American Sport Social Media

I'm spending time in New York at the moment for Lexis, at our sister agency MBooth's mid-town office, attending the NYC part of Social Media Week. This rapidly expanding gathering of social media is becoming the annual global focal point of a booming industry. Sport sponsors, stakeholders and rights holders are now switched right on to the power of the digital world and it's been a massive insight into how Americans, more advanced than the UK in the use of these skills, are going about their business.

Social Media is particularly relevant for sport, still the number one fascination across the globe. The front page of USA Today is dominated with Super Bowl XLV talk three days after attracting 111 million viewers to Fox, setting a record as the most-watched TV show in US history. Player Tweets, manager video blogs, advertising, they're all now focussed towards social media, and sporting events will never be the same again. Comment, stats and replays are now immediate, literally minutes after games. There's no more waiting until the next morning to get the full low down.

What's also evident is the power of the NFL, a centrally governed sport body. They're viewed as the all encompassing authority on everything, from ad commercials to responding directly to the 400 fans refused entry to the Super Bowl because their seats weren't ready. NFL spokespeople have the clout of politicians, and every statement and comment is splashed across TV show headlines.

The sponsorship market is a completely different model in the USA, with sponsors encouraged and celebrated. There's been more talk about the advert breaks between the Super Bowl than the match itself. The Volkswagen Darth Vadar ad stole the headlines with now over 20 million YouTube views in sevens days. A news story about the sport adverts. Can you imagine that in the UK?

Gareth Griffiths, Lexis Sport