Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

The field of sport marketing and communication has changed in the last two decades, mainly due to the emergence of new technology. The rise of Web 2.0 led to the birth of Social Networks, which has increasingly become an integral part of sports marketing and communications in modern society. The advent of social media technological tools such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has disrupted the traditional media such as television, radio and newspaper in the marketing and communication of football related activities and services. Sports organisation have started using social media platforms for products and services marketing and communication. Football matches are characterised by fans with passion, as the most followed/viewed in South Africa, social media has provided the plethora of opportunity for interaction and growing the brands. The influence of social media marketing in South Africa football is on the growth trajectory and this was explored in the study. This study explored the use of social media by Premier Soccer League through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram to market and communicate with their fans. The research further explored, social media presence by teams, assess how the corporate sponsor league market their products using social media, how the club uses this medium for effective fan engagements. The findings of the study indicate that social media marketing has had influenced the sports interactions, improved effective communications. Most football clubs indicated that Twitter is the most influential social media for marketing and communication.