One of the key results of the Internet has been the interaction created between sports associations, sanctioning bodies, leagues, teams, their fans and the media. No longer does a GM or an Executive Director need to wait for letters to the editor to see if his choices are popular. As we mentioned in Monday's post, blog sites allow for fans to post their comments, good or bad, immediately. The sports media is much more immediately connected to the fans on a real-time basis.

On television, popular shows such as ESPN's "SportsCenter" and Fox Sports "Best Damn Sports Show" field emails from fans directly in a "mail bag" segment. There are fan worship sites for all of these shows. Popular radio and television talk show host Jim Rome even brings avid emailers onto the show itself. The shows can all be streamed via the Internet according to the connection speed of the viewer. Most television and radio broadcasts of games allow for real-time emails to the broadcast team as well as online polls, surveys and on-air giveaways during the game broadcasts. Fans can now receive sports headlines via RSS from most of the major sports and news web sites.  

Second-tier professional sports and amateur sanctioning bodies are using the Internet as a more cost-effective way to communicate with the sponsors, donors, fans and even athletes. The USOC allowed fans to post messages of encouragement for their favorite Olympic athletes during the Games.    

Kerry Klosterman, Secretary General of USA Volleyball, said yesterday, "Our website (averaging over 65,000 unique visitors a month) has become our primary means of communication. We issue a bi-weekly e-newsletter called “Rotations”; we have run promotions and sweepstakes via the website; we register teams (724) for our USA Girls Junior Olympic Championships; all of our corporate information is posted to the site; our on-line store is run by XP Apparel though our website; companies interested in sponsorship can download our Marketing Deck from the site and we do have online donor capabilities. The internet has “fast forwarded” our business not only in terms of increased results but also in time-saving efficiencies." http://www.usavolleyball.org/ 

The Internet has made sports fans feel much closer to their teams, their favorite athletes and the sports media. That connection has benefited all parties.