Day #101: We want the Mixed Zone back
Do you remember chatting with colleagues, players, coaches, and personnel in the mixed zone of our well-known sport arenas? These good old times seemed to have disappeared due to social distancing. So, let me introduce you to the new-normal mixed-zone.
With the rise of club owned media channels – Bayern Munich or FC Barcelona set the tone more than a decade ago with BayernTV or BarcaTV – journalists found themselves in a bad position. Nobody needs them anymore as all teams are doing great work in storytelling on their website and social media channels. And more: nobody wants them, because media is not always willing to take only the pleasant part of the truth.
Due to all the restrictions during the pandemic, it is almost impossible for media to have access to the locker room areas at any sport arena. Not surprisingly for the pleasure of some sports organizations. Media got locked out.
Get along with journalists
I've already written a lot about the importance of journalists and their role in modern sports communication. And I am for sure going to write even more in the future. But today's topic is how to rebuild the broken link between journalists and your protagonists.
Being around – that's key in our strategy. We are rolling out a brand-new feature called MixedZone for all our customers in these days. It's a Clubhouse-like audio room powered by Jam and it's fully integrated in the Pressroom solution – the place where the journalists are.
The handling is easy, the opportunities very promising. With just one click you can get yourself from your computer or mobile into the clubs’ audio room and start speaking with others. And who else is there? That decision is up to the sports organization and needs to evolve further for sure. Clubs can make players available at certain times, do a weekly Q&A with their general manager, or jump into spontaneous talks between media employees and journalists.
I'm happy to get this new thing started. Join and try it out. Let me know if you want a sneak preview right away. 🚀
Have a good day,
Christian Dreier
cd mediateam Est.