If you noted something a bit different while following last week’s NASCAR race at the Pocono 400 Presented by NASCAR it could have been the results of an alliance between Twitter and NASCAR designed to ratchet up fans’ participation in the sport.
The two launched #NASCAR as a tool to bring fans into the mix during races and it will feature a curated site that will focus on races and select other events and will include Tweets and photos from race drivers, teams and fans. NASCAR also has a @NASCAR account
It’s funny when I was watching the race last week on TNT I noticed that they had started running Tweets from race teams, and I am not totally sold on it, at least in the manner in which it appeared in the middle of the screen rather than at the top of bottom, which I prefer. But it did bring some interesting info into the mix.
The effort is still a work in progress and it looks like some drivers and teams are much more active than others, but then it takes some time to just establish this in your routine, so I suspect that it will improve as everybody gets used to tweeting on a regular basis.
I do not follow any of the drivers on a regular basis but have found that Brad Keselowski has been uniformly amusing and engaging, which is probably why he was selected to be in the first ad that was run about the partnership. His tweet about the crash at Daytona 500 was a huge hit earlier this year.
I hope that NASCAR continues on this trend and brings its partners further into the fold. Having spent some time on many of the circuits track’s web site I have found that they vary greatly in what they offer fans.
The best of them include track Twitter feeds, videos and photos as well as areas where fans can participate. Then there are some where the site basically just serves an online ticket office, providing little if no interaction with the fans.
In addition I hope that the tracks ensure that they have enough wireless capacity to carry the Twitter traffic, it can be very disappointing to try and connect and get nothing. Both MLB and the NFL are working to upgrade their capabilities in this area.
I would not like them to follow the MLB direction where all the team sites are almost identical, different tracks’ should have different personalities, just as the drivers do. But encouraging them to have a more powerful online presence will only enhance the sports appeal to fans.
[…] Mobile Sports Report […]