FanPost

I Think I Went Too Far on my Survey Answer

SBN for a variety of reasons: 1. Hyper-focused content. I find an encyclopedia of the best news and updates from beat reporters, local news, regional and national outlets as it pertains solely to my favorite team or school. Other outlets have tried to focus on "local" such as ESPN scooping up the terrific Patriots beat reporter, Mike Reiss, for their Boston launch. however, they come from a national perspective, and are restricted by a national approach to sports coverage. They are only defined by geographic boundaries, and lose the ability to define their borders by other arbitrary curricula that define fan hood. This is especially relevant since we are not bound by the geosphere in this medium, but the noosphere of collective thought. SBN, on the other hand, is only bound by fan loyalty itself. It's member blogs are founded and dictated by fans in the trenches, not distant suits worried about product alignment and deploying coverage from afar. In a way, SBN represents democracy whereas national-gone-local outlets represent centralized tyranny. 2. Community. It's no secret that the most precious resource to a marketer is a strong, active and loyal community. Every modern company, whether it focuses on selling consumer goods or B2B technology or whatever else, attempts to fortify it's fan base by being a trusted advisor and encouraging participation. Everyone had a mailing list or loyalty club to implement their push strategy, now they all do viral videos and SEO to enact a pull strategy. Innate to the SBN model is the community loyalty aspect. Sports are deeply personal and nostalgic in our culture, as they managed to transcend the cynicism of religion (a considerably mitigated differentiator at this point) and the banality of corporate life once it arose. For many of us, sports became the one pure embodiment of the gamut of the human condition: carnal instinct versus divinity, truth versus deception, heritage versus hope, fair play versus injustice. We can be as passive or as all-in as existence will allow. This community allows us all to be active participants and influencers in the experience surrounding the games themselves. It offers us comfort in the womb of a collective identity. It relieves us from the consequences of pursuing these instincts in the unforgiving arena of nature, freeing us to accept everything else in our lives.

 

3. The humor. It's light hearted and doesn't take itself too seriously. That's awesome.