Sport-Fan Connect

Day 3 – Capitals vs BlackHawks (NHL) & Twitter

Posted on 25. Sep, 2009 by Trevor Turnbull in Athletes, Executives, Individuals, Promotions, Staff, Teams, The Connection, The Fans Perspective, The Sports Perspective

Our day began with an afternoon meeting at the ESPNZone with a couple of Sports Social Media thought leaders (Anthony Caponiti and Steve Cobb from Activ8Social). Both of these guys had a ton of insight to offer on the topic based on their own experiences as both fans and through their consulting with their sports clients.  We will be posting a separate article summarizing our conversation and are planning to get together during our second stint in DC at the end of our Sport-Fan Connection Tour.  So, stay tuned for those articles!

Washington Capitals vs Chicago Blackhawks

As with all of the games we are attending, our objective is to observe and analyze the In-Game experience and make note of how teams are using social media in their Marketing mix to engage with their fans.  Being that this was a pre-season game, the Capitals are saving most of their new initiatives for the regular season, so we do not have alot to share regarding the In-Game experience.  (We will definitely have alot more to share following the Washington Capitals home opener vs the Toronto MapleLeafs on CBC Hockey Night in Canada next Saturday).

I’d just like to start by saying that the Capitals were very accomodating to our project by allowing us access to a number of team executives that were more than willing chat.  And, of course, considering the recent news article about the Washington Capitals players fake Twitter accounts (written by Tarik El Bashir – Washington Post), it was an logical topic to chat about this with their key communications people. (As a side note, while we were up in the Press Box, we noticed that a number of the sports reporters had their computers open to their Twitter accounts during the game…..including Tarik)

Washington Capitals & Twitter accounts

For those of you that are not familiar with the recent news story, a number of the Washington Capitals players had fake Twitter accounts registered in their names that they were completely unaware of including Jeff Shultz, Brooks Laich, José Theodore and Alexander Semin.  Most of the tweet were harmless, funny and candid and therefor something that the players and Media Relations staff were not too concerned with.  However, one of the tweets from Brooks Laich’s (the Capitals NHL Players Association rep) account caught their attention and made them take action.  The tweet read as follows:

“Yes I fired [NHLPA executive director] Paul Kelly and yes I’m voting for a lockout.”

Brooks comment to the fake tweet was “I hope those people who are following it know it’s not me.”.  I think the biggest thing to take away from this is that prior to the Capitals and Brooks addressing the fake account, it was likely that his Twitter followers did believe they were hearing from the real Brooks Laich.  The account has since been taken down, but it did make the Capitals staff and players take note of the power of social media.

Washington Capitals – Fake Twitter Accounts

We had a great chat with Nate while hanging in the Press Box at the game about his take on Twitter and social media in general.  Nate and the Capitals are not strangers to Twitter as he currently manages his own account (@nateewell) the Washington Capitals official Twitter account (@WashCaps) and Nate made the headlines back in February when he worked with Alexander Ovechkin to setup and tweet from his own personal Twitter account (@ovi8).  Ovi told him what to write and Nate made it happen. The account is still active, but has not been contributed to for a number of months now.

I asked Nate what he thought about the fake player Twitter accounts.  He responded by saying that it was a bit of an eye opener, but it was something that they didn’t want to take lightly. In fact, they are going to make a point of speaking with the players over the coming weeks about social media with regards to what they can’t say on Twitter and what they would like them to say. This is a great first step towards understanding and using social media as a means to engage with their fans. Without a doubt, it will lead to the Capitals implementing a social media strategy for their team and players.

Washington Capitals – Real Twitter Accounts

The team account (@WashCaps) is currently managed by members of the Capitals Media Relations staff, Nate and Paul Rovnak (@paulrovnak).  They are using the account to both broadcast messages (videos, blogs, news articles on www.washingtoncapitals.com) as well as to engage with fans and run promotions.  Paul recently ran a very cool contest through his own personal account where he offered up 2 tickets to the game that night to the a fan that could come up with the best nickname for a new Capitals forward line (Gordon – Gordon – Laing).  Here’s what he tweeted:

paulrovnak: Most creative name for Laing-Gordon-Gordon line gets my tickets for Wed vs CHI. 1st row upper deck. Have at it Tweeple. Be creative and RT.

And here were some of the responses he received:

Hooks_Orpik: Double G-Q
ahwahoo2006: Obviously LG-squared or Ladies Choice line
ahwahoo2006: How about 3 guys, 2 spleens?
itallfallsdwn: Gordos Never Quint
inch_gladdy: The Newhart Line. My name is Laing, this is my brother Gordon and my other brother Gordon. (WINNER)
lindseydc: LGG is always going to make me think “Lego Line” for some reason. Insert witty comment about team building blocks here.
sweetestofdekes: Obviously, Laing-Gordon-Gordon is the Highland Line.

This is a great example of how the team is using social media to engage with their fan base in unique and creative ways.  And, of course, this was done from Paul’s personal account, however, the point is they are at least experimenting and open to the idea that there is much to learn in how social media can become an integral part of their future communications plan.