Twitter became the medium

where fans could voice their displeasure. A hashtag that was developed by NBC
for branding purposes (#NBCOlympics) turned into a hashtag shaming NBC
over their poor coverage (#NBCFail) (Nee, 2015). NBC took on the role of a
gatekeeper, withholding Olympic coverage that would later be sent out through
TV broadcasts. Through Twitter, the audience became a gatekeeper as well by
creating content to serve the needs of other NBC viewers upset with the
broadcaster’s coverage (Sipocz, 2014). In response to the feedback on Twitter
about their decision not to broadcast marquee events live, NBC Sports
Chairman Mark Lazarus stated, “It’s not everyone’s inalienable right to get
whatever they want. We are charged with making smart decisions for our
company, for our shareholders and to present the product the way we believe is
best” (Sports Business Daily, 2012). However, Sipocz (2014) argues that by
using a social media platform like Twitter to create content, disseminate it, and
influence traditional gatekeepers, social media users will play a significant role
in how broadcasters like NBC communicate their messages in the future.
Using Twitter as a Second Screen
Chronister (2014) states, “With the use of second screens, the future of
the television viewing experience is changing for television viewers,
broadcasters, and advertisers” (p. 7). Research has shown that 75 per cent of
the time when someone is watching TV, they are simultaneously using another
mobile device such as a cell phone or a tablet (“The new multi-screen world,”
2012). As technology advances, it has become more convenient to use social
media platforms like Twitter to supplement using TV. Twitter is able to

facilitate conversations during sporting events that span geography and can
include millions of different digital voices. Twitter’s immediacy is also its
advantage when it comes to second screen viewing. Sports fans watching a
close game that is nearing completion may tweet about what they are watching.
That tweet could be seen by another sports fan not watching said game,
encouraging them to flip the channel to see what they are missing. One
participant in a research study by Vooris, Smith, and Obeng (2015) said,
“During baseball season, if someone says ‘a person has a perfect game going
through six innings and we’ll broadcast his pitching innings on ESPN’, I’ll go to
ESPN and see if he can do it or not” (p. 386). The same study found that
Twitter is a primary social media platform when it comes to second screen
viewing because users like to see how others react while watching the same
sporting event. The second screen also plays a crucial role in how marketing
communications are sent out during sporting events. Users ages 14-34 are
among the most popular adoptees of second screen viewing, with smartphones
being the preferred device of choice while watching TV (Mann et al., 2015).
However, second screen viewing is prevalent among all age groups. Older
generations are more likely to use laptops or desktops while watching TV.
Finally, while it may seem that second screen consumers would focus less on
the actual broadcast, research shows that second screen users are more likely
to recall in-game advertising than single screen users (Haddad, Seymour-Hyde,
& Gould, 2013). Marketers must implement second screen strategies into their
mix, while maintaining advertising strategies around the event’s broadcast.

Professional Athletes Using Twitter
Twitter is a platform that athletes can use to bypass the public relations
department of their sports teams in an effort to better communicate with and
engage fans (Hambrick, Simmons, Greenhalgh, & Greenwell, 2010). Having a
social media presence gives players a way to show their personality besides
how fans see them during games and on TV. In fact, some players themselves
are more popular than the teams they play for. Such is the case for Lebron
James, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA. The Cavaliers have
just 1.09 million followers on Twitter while James has 29.6 million followers,
more than any of the four major sports leagues in North America. Other
players, like the American Hockey League’s Paul Bissonnette, have become
household names because of their online presence and not necessarily because
of their skill level (Fisher, 2014). The content of players’ tweets has also been
analyzed to determine what they are communicating. A study by Pegoraro
(2010) analyzed tweets over a seven day period of five of the most followed
athletes in the world. The data shows that athletes tweeted at fans nearly 50
per cent of the time. After that, athletes tweeted about their personal lives
about 25 per cent of the time. Discussing their sport and other athletes was the
least tweeted thing by athletes. Players must also recognize that signing up for
a Twitter account could have repercussions. The NBA has fined a number of
players for varying amounts of money for anti-gay slurs in tweets (Lawrence,
2012). Many leagues have set rules and guidelines for when, where, and what
athletes may tweet. Professional athletes must abide by rules like not tweeting

on game days, making statements that damage the league, or criticizing
officiating (Shoalts, 2011).
Sports Organizations Using Twitter
An analysis of sports organizations’ use of Twitter by Gibbs and Haynes
(2013) determined this:
A review of the lived experiences of sport communications informants
would suggest that Twitter promotes a closer connection between the
sport entity and the fan. Recognizing this function of Twitter, team
media-relations informants have modified how and what they tweet to
increase intimacy between the fan and the particular sport franchise that
they work for. (p. 403-404)
Sports organizations are able to bypass the sports gatekeepers like
journalists by using Twitter and speak directly to their target audiences.
Pegoraro’s research (2010) determined that leagues use Twitter to
communicate directly with fans on Twitter. More than half of the NBA and
NFL’s tweets over the research period were responses to fans on Twitter and 17
per cent of tweets across all leagues that were analyzed were responses to fans
on Twitter. While leagues have instituted rules that prevent players from
tweeting during certain times, the teams they play for are not subject to the
same policies. The media relations departments for sports teams and leagues
have also changed significantly since Twitter was adopted by mainstream
media, and is now the primary method of sending out communications (Gibbs
& Haynes, 2013). Research by Gibbs and Haynes (2013) found that team

media-relations staff believe press releases are now useless because the
information contained in them is on Twitter before the release can even be sent
out. Additionally, Twitter is used as an informational tool regarding lineup
changes, injuries, and other team news that otherwise would be communicated
to the media through some sort of a release.
Discussion
There are a number of directions research could go to further the
knowledge about Twitter as a platform for sports communications. There has
been little research to determine how effective a sports league’s Twitter
presence is during crisis situations. However, it may be difficult to determine
what a crisis is for a league. If the example used, the 2012-13 NHL lockout, is
the benchmark for a crisis, then there has been only one other crisis since
Twitter was invented in 2006 (2011 NBA lockout).
NBC did not let fans who criticized their pre-recorded broadcasts dictate
how they operated during the 2012 London Olympics (Sports Business Daily,
2012). However, time will tell if the broadcaster changes their broadcasting
practices for future Olympic Games that are affected by a time change. Sipocz
(2014) discussed how Twitter users became the gatekeepers of content rather
than NBC, though more research could be done determining users’ motivations
and the results of their efforts on social media, if there are any.
The way that players use Twitter is of interest because, as Pegoraro
suggests (2010), players are not seeing Twitter as a marketing tool, rather as a
way to communicate directly with fans. Athletes are not tweeting about the

products they use, the brands they are loyal to, or encouraging fans to go to
their website. Further research could investigate which athletes, if any, use
Twitter as a marketing tool and if it is successful in generating revenue versus
how many followers they have.
Meanwhile, Gibbs’ and Haynes’ (2013) study into how sports
organizations are using Twitter revealed much about how teams are bypassing
the gatekeepers of sports media and sending information out on their own.
Continuing analyses will reveal how Twitter is changing the landscape for
sports media and the effect that has on sports journalists and other
gatekeepers.
In conclusion, sports fans on social media are content hungry and have
access to more information than ever before. Twitter’s immediacy is what sets it
apart from other social media platforms for sports fans. Organizations must
continue to use this and other platforms in order to communicate their
messages because it is such an effective way of reaching the target audience.
Social media should also be an essential part of an organization’s marketing
mix for the same reason.

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