Fans across the globe have certain tastes and preferences when it comes to sports content creation. Whether it’s the English Premier League, NFL, or the NBA, each league has a very strong understanding of what appeals to their fans. Any professional sports league can claim that it has “the best fans”. But what does it really mean? Is it based on attendance, money spent, knowledge of the game, audience engagement? Whatever the answer to that question is remains to be unseen. However, each professional sports league knows what works for them.
One of the English Premier League’s undeniable qualities that makes it so special is the passion and memories that come with being a fan of any club, regardless of if they are a Premier League regular or a relegation zone side. On social media, the league takes full advantage of its world-class selection of players by creating video content that just forces you to watch twice. However, it’s those glorious moments that the league is able to capture so well that really bring attention to their audience.
Across the pond, the NBA has become the States’ premier entertainment source in sports. Of course, all professional sports have a base in entertainment. However, the NBA has excelled in creating a fun sports content which creates an exciting image for its audience. The professional basketball league has one of the largest followership out of any league in the world, with over 27,000,000 followers.
Unlike many professional leagues across the globe, the NBA has become comfortable with letting its players and coaches speak out on social media distributing their own content. This doesn’t mean speaking out necessarily on controversial US trends. It’s more of for parity purposes and for media outlets to pick up.
One of the league’s brightest young stars in Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Born in Cameron and currently in his second season, the 23-year-old is one of the biggest personalities in the league. He has just under 1,200,000 followers on Twitter for good reason. He simply says what he wants and isn’t under any tight restrictions (of course within reason). Many sports digital agency’s work as a result to get players like Embiid involved within their campaign to amplify the content to a wider audience.
A few weeks ago Embiid and 76ers squared off against reigning “MVP” Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Westbrook, like Embiid, has quite a fiery personality and doesn’t like to be told what do or how to act. Naturally, the two stars had a few confrontations during the game. However, it was Embiid’s “poster” on Westbrook that served as the major moment from the game. Twitter exploded after the dunk. However, it was postgame when things got interesting. Embiid posted a picture later that night of the dunk on Westbrook with the caption of “Tough Loss” to mock Westbrook. The irony is that the 76ers lost the game.
Tough loss #TheProcess pic.twitter.com/OFBvSyGJX1
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) January 29, 2018
It’s these kinds of subtle moves that have made the NBA an internet sensation and has allowed their fan base to grow exponentially. Other leagues have started to become more free on social media, but the NBA remains at the top of the mountain.
