Indians Welcome Social Media to Stadium; Still Waiting on Wi-Fi Connection

The Cleveland Indians are the latest example of a professional sports team embracing bloggers and other users of social media to promote their on-field product. Their attempt involved the creation of a 10-seat section called the Tribe Social Deck, which is held aside exclusively for social media users with the express purpose of furthering the Indians brand within online circles.↵↵Not a bad concept, especially when seats aren’t exactly at a premium at Progressive Field. Time Warner is sponsoring the project and also providing the Internet access to the bloggers. It’s a win-win in theory for both parties. The bloggers get the cachet and credibility that comes with access to the game. The organization gets to look accessible and somewhat progressive by allowing these radical unkempt youngsters.↵

↵↵Then again, in execution the section hasn’t quite lived up to the promise, as detailed by one of the bloggers from Cleveland blog Waiting for Next Year, who took advantage of the offer on Opening Day.↵

↵↵⇥One complaint that may be heard from others that attended the Social Deck is the lack of mobile connectivity. While this may not be a problem in subsequent games due to attendance figures, the home opener provided next to zero mobile signal, making use of social media relatively difficult. Long term, the team plans on providing exclusive Wi-Fi access to the 10 individuals on the deck - something that they will be able to do through Time Warner via their sponsorship of the area.↵↵↵Allowing bloggers into the stadium, but only granting them ersatz conditions to work isn’t going to do much but make clear the preferential treatment for mainstream media members that has always been suspected anyway. Perhaps this was only an early hiccup and all will be remedied shortly. But impressions are fostered early, so it might have been worth it to make sure the connection was going to work prior to the season’s start.↵

↵↵(Image via Waiting For Next Year)↵

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