New York Giants Embrace Social Media With Mass Relevance

When the New York Giants take to the field for Saturday afternoon’s preseason game against the New York Jets, a new stadium name (MetLife Stadium) won’t be the only change fans will notice. The team will also unveil a social-media initiative, with the help of Mass Relevance, that will give fans in the stands and at home a chance to use Twitter to share thoughts, opinions, and more on TV broadcasts and scoreboards.

Don Sperling, VP/executive producer of Giants Entertainment, says the system will be used during the team’s two final preseason games, at the stadium during regular-season games, and for viewers of the pre- and post-game coverage on MSG Network and local over-the-air broadcaster MyNine (WWOR-TV Secaucus, NY).

“We expect to grow our Twitter followers and then really make the current followers [get engaged] instead of just reading and following,” he says.

The system requires Mass Relevance software to interface with the Giants Entertainment Harris G7 and Chyron Duet graphics systems. A filter is in place to make sure tweets meet a decency standard, and selected tweets will be pumped out to the scoreboard and TV broadcasts (they will not be seen on games broadcast by CBS, Fox, NBC, or ESPN).

Visitors to the stadium can expect to see a live stream of fan content on LED video towers (pylons) at the stadium entry to pump up tailgaters. Relevant live tweets will also be shown on the stadium video boards, as well as on the LED “ribbon” display that separates the stadium levels and on the 2,200+ flat-screen TVs located throughout MetLife Stadium.

During halftime, the Giants will provide an open Twitter Q&A session with the Radio Voice of the Giants Bob Papa and analyst Carl Banks. With the Giants celebrating the 25th anniversary of their first Super Bowl, fans will also get a live Twitter chat with a member from that team every home game.

Additionally, during the regular season, a new open voting system will allow fans to pick the player of the game in real time using Twitter hashtags — and get a weeklong discount on that player’s merchandise from the Giants online store.

“We have an exclusive,” says Sperling of the Mass Relevance agreement. “This is something no other teams can do.”

The Mass Relevance system is called Tweet River and allows the user to aggregate tweets, curate and sort them, and also add in functions like voting and even chat. The company has handled Town Hall meetings for President Barack Obama, as well as voting for the TV program Project Runway and for MTV Networks.

“With over 6.4 million fans in the tristate area and one of the largest national fan bases in the NFL, our social-media strategy is designed entirely around giving them the best way to share their passion — and the Giants experience — with each other,” says Giants Chief Marketing Officer Mike Stevens. “We have the advantage of playing in an incredible state-of-the-art stadium that lets us do some amazing things to share content to fans in the seats as well as our viewers at home. This is a great value added for our fans and our organization.”

Password must contain the following:

A lowercase letter

A capital (uppercase) letter

A number

Minimum 8 characters

;
SVGLogoHR_NOTAG-200

The Latest in Sports Video Production & Technology
in Your Inbox for FREE

Daily Email Newsletters Monday - Friday