I’m not sure if this is the first thing I should be announcing to the FanSection blog readers’ abyss, but I strongly dislike math, and try to avoid anything that’s associated with numbers at all costs. I chose a major partially based on the fact that I only needed to take a single math class, and calculating the tip at a restaurant, easy as it is, is the bane of my existence. However, since starting at Watercooler as the Sports Community Manager last January, I am occasionally so taken aback by the numbers surrounding my sports fans that I can’t help but brag a little bit.
See if you can find the pattern in this equation: 1 –> 5 –> 76,183.
I’ll give you a minute to work it out in your head.
Give up, yet? Read on.
One. That’s me. One Sports Community Manager, who spends the bulk of my days catering to the needs and wish lists of over 500 volunteer officers within over 700 sports communities.
Five. This is the number of volunteer officers we have to represent the two MLB teams in the 2008 World Series, with two Tampa Bay Rays officers and three Philadelphia Phillies officers. These five diehard fans work to give their respective teams the best experience possible by both encouraging participation and moderating the boards so that nothing inappropriate stays on our communities for long.
Seventy-six thousand, one hundred and eighty-three. Though this number is rising so quickly that I’m sure it’s already outdated, it is the combined total number of users on FanSection’s Phillies & Rays communities, with 64,128 and 12,055 fans, respectively. If you’re still skeptical of the “cool” factor here, then how about this fun little fact: From September 1st (when people presumably started getting amped for the Divisional, Championship and World Series) to now, our Rays community has increased in users by 143 percent and our Phillies community has increased by 174 percent. In fact, the Phillies have gained almost 13,000 new fans just this week! Not too shabby, right?
If you’re still not sure about the pattern here, I’ll spoon feed it to you, though you’ll never learn if I have to do this every time, so pay close attention: online communities driving engagement breeds the best kind of diehard fandom! FanSection has always strived to be the place that fans spend the other six days of the week, and in this case, I’d say we hit a home run!
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