Social Media Policies in Pro Sports: Q&A with Cleveland Indians PR Dept.

For opening day, the Cleveland Indians invited me to take part in their new social media section (reviewed here: Tribe Social Deck). Throughout the game invitees had access and conversations with the PR staff, most notably Rob Campbell. After some incessant badgering (by me), he was happy to answer some Indians-specific policy questions in a Q&A format via email. His answers below are in their entirety.

Q: Who manages the team’s social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, et al? What influence does MLB have?

The Cleveland Indians PR Department manages the organization’s presence in social media, which works in conjunction with the standards set by Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

Q: What is the approval process of an official team account tweet or other social media update? How many people have to approve it?

The PR Department approves the organization’s Twitter posts on varying levels.  Day-to-day interaction with the fans is handled on an individual user basis while overall communication initiatives require a more collaborative approach in terms of messaging and execution.

Q: How much time daily/weekly does the communications department spend on social media? Has that increased in 2010?

We have continued to enhance our focus on social media as a critical element of the organization’s overall marketing strategy. The club has recently added a member of the PR department who solely focuses on developing social media strategy and working to implement that strategy in collaboration with the input of the PR and Marketing departments.

Q: Do the Cleveland Indians have a social media policy for non-player employees regarding their personal accounts?

The Indians adhere to MLB policies regarding personal accounts for non-player employees.

Q: Four Indians players have their own Twitter accounts, does the team have any influence over those? If not, is it the realm of the Players Association?

The Indians do not have any influence over players’ personal twitter accounts.  We offer media training seminars to our players during Spring Training in an attempt to help them successfully address any future media challenges that may arise in a professional manner.

Q: Can individual teams fine or discipline a player based on an inappropriate or inflammatory social media update? Would it be treated any differently than an inappropriate or inflammatory comment made in the media?

We treat any matter such as that as internal and not share with the public.

Q: Which professional teams do you believe are  best integrating social media into marketing communications, and how often do you review what other MLB teams are doing?

The Phoenix Suns were definitely pioneers in this medium offering tweet-ups to their fans and opportunities for fans to participate in promotions available only through Twitter.  The New York Islanders have also made great strides towards integrating social media into their organization’s marketing.  Several professional sports teams have also held tweet-ups during their respective games and at other venues to promote fan interaction.

We constantly monitor what Major League Baseball teams do in terms of social media to both learn from them and stay ahead of the curve.

Q: The Tribe Social Deck appears to be one-of-a-kind, are there any other teams doing similar promotions?

As far as we know, the Tribe Social Deck is a one-of-a-kind endeavor.  Other professional sports teams have offered individual bloggers press credentials on occasion but to our knowledge there has never been a section exclusively catering to the internet and social media community.  The idea was born from our partnership with Digital Royalty who has been assisting us in our social media efforts.

Q: Other than the signage at the park, how do you plan on promoting the Tribe Social Deck? How can others procure invitations?

We plan on promoting the Tribe Social Deck primarily through our social media accounts and through word of mouth from our guests in the Tribe Social Deck.  By focusing on social media to promote the Tribe Social Deck, we reach our target audience by playing in their space.

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To learn more about the Indians’ presence on Facebook, Twitter as well as their blogs, visit their Connect with the Game page.

Twitpic photo via @tribetalk.