The Portland Trail Blazers might not be the most advanced team in terms of on-court skill, but the organization just took a step towards being one of the more advanced teams in terms of online technology. The NBA team, which has been bogged down in recent years by negative press involving whiny players who occasionally pack heat, has partnered with Affinity Circles, a provider of private social networks to more than 60 organizations in the U.S.
The objective will be to provide a place where fans of the NBA team “can share their passion for the team, its players and the game,” according to the press release.
“Portland fans are passionate about the Trail Blazers, and about technology, so merging the two to create an official online community to support our team makes perfect sense,” said team president and general manager, Steve Patterson. “Partnering with Affinity Circles allows us to deliver an authentic experience for our fans in time for the new season with a proven trusted social networking platform.”
The Trail Blazers organization, which is owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, hopes to have the network up and running in time for the team’s first home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 4th.
“We are excited about working closely with the Trail Blazers to launch the first fan-based network for an NBA team, and to create an online experience that will serve the team, its fans, and the city of Portland,” said CEO of Affinity, Steve Loughlin.
The platform that will be provided by Affinity will allow Trail Blazers fans who sign up to create profiles, join groups, share photos, and keep blogs, giving them a more interactive experience than other NBA team sites currently offer.
There is a plausible risk involved in this partnership. Although fans will likely embrace the social network, the fact that the team involved is one as unsuccessful as the Portland Trail Blazers raises some cause for concern.
Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated, Phil Taylor, notes that while “fans would love anything that lets them communicate better with each other…with a team like the Blazers it could backfire if they give fans an easier way to gripe and complain about the team.”
Prizes and promotions are likely to be offered on the network, which could be used to quell a tiny bit of the inevitable complaining that will happen on the network.
On the other hand, the Blazers may have reason to expect to hear a more optimistic and encouraging voice on the network’s blog postings and other activities. Why? Because “misery loves company,” and it could very well be that the suffering fans of Portland might utilize this social network as a way to find solace in the company of others experiencing the same pain, and might even try to lift the collective confidence by discussing the upside and potential of the team.
This prospect is, of course, a bit hopeful, but who knows?
If this experiment goes well, it is not hard to imagine other sports teams testing out their own team-specific networks, especially those with Web-savvy, hardcore fan bases.
Sources:
http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20061012/
SFTH03812102006-1.html
http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3637706
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