Puerto Rico Islanders Social Media Coming Around
While I’ve been complimentary of the Puerto Rico Islanders on-field product over the last several years, I’ve also been a critic of their social media. When interest was peaked after they went to the semifinal of the CONCACAF Champions League there was still little information anyone from the mainland could find unless you spoke Spanish. And even if you did speak Spanish the website was not kept up as it should have been.
Last year the team added an English section to their website but sadly the news in English does not get updated as often. The team’s schedule is still not posted on the site but you can purchase a PR jersey if you want. That wasn’t an option in 2009 when the team navigated its way through a tricky league schedule as well as CONCACAF games, fairing far better than most MLS teams had done.
Now that the Islanders have joined the NASL it looks as if they are moving forward. They’re not there yet but they’ve started a Facebook page and are Twittering more in English.
The Islanders still have work to do, like needing to update the roster to the 2011 players that are under contract and making sure the newest story on the team isn’t from August 09, 2010, a story about defeating the LA Galaxy in CONCACAF play, but they are making strides.
I did enjoy this promotional video the team just released on the history of the Islanders.
Here is the video in Spanish.
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I am very hopeful that Islanders FC will continue to make progress in outreach to current and potential fans. In the past, many times the club has been so busy with the day to day operations and the overlapping CONCACAF/CFU commitments that it hasn’t been able to get information out. Resources were limtied and focused more on things like the logistics of criss-crossing the Caribbean and North and Central America; updating the website was often an afterthought or sacrificed because man (and woman–a big “shout out” to Ms C. Vanessa Figueroa, Operations Manager–she is absolutely BRILLIANT) power was needed elsewhere.
I really enjoyed the video and am really looking forward to the days to come. Puerto Rico Islanders FC has been nothing short of a miracle and continuing to get the story out is vital to growing the club’s popularity.
Afterall, it’s not everyday that a club that wasn’t even expected by some–including some in the local press–to survive seven matches in it’s debut season before failing economically manages to not only survive but also take down some of the giants of CONCACAF.
@BQ – I wonder if the Islanders are working with the marketing firm the league hired, PMI, to try and get their situation more current. You have to have a cyberspace presence these days. Far more people look at the internet, Facebook, and Twitter then read a newspaper or watch local newscasts anymore. No one can argue with the Islanders success on the field for sure. Hopefully now they’ve got this modern day marketing operation on the right path now as well. Looking forward to a great season in the NASL, and hopefully my Strikers can give the Islanders a run for their title!
Thats not what PMI does. Marketing is a wide sweeping word these days, especially in the sports business. In this case it’s about ticket sales and very specifically ticket sales. Like how many people they should hire for a certain size city and to sell a certain amount of tickets and then giving the support to make sure they are successful. From everything I understand, PMI is not about social media and advertising per se even though all those things do more or less overlap.
And, PR is not using PMI. It’s a very different marketing situation in PR.
Because of some great contacts I’ve made from the US and Puerto Rico who are Puerto Rican and or US with PR connections, I am just starting to learn some of the nuances of sport and particularly football in PR. And let me tell you it’s a whole different animal there.
I hope to try to bridge some of this in the coming weeks so we gringo’s can have a much better understanding of the culture and politics of soccer in PR.
That facebook page is not new. That’s been around for a while and is the second most ‘liked’ non mls team facebook page around.
great story Brian, might wanna edit your last comment though, you got PMI mixed up with something else spelling wise. But great work.
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