Global sports teams go digital in New York

June 11, 2014 (New York, NY) – The Los Angeles Kings may have come to town to contest the Stanley Cup, but they and their opponents the New York Rangers were part of a wider movement on Wednesday, when more than 50 teams from across Europe, Africa and America came together at Yankee Stadium for the fourth edition of Beyond Sport United, a unique annual event backed by Founding Supporters NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, NASCAR and MLS. 

Held at the iconic home of the New York Yankees, perhaps the world’s most famous sports team, Beyond Sport United once again brought together the largest global gathering of professional teams and leagues to address the business advantages of engaging in community and social issues. With a specific focus on digital engagement with youth, teams from around the world were joined by experts from companies such as Twitter, Google, Facebook, Crowdrise, Chideo, Prizeo, Makerble and more, as part of an ongoing drive to find new ways to entrench themselves in their communities and drive positive social change. 

The Kings, Rangers and Yankees were joined by teams including the San Francisco 49ers, AS Roma, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Redskins, Liverpool FC, New York City FC, Boston Red Sox, New York Knicks, FC Bayern Munich, Kaizer Chiefs, Chicago Red Stars, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals, New England Revolution, Houston Dynamo, New York Cosmos, Chicago Fire, Seattle Sounders, New York Red Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia Eagles, Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, Houston Dynamo, Chicago Fire, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Fulham FC, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and the Vancouver Canucks.

They spent Wednesday debating the interlocked themes of sport, digital innovation and social change, and shared cutting-edge digital approaches that can be maximized by sports teams to achieve shared value outcomes of youth engagement and social responsibility, as well as reaching new markets and fan bases. 

Nick Keller, Founder of Beyond Sport, commented: “There is an urgency over the conversation the world needs to have with young people. A failure to reach out to the next generation would be the greatest mistake of this generation. Sport and social media are alike not just in their engagement of youth, but because they change and develop every day. The opportunities each presents to the other – to drive business, grow brands and change communities – cannot be overstated. Sport connects people like nothing else, and the influence and reach of social media allows those connections to dramatically impact our societies and communities.”

Major League Baseball; Major League Soccer; the National Basketball Association; the National Football League; the National Hockey League; the Women’s National Basketball Association and NASCAR are Founding Supporters of Beyond Sport United – the first time the major US sports leagues have collaborated around the issue of sport and social change.

Beyond Sport’s Global Partners are Barclays, ESPN, TIME and Unicef.

Follow Beyond Sport on Twitter at @BeyondSport, and find out more at www.beyondsport.org 

ENDS

Image: (l-r) On-stage at Beyond Sport United at Yankee Stadium, ESPN's Kevin Negandhi interviews Geoff Reiss, Head of Sport Partnerships, Twitter; Amanda Vandervort, Director of Social Media, MLS; and Todd Wagner, Founder, Chideo