As technology permits greater interactivity with fans, sports clubs and leagues have consulted sometimes far-flung supporters on everything from a team’s name to where games should be played.
Last month, the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles went further still.
During its first game in the Indoor Football League, the brand new American football team polled fans on strategic maneuvers, letting a majority decide, for example, whether to kick or keep going on fourth down.
The Screaming Eagles lost the game, but the tactic caught notice worldwide, scoring views in 99 countries where the game was streamed for free.
We want to “give the fans a little bit more interaction, a little bit more engagement and make them feel like they’re more part of their professional football team than they ever were able to be before,” said IFL commissioner Mike Allshouse.
Much of the push is aimed not at fans in the stadium, but those watching the games on television or on their computer.
Teams are sending out a regular trickle of content on social media of just-executed plays, athlete interviews and backstage photos of stars.
In late December, Fox Sports 2 miked the coaches of two women’s college basketball teams that were playing each other and broadcast their unfiltered banter during the game and in the locker room where cameras were present.
