The NBA All Star Game is this weekend, and fans are going to be pleasantly surprised by the digital initiatives that the NBA is incorporating to involve fans this this year. The All-Star Game is bringing back its All-Star Pulse feature, which tracks trending topics from the weekend’s events on Twitter, and several other new features detailed below.
With all of these programs, this year’s festivities may very well be the most digitally connected All Star weekend yet. The NBA is leveraging social media more than ever to give fans complete access to the weekend and let their opinions be heard. League executives are adamant about this:
Given the global nature of social media, it’s the perfect time to ramp up our efforts in the social space.”
-Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, NBA Vice President of Marketing
Sprite Slam Dunk Contest
Tired of not being able to rate your favorite athlete’s dunks? This year, the NBA is tossing away judges and replacing them with the fans. For the first time, only fans will decide the winner of the competition via Twitter, SMS, and website voting.
In what used to be a two round, judge dictated contest, the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest is now only one round and decided solely by the fans. After each of the four players’ dunks, all fans need to do is tweet the corresponding letter to the All Star of their choice along with #SpriteSlam. Though fan voting through social media has been around since 2012, this year marks the absence of judges and the arrival of a truly democratic All Star voting process.
NBA Game Time App
The NBA is upping the ante with their mobile application by bringing new streaming channels for fans to view on their devices. This includes the main events, highlights, and off-court interviews. The mobile app, which is compatible with both iPhone and Android devices, will stream the 90+ hours of content that the All Star celebrations have to offer.
TNT OverTime
Not only will fans be able to stream live, HD quality content with TNT OverTime, they’ll also be able to see this content through four different camera angles with DVR functionality and picture-in-picture capabilities. In addition, users can vote for which player the Player Cam will follower per quarter during the All-Star Game.
TNT OverTime will even have a live chat session hosted through the site, which fans can log into via their Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace accounts. The OverTime feature, which went live for the Knicks-Heat game last night, will be available all weekend.
What part of the 2012 NBA All Star Game are you most excited for?
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