Minor League Baseball’s Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies’ AAA affiliate, are one of the first pro teams with their own iPhone app. The IronPigs are offering their app for free for a limited time to celebrate the app’s launch earlier this month.

The IronPigs app allows fans to listen to live game audio, purchase tickets, read stats and headlines and even check up on the latest weather. I emailed IronPigs General Manager Kurt Landes to get his thoughts on the app, the IronPigs’ social media presence and what he views as the future of smart phone apps in the sports industry.

When did the IronPigs decide to develop their own iPhone app? Was this something fans had asked about?

We initially gauged the feasibility of doing an iPhone app only 2-3 months ago.  Once we received a recommendation and realized we could launch an iPhone app within a relatively short period of time we decided to go for it.  Our fans are always looking for new, exciting and interactive ways to associate themsleves with our team and our organization.  Knowing how iPhones are so prevalent, it was a smart promotional effort choosing to put ourselves in the actual hands and pockets of our fans.

The IronPigs maintain a strong presence on social media sites and host the 2010 Triple-A All-Star Game at Coca-Cola Park on July 14. How have fans reacted to the team’s social media presence, especially as it relates to the All-Star Game and other events at the stadium?

We have made it a priority to tap all social media outlets in an effort to interact with our fans on a more consistent basis.  We have hundreds of fans that each day interact with different IronPigs social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in addition to our brand-new app.  We have had an unbelievably positive reaction to our App, with over 1,300 downloads in just three days, extremely positive customer reviews and top 25 rankings in the sports category of the App Store on iTunes.  Social media is a significant tool within our overall marketing campaign and we make sure it’s incorporated into all of our stadium and fan promotions.  Specific to the All-Star Game, we introduced ticket sales to the event by creating a viral personalized video to our fan base that created a huge buzz and led to the game and related events selling out six months beforehand.

While fans can purchase tickets through the iPhone app, the app currently takes fans through the website purchase page via the app. Is a dedicated purchase page something the organization may add in the future?

Our online ticketing system is TIcketReturn and they do not currently have a software development kit that supports the iPhone.  Yes, we are hopeful to have a dedicated purchase screen as soon as that feature is available to us from TicketReturn.  We also would like to offer  the opportunity for fans to display their seating bar code(s) on their phone rather than on individual hard tickets to gain access to the ballpark in the future.

What are some of your future plans with the team’s iPhone app? Do you think we will see more official team iPhone/iPad and Android apps in the future?

There is great potential for future versions and upgrades of the current App.  It will continually become more interactive as more technologies are introduced.  In the next week, we will debut an interactive game to go along with our in-park “The Great Pork Race” at Coca-Cola Park. And yes, we are hopeful to launch Android, Blackberry and iPad counterparts soon.

What do you view as the biggest challenge that sports teams face with regards to social media? How do you address that challenge?

Staying on the cusp of all of the new mediums and technologies can be a difficult task but by dedicating our efforts to a few of the more popular sites (Facebook, Twitter) we have been able to have a number of positive responses.  Overall, we’ve always taken the initiative that we want to be the first to offer our fans any number of new technologies as they occur.  For us, it’s not just about providing the service and convenience, it’s also about having our fans understand and be excited that we continually invest in new ways to “wow” them and when we do, it’s done in a first-class manner.  Sports teams need to continually understand there are so many ways to interact with fans now.  It’s not enough to just have a web site and print pocket schedules anymore.

***

Key points:

• The IronPigs’ app has been downloaded over 1,300 times in just three days
• An official app is a new way to “wow” your fans and extend your brand
  
• Ticketless entry to games is on the horizon

The IronPigs are not the only MiLB team with their own iPhone app. The Charleston RiverDogs, Fort Myers Miracle, Hudson Valley Renegades and St. Paul Saints are all owned by the Goldklang Group and have official apps available for $1.99 in the App Store. The Richmond Flying Squirrels also have a free iPhone app from developer Critical Technologies Group.

If your local team had an official app, would you download it? What are some of the features you’d want in your team’s official app? Are team apps the next big thing?

I appeared as a guest on the Row Show, a Internet TV show about the sports industry. I talk about why I started Sportsin140.com, how smart teams use social media and the future of the sports industry in social media.

To view in a larger format or download a HD copy for your iPod, please visit the Row Show website. Thanks again to Jon and Jason for having me on the show!

Episode 30: Sports in 140 from Jonathan Dusing on Vimeo.

In continuing our series of interview with industry leaders, this week we talk with Rob Campbell of the Cleveland Indians (@TribeTalk) about his new position with the team and the Indians’ social media initiatives.

You’re new to the Indians organization. How did you come to work for the Indians? What were you doing before the Indians?

I’ve been with the Indians organization just over a month and lived in Cleveland just as long. Before, I worked in Chicago for sponsorship consultancy IEG, LLC. At IEG I conducted sponsorship research for both sponsors and properties and helped value sponsorship packages. I also managed IEG’s social media platforms; blogging and video blogging on sponsorship, developing strategies and managing IEG’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. In my spare time, I created and managed the Twitter account for the athletic department of my alma mater, Northwestern University. In college I played baseball for Northwestern and have a deep affinity for the game.

Can you give an overview of the Indians’ social media strategy as it exists currently?

The Indians social media strategy is multi-faceted and is being developed with help from Digital Royalty. In its current initial stage, we aim to establish a foothold in social media by interacting with fans who have already established themselves in the space. In essence, we want to join the conversation that is already taking place. The Indians are then taking the conversation a step further with the development of our Tribe Social Deck where we bring bloggers and social media users together to enjoy an Indians game and network with like-minded individuals. It has been an incredible experience to interact with fans, answer their questions and listen to their feedback.

The Indians recently debuted a “Social Media Deck” at Progressive Field. What is the Social Media Deck? How can bloggers become involved with it?

The Tribe Social Deck is the physical component of our social media presence. It affords attendees the opportunity to not only watch a game live but also network with members of their digital community; often providing attendees the first time to shake hands with someone they had been conversing with for months online. Involvement with the Tribe Social Deck initially has been by invitation only but we are currently working with MLB Advanced Media to develop an online application.

In the past the Indians have featured exclusive ticket promotions to their Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Can you talk about the previous promotions and what might be in the works in the future?

We will be conducting ticket promotions through social media and Tweet-ups throughout the season. Technically speaking, we give out at least ten tickets per game to the social media community solely as a result of the Tribe Social Deck. Throughout the season we hope to reach diverse groups of social media users who would get the most out of our promotions and themed events.

As an organization, how do the Indians view social media? In what way does social media marketing complement the more traditional marketing and PR arms of the organization?

The Indians view social media as integral component of our marketing and communications initiatives. The ability of social media to foster two-way conversations allows for a more tailored approach towards fan interaction affords the organization a tremendous opportunity to engage fans in ways never before possible. We view social media not as a separate initiative but as a tool that augments the abilities of the organization to better serve our fans.

Can you identify one other sports team or brand whose social media presence you personally admire?

The Chicago White Sox have a tremendous social media presence in terms of MLB teams. Their Sox Fest is a great example of leveraging social media to generate interest and increase interaction. It was also great to see Twitter get behind a Tweet-up in San Francisco for the Giants.

Outside of Major League Baseball, the New York Islanders and Phoenix Suns were definitely innovators in integrating social media into professional sports.

What role do you think social media will play in the future? Where do you see the sports industry in terms of adoption of social media?

I think social media will allow fans to feel an increased sense of investment with their favorite teams. The ability of a fan to converse with members of the front office bridges what had once been a sizable gap in access that the everyday fan experienced.

If you could change one thing about social media, what would you change and why?

In a perfect world I would love to streamline the process of communicating and tracking conversations in social media. I currently use six different applications and a mobile device to monitor and manage accounts and correspondence.

What advice, if any, would you give to current students just starting out in their careers?

Keep an open mind and never stop working hard.

Late last night NBCSports.com’s Aaron Gleeman broke a story that MLB had just instituted a new policy banning MLB.com team beat writers from tweeting about non-baseball topics. Gleeman wrote:

I’m told a big part of the policy change is due to MLB not wanting non-baseball tweets showing up on the MLB.com Twitter feed/aggregator, but banning every writer from non-baseball talk because of that is like killing a fly with a sledgehammer.

If true this new policy seems very unfortunate. MLB has been silent since the story broke late last night. Of course I will publish any official statement on the policy if one is forthcoming, although I personally doubt MLB will address an internal policy issue, after all, it’s doubtful most fans would even notice the change were it not for Gleeman’s original report.

If the issue is indeed that non-baseball tweets were appearing on the MLB.com homepage, there are several more subtler ways to solve the problem than to, as Gleeman wrote, “[kill] a fly with a sledgehammer.” One solution could be to separate tweets based on keywords or hashtags.

It appears that at least one MLB.com beat writer has a solution. Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne created a separate Twitter account tonight for his non-baseball tweets. If MLB allows its writers to do this, this could be a compromise. MLB wouldn’t have to worry about non-baseball tweets on its homepage and team beat writers would regain the ability to interact with fans on a more personal level. Seems like a win-win to me.

What do you think of the new MLB policy? Have your say in the comments.

@OaklandAs

Followers: 6,925 (as of April 21, 2010)
Joined Twitter: January 27, 2009
Tweets: 871
Avg. Tweets per day: 1.94 tweets per day
@ Replies to Followers (Yes/No): Yes but infrequently

Here’s a screenshot of the A’s Twitter page:

And here’s the background image by itself:

Analysis

The A’s make good use of their background space. Some teams put up a simple logo or a photo of their stadium. Those may look good but are they really the best use of that space? The A’s change their background image before each homestand. Their current image (as of April 21, 2010) promotes the team’s current series against the New York Yankees as well as upcoming promotions at the ballpark.

One thing the A’s do well to keep fans informed is tweet each night’s lineup and pitching matchup. The A’s also tweet television broadcast information especially useful to out-of-state fans trying to find the team’s games on their satellite package.

One negative is the absence of any ticketing information. Let’s say I land on the Athletics Twitter page and decide I want to order tickets. Should I be able to quickly find the phone number of the Athletics ticket office or the direct link to buy tickets at the Athletics website? Yes, I should. This is a missed opportunity. It would only take a few minutes to create a graphic with this information for display on the current background.

Note: the Athletics do maintain a separate, official Twitter account for their Ticketing Office, @ticketservices, but there’s no mention of this other account on the official @OaklandAs account. While maintaining a dedicated account for ticket sales information is smart, many fans don’t know about the account. The @OaklandAs account has almost 7,000 followers while the @ticketservices account has just under 1,000 followers. Which presents more of an opportunity for fans to find general ticketing information?

Additionally, a minor gripe is that the “A’s vs. Yankees” image does not match the two lower images in size, width, color or font script. It appears that someone cut and pasted the “vs. Yankees” banner from a different website. Adding the same information into a box with the same size, color and font as the two other boxes would look more professional. Still, the information is there and helps advertise what’s going on at the stadium.

Finally, the team does not use @ replies to respond to fan questions very often. Fans want to connect with a person in the front office. If they have questions, many fans view a team’s official Twitter account as another resource which may provide them with an answer. While a team can’t be expected to answer or address all questions or inquiries on Twitter, any attempt to interact with the fans is a positive.

The Athletics Twitter account is a good start: the team is taking advantage of its background space but could still do more to make it easier to fans to buy tickets and interact with the team via Twitter.

Rating: 7 out of 10