Influence of Social Media on North American Sport Leagues by Shanahan Ravikaran https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf This padlet will illustrate the influence social media has on North American sport leagues. It will be focusing on the 4 main leagues in North America; NHL(National Hockey League), NBA(National Basketball Association), NFL(National Football League), MLB(Major League Baseball). en-us 2017-12-17 00:20:34 UTC 2025-12-18 09:56:26 UTC hello@padlet.com The impact social media has on players in these leagues can be used for good and bad. It creates a brand for the players. In this era of social media it allows a mediocre player to explode to popularity. In this clip from 1:45-2:10 Charles Barkley explains that because of the image media gave him his popularity goes through the roof. He is spoken about before LeBron James who is unofficially the greatest player on the planet although Lonzo isn't even the best player on his team. shanahan_ravikaran https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216723986 2017-12-17 02:10:15 UTC https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216723986 Athletes and owners of the teams within these leagues use social media to raise awareness about problems happening in their country and around the world. They use their social media platforms to increase awareness because in North America athletes are role models to all age groups from young children to the elderly. If someone was to see their favourite athlete tweet about an issue happening in China, they would definitely open the article and learn about the issue. It also allows athletes to get together as if they were family to support a cause. Social media allows them to speak their mind and increase awareness. A very popular incident that happened this year with social media and sports is the BLM (Black Lives Matter) protest going on before NFL games where athletes would kneel during the national anthem of the U.S.A. Colin Kaepernick the one who started this protest began protesting because "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color". President Trump got involved and tweeted out telling owners to fine or suspend players. Players then got involved tweeting to Trump letting him know what they think. shanahan_ravikaran https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216724178 2017-12-17 02:22:19 UTC https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216724178 Social Media has impacted sporting events greatly. The NBA All-Star game which is a game where the 12 best players in their conference play in an exhibition game for the fans. After social media started to gain popularity, instead of the coaches ,stat analyst's, and reporters choosing which players will participate in the all star game it has become a fan vote which changed over the years. Started off as fans going onto the NBA official website and voting for which players they wanted to see participate, to texting a toll number the name of the player to now being able to simply tweet "_____ #NBAVote" and being counted as a vote. Social medias impact on sports has evolved as social media evolved. It is now a big part of sports. The NBA has even introduced an award show at the end of the season which is fully based off player votes other than the MVP award. It will surely continue to run with the popularity of social media showing no signs of slowing down. shanahan_ravikaran https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216724810 2017-12-17 02:56:24 UTC https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216724810 These athletes can use social media or the accounts of news networks to promote their organizations or charities so everyone can learn about their charity. The following post is a video of NFL Linebacker of the Denver Broncos; Von Miller talking about his charity. shanahan_ravikaran https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216725594 2017-12-17 03:35:30 UTC https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216725594 Social media also allows fans and their comments to create a story line for the leagues. An example would be the fans of the NBA creating the villain image for Kevin Durant after he left his team the Oklahoma City Thunder to join their rivals the Golden State Warriors which is a team already headed by many fan bases across the nation. With fans creating this new villain image for him after being a hero on his old team he has started to embrace this villain image. It has caused him to act out, get ejected from games, get into arguments with his old team mates. After fans on social media started this new persona for Kevin Durant he has changed himself to suit this image. shanahan_ravikaran https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216725790 2017-12-17 03:44:41 UTC https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216725790 Ever since the popularity of social media has exploded over the past decade, the way it has impacted North American professional sports has been amazing. It helps create a larger fan base for their franchises. It is changing how a player has to behave off the field/rink/court. shanahan_ravikaran https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216820349 2017-12-17 23:25:07 UTC https://padlet.com/shanahan_ravikaran/z25auvr5w1jf/wish/216820349