New York – (Sept 21)

Both Mike and I arrive in New York around 5pm, just in time to check into our hotel by LaGuardia Airport and head over to our first game – New York Mets vs Atlanta Braves. We have made attempts to contact someone within the Mets organization to talk about our concept and see if they would be willing to help us out. Still working on that one…..but if anyone out there knows someone that can help us out….we would greatly appreciate it!

Washington – (Sept 22 – Sept 23)

From there, our travels have us hitting the road to Washington, DC to take in the Nationals vs Dodgers game. I was fortunate to meet with executives within the Nationals organization on previous travels to DC and am working out the details on whether they will be able to accommodate us.

The following day is a busy one for us…..but an exciting one to say the least! I have met many great people through Twitter and it continues to amaze me every day how it helps connect people with similar interests. I am really looking forward to connecting with two of these “Twitter friends” – @lorirusso (Lori Russo) and @dcSportGuy (Anthony S. Caponiti).

Lori is a huge Washington Capitals fan and is one of the driving forces behind the Caps Tweetups during games at the Verizon Center. Considering some of the press that the Washington Capitals have received lately regarding fake player Twitter accounts, I’m sure everyone will have lots to say! Speaking of which, I am also hoping we’ll get a chance to chat with @nateewell (Nate Ewell – Washington Capitals Sr. Director of Media Relations) to hear the teams perspective on this story and how they are planning on reacting to it going forward.

I have never met Anthony in person before, but I look forward to our conversation on the Sport-Fan Connection as he is a huge sports fan and is intimately involved in the Sports Marketing world through his business ventures – Active8Social.com and Starburbs.com.

New York – (Sept 24-Sept 27)

We are also scheduled to attend @rscibetti (Russell Scibetti) Business of Sport Networking Event. I attending this event last time I was in NY and met a number of great sports people that are affiliated with sports teams, media, sports marketing companies and sports blogs. Some of these people include @stephbags (Stephanie Bagley – VaynerMedia), @gosam (Sam Taggart – VaynerMedia & Author on Sportsnetworker.com), (@ajv – AJ Vaynerchuk – VaynerMedia), (@joshuaduboff – Joshua Duboff – TheSportsBusinessExchange.com)

Our first NFL game on the trip is scheduled for June 27th (NY Jets vs Tennessee Titans). I have contacted the NY Jets and they have been more than accommodating to our requests. We are still working out the details, but look forward to hearing the Jets perspective on the Sport-Fan Connection, how social media is impacting this relationship and what they are doing to get involved.

In addition to these events, we are working out the details on getting together with one of the New York Rangers players (to be announced soon) and I have also made attempts to contact both @umassdilo (Michael DiLorenzo – NHL Director of Social Media) and @schuylerb (Schuyler Baehman – NHL Manager of Communications) to hear their perspective on the NHL’s social media strategy. We are also still attempting to contact representatives from the New York Yankees, so if there is anyone out that can provide assistance with this, we would greatly appreciate it!

New York (Sept 29 – Oct 1)

As we head back to New York, we have a number of great meetings schedule including one with @dani3boyz (NHLTweetup.com), Dani is the creater of the now famous “NHL Tweetups” and is the driving force behind a number of great events scheduled this season. I had a pleasure of speaking on the phone with Dani the other day and I can honestly say that this is one interview that I am really looking forward to. Dani is a huge New York Islanders fan, but in general, she is a “Hockey” fan and is doing great things to help connect hockey fans around the world through Twitter.

In addition to this, we are also working out the details on getting together with @kathleenhessert (Kathleen Hessert – President of Sports Media Challenge). Kathleen is a thought leader in the world of Sport Social Media and has worked with a number of sports clients including ESPN, World Wrestling Entertainment, professional organizations such as Madison Square Garden, the Texas Rangers and the Miami Heat, The PGA TOUR, Super Bowl MVP’s Peyton and Eli Manning, NASCAR’s Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, and NBA great Shaquille O’Neal.

Baltimore (Oct 2)

Of course, being from Canada, we are both big Toronto BlueJays fans. We have made attempts to contact the Toronto BlueJays directly as well as Rogers SportsNet (the official broadcaster for all BlueJays games) and will continue to try to touch base with them. So, if they are reading this…….we’d love to chat . We have also made attempts to contact the Baltimore Orioles and would appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.

Washington (Oct 3 – Oct 4)

Our trip will wrap up in Washington with the Washington Capitals vs Toronto Maple Leafs to kick off the NHL season. Again, we look forward to connecting the @lorirusso and the Capitals Tweetup participants! We are also hoping for an opportunity to speak with Washington Capitals executives, players and staff. Our trip wraps up with the Washington Redskins vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and again, we would appreciate any assistance our followers can provide in connecting us with the team.

Wrap Up

We are extremely excited to hit the road and we hope that everyone that is already following us will find value in the content we will provide. If you haven’t already, make sure to sign up for our Facebook Fan Page, Twitter account, sign up for our RSS feed and register to receive the free report we will be producing following the Sport-Fan Connection Tour!

The Sports Perspective

• Leagues
• Teams
• Players
• Staff
• Athletes
• Trainers
• Executives
• Merchandise Vendors

The Fans Perspective

• Individuals
• Networks
• Channels
• Websites
• Media
• Bloggers
• Organizations
• Service Providers

The Connection

• Topics
• Game Experience
• Promotions
• Interviews
• Surveys
• Questions
• Co-operatives
• Media Convergence
• The Conversation

Welcome to SportFanConnect.com!

Since most people (including ourselves) would rather watch a video than read a bunch of content, we figured we’d put together this short video to introduce you to SportFanConnect.com and to share the idea behind the Sport-Fan Connection Tour. Trevor Turnbull (one of the guys behind this concept) chimes in from the New York Islanders training camp at Credit Union Center in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Detailed information about the Sport-Fan Connection tour can be found in the pages at the top of the website. In a nutshell, the tour is a dream sports trip turned into a research project to uncover how social media is changing the connection between Sports and their Fans. Our mission is not to preach, sell or influence, but too listen to all the varying, relevant perspectives from old-school stalwarts to new media dreamers. This is a listening tour. We want to ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS….to record and to analyze. And, of course, we want to know what questions everyone wants answered……..so, we’d love to hear from you!

We are busy setting up meetings as our first round of emails go out in the morning. If you are reading this, before Friday September 11, you probably got one of those emails. And if you did, why not drop us a line to help arrange some details still yet undertermined.

The Sport-Fan Connection is the exchange point of value between Sport (leagues, teams, players and staff), with the Fan (media, bloggers, individuals, and organizations). The exchange point is any point of contact between the two including Game-Time and Off-Field Interaction (Websites, iPhone Applications, Twitter). Values exchanged take the form of game experiences (live or broadcast), merchandise, and activities such as Fantasy Sports.