5 Ways Sports Agents Can Get More Value from Twitter

Last year in The Sports Resource Newsletter, we detailed why Twitter is awesome for agents. Since then, many more agents have established a Twitter presence. 

If you took that step, how can you get more out of Twitter? Here are five ways for sports agents to build value with Twitter for both your agency and clients. 

1. Make it visual. Twitter changed its profile format to make it easier to display photos. It’s also great for sharing links to YouTube videos. Why not post a video on your Triple-A closer mowing down a batter? Infographics are  big now as well. They are ideal for sharing stats on your clients, which leads to…

2. Share your own content. Many agents use Twitter to share links on their clients from popular sports websites. While this carries some benefits, we recommend an approach that builds your brand and your clients’ brands far better. Since agents have insight into their clients like nobody else, you can provide insight without needing the media.

3. Tell your agency and client stories. Can you tell a story in 140 characters? It takes time, but it can be done. Share information gradually. What do your players do better than anybody else? With tools like advanced metrics, Pitchf/x, and SportVU, there is plenty of information to create interesting posts. 

4. Timing is everything. Sports insiders, athletes, and fans all engage on Twitter most when games are going on – the bigger the event, the greater the engagement. If you can’t post during games, you can easily schedule key tweets in advance as explained below.

5. Leverage technology. Free tools like Hootsuite make it simple to schedule posts in advance. It’s also a great way to program tweets you want to repeat. This is valuable because – given the amount of Twitter traffic – it’s unlikely anybody will notice that you repeated the same tweet. If it’s a key message, your followers are more likely to see it.  

Building value with Twitter takes consistency and volume. One tweet a week won’t do  it, so tools like Hootsuite become valuable.

For agents and sports businesses just getting started or yet to establish a Twitter presence, we offer a free 15-minute consultation to get you started. Sign up at marketing@sportsresource.net.

What Happens Next?

The 2014 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is over, and it’s time to get down to work. So what comes next? While this post is more for people looking to break in or break out in sports, it could prompt ideas for insiders as well.

The best way to reach your dreams and goals is to help somebody else reach theirs. So here’s how to take concepts from the conference and use them to build value for others.

Choose. Sports analytics can do much more than people realize, not less. There are many organizations, companies, and individuals in the sports industry who can gain a competitive advantage with quantitative information. Focus on areas where you can show indisputable proof of its value.  They may not be at the highest level of sports, but they certainly exist.

Think beyond the playing surface. The best opportunities may lie in sports business, where innovation can move as slowly as on the field. Identify things that don’t make sense. For example, why do teams spend millions on a gigantic new video board, and then fill it with per game stats, batting averages, and videos of two hands clapping together?

Create. One way to mine innovative – and valuable – research is to merge two or more different types of data. Combining park effect statistics and weather data is one example, and this impressive study is another.

Compel. Some sports insiders will ignore hard data and evidence no matter what. Will anybody ever convince Jim Boeheim to play his bench more? Fortunately, there are college teams led by coaches that think like Brad Stevens, who are more likely to consider new concepts and welcome analysis from outside sources. The level of acceptance will vary widely at all levels, so find the best targets and demonstrate how analytics will make an impact, either in the win column or bottom line.

Sports may take time to embrace change. But once a team or organization succeeds with a fresh approach, others rush to follow.

Adjusting for Context and Arbitration

One of the keys to solving the value puzzle in sports is separating what the player controls and what he doesn’t. Sounds simple, but it’s not.

In baseball arbitration, context can be a huge factor. In extreme examples – such as pitcher who plays home games in Coors Field – the arbitration process makes the proper adjustments to salaries. But there are many others where it doesn’t. For example, factors like run support, defensive play, and bullpen performance all have a massive impact on starting pitcher statistics.

Relievers also face challenges when it comes to context. Holds and saves greatly influence arbitration salaries, and they get impacted by the man calling the shots. Managers vary tremendously in how they handle relievers, and this can be good or bad for pitching stats. Here are just a few examples:

Pitching Changes: Some managers change pitchers far more often than others. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy used 524 relievers in 2013 versus 440 for Washington’s Davey Johnson. The frequency of Bochy’s changes created more opportunities for holds. Giants relievers had 46 holds of less than one inning. The Nationals had just 15.

Free Passes: Seattle’s Eric Wedge ordered 48 intentional walks last season, compared to 10 by John Farrell and the Red Sox. This hits the statistics of relievers especially hard, since they pitch far fewer inning than starters. Intentional walks cause stats like walks per nine innings and WHIP to rise, even though the pitcher did nothing to cause it. Because intentional walks are usually poor strategic moves, they can also increase a reliever’s ERA.

Wearing Them Down: Overuse can also make relief pitchers less effective. The Red Sox and Indians had similar ERA figures – both for their starting rotation and bullpen – yet Terry Francona worked his pen much harder. Cleveland relievers pitched on consecutive days 122 times. Farrell, on the other hand, used Red Sox pitchers only 71 times without a day of rest.

Every player’s situation is different. And The Sports Resource identifies how context impacts all the stats that matter in arbitration.

A Breakthrough for Role Players

For several years, The Sports Resource has recommended companies use non-superstar players for endorsements. Role players who excel in specific ways or possess unique traits can build brands at a much lower cost than superstars.

The news that Hawks guard Dahntay Jones signed a partnership deal last week demonstrates that companies are coming around to this concept. The 6-6 Jones sees just 12.4 minutes per game, but plays sensational defense.

With this approach in mind four years ago, we created a sample on Marreese Speights. What makes this a winning strategy for brands? 

1)      Many role players, such as Jones, have large audiences on social media. He had over 21,500 Twitter followers. This creates opportunities for brands to interact with thousands of fans through the player’s voice. 

2)      Every NBA player excels in at least one vital area, or else he wouldn’t be on a roster. For a defender like Jones, brands could use insightful defensive metrics to activate the sponsorship. 

3)      The cost to sign role players to deals is far less than what it takes to land a superstar.

We also believe companies should identify and sign promising young players for endorsements before they break out – a tactic where analytics provides a huge edge and can save millions of dollars.

Speights, now just 25, possessed considerable upside four years ago. And while he’s yet to see big-time minutes, he remains a very productive role player. Speights puts up 20 points and 10 rebounds per 40 minutes. Only 10 other players currently match that achievement, including stars like Blake Griffin and Tim Duncan.

Should this trend gain traction, players who build their brand on social media will get endorsement opportunities that only the superstars previously enjoyed. As for brands, we’ve already detailed why it pays to activate sponsorships with statistics. And that approach works great for all types of players.