A friend of mine forwarded me a link to Mashable, a blog about social networks. Happily, author, Pete Cashmore, has already reviewed many of the sports-based sites that have come (or are coming) on-line. Thanks, Pete, you made my day.
As we prepare to launch the Colts Fan Network I am struck by a few thoughts. First, it seems more and more clear every day that graphic design and feature sets are less important than marketing motives and economic models. Myspace has shown that social networks don’t need to be pretty, or technically sophisticated in order to be successful. And if a social network doesn’t know how it’s gonna make money, it’s not likely to survive (or on the team level, to get built in the first place).
We’re facing a great opportunity which has inherent risks. What if fans don’t use the system? What if fans post objectionable content?
To me there is one more thing that should be kept in mind. The social network is different than a team or a league site in that it is about the FAN and not about the SPORT. If we can keep this in mind, we will enrich the fan’s experience and (therefore) make money AND expand our fan base.
