Social Media has transformed not only the sports business, but also the way in which fans consume sports, engage with athletes, and think about sports culture as a whole. Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum, Seattle Storm forward and 2018 WNBA MVP & Finals MVP Breanna Stewart, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, and Head of Digital Marketing at 2K Ronnie Singh (otherwise known as Ronnie2K), come together to discuss how fans, other athletes, and even internet trolls engage and challenge them on social media. The athletes reveal the mental toll of the accessibility created by social media and how they manage the additional pressures. Conversely, they discuss how being able to directly share their unique opinions and personal stories on social media can help them grow their brand and create revenue-generating opportunities in the long run.
Jack Dorsey also talks about how he and his colleagues came up with the original idea for Twitter and how the platform evolved over time, and asks KD if he would have been an early investor in the idea. The group also discusses how the integration of Twitter and the NBA via All Star voting and the emergence of “#NBATwitter”, as well live sports streaming agreements can challenge conventional media consumption and build community between fans.
We also check in with Dan Porter, the CEO of Overtime, the digitally native sports media brand targeted at 15-25 year olds, to see how the platform helps to transform youth athletes into nationwide, highly-recruited sensations almost overnight by growing their social media influence. We also learn what’s next for Overtime’s team and how they work with individual athletes on a day to day basis.
Watch this episode, along with all of Seasons 1 and 2 of The Boardroom, streaming now on ESPN+.
