Copyright: efks / 123RF Stock Photo
Today’s sports fan is different than the spectator of the past. We used to keep our eyes locked on the game the whole time, except when we had to stand and cheer, or perhaps wave a big foam hand.

The modern fan now isn’t as tuned into courtside action, but likely is using their smartphone for supplementary information. After all, how else are you going to get close-ups of game action, replays, and all sorts of statistics and commentary? A mass SMS texting service can provide plenty of bonus content.

Venue owners and team marketing personnel can keep this new viewing habit in mind, and pretty much embrace everything about fans and their phones. Luckily, there’s a lot of ways to get creative in terms of getting fans excited about the game and team in general, and also take advantage of the fact that they’re already actively using their devices.

The good news is that once word gets out that your venue is mobile-friendly, in terms of adequate bandwidth to support a digital-focused crowd, and providing fun, interesting content such as texts and in-game promotions, people will start making the effort to attend and you’ll get more people in the stands.

Try some of these strategies for effective marketing.

• Dates for games. A mass SMS texting service can alert your fans to important information like when tickets go on sale and the dates of games. Your text subscribers can get a head’s up at the start of the season when the schedule is finalized. This will allow your fans the opportunity to get the home games on their calendar, and consider which away games to take a road trip to. Text notifications also can be sent out a few days before each game as a reminder. “We’re playing at home this Friday – have you bought your tickets? Click here to make sure you have a seat.”
  
  
• Ticket information. Once you know the dates, that info may lead to the next question: when and how can you buy tickets? Text notification can take place when tickets go on sale for the season, either tickets for individual games or season tickets. This text offer may include a discount, which can encourage people to buy sooner than later. The link can go to the team site or whatever the preferred site is for ticket purchases. The University of Michigan, for instance, now sends out text alerts for game ticket purchases.
  
  
• Special events. If the team is doing something interesting prior to a game, those who follow them via text might be interested in learning this info, especially if it’s something that the public may not know about. Maybe it could be something simple like “come early to watch the team warm up” or maybe something even more enticing like “come early for a quick VIP-fan only meet-and-greet and autograph session prior to warm-ups.” This could be a perfect draw for a “Team VIP Text Club” and get more people signing up for the texting service.
  
  
• ‘Secret’ info. Some fans will go crazy if they have the opportunity to meet a favorite player. So a text that tells them the best place to watch the team depart the locker room post-game could be completely worth the ticket price. A team also could assign one or two players to take “text fan” duty every game – and only text fans will know about this exclusive. “Want to meet ____ close-up? Stop by Exit B at around 10:30 for your chance.”
  
  
•  Current scores. If you’re at the game, you’ll know what’s going on. But if you’re unable to attend, you’ll be dying to know what’s happening especially if it’s a crucial game. So a mass SMS texting service from a team or a venue can regularly send out scores to subscribers. This could be a way to allow your subscribers to customize the game experience: do they want to know only the final score? Do they want updates at the end of every quarter? A real-time text every time the score changes? Scores from other teams in the same league that have games in the same timeframe? (A fine idea to keep track of your brackets). Super fans may not mind a ping after every basket, but people who are working, or only have a limited amount of texts on their wireless plan, may prefer occasional notifications.
  
  
• In-game specials. You can use texting to alert people to deals at the concession stand, or invite them to text a code to vote on something. Or alert them to other interesting things, such as other social media tie-ins. For instance, the Iowa Events Center has a fun Tumblr page of venue photos.
  
  

For more information on setting up mass texting services for your games, visit www.trumpia.com.

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