The Masters and Social Media

Since its first tournament in 1934, The Masters has done everything with “a standard of excellence that has never waivered through time.” Everything from advertising to etiquette rules for attendees to vendors and sponsors has been held to its high standards and strict rules, going against what other major sporting events have revolutionized: The Super Bowl is often remembered more for its commercial advertisements aired instead of the game itself; the Major League Baseball’s National League Wild Card game in 2012 resulted in game delays due to fans’ misconduct of throwing trash onto the field; sponsors at this year’s Final Four made more of a splash with the concerts and events they produced than the actual winner. None of this would ever happen at the Masters. All of these other popular sporting events have also vamped up their social media game. This is one promotional activity that the tournament has jumped on the bandwagon for, but, of course, in only their traditional and exclusive way.

There are many people who argue that the Masters has no social media presence whatsoever. This is entirely untrue, but I do see where they may get this impression. We all know that the Masters is the most exclusive sporting event in the nation, if not the world. That being the case, why would they be sharing posts through such common, non-exclusive social media platforms such as Facebook or YouTube? This goes completely against their style.

They do, however, have a Twitter feed, but this is probably about as mainstream as they will get. Followers often complain that the messages they tweet often lead them immediately back to their website by providing a link, but this is what they should be doing. Social media is all about sharing relevant and interesting content, and you can’t be that relevant or interesting in 140 characters or less. Leading users back to the Masters website also allows them to be exclusive on such a popular social media platform since most people who check Twitter on their mobile devices aren’t as likely to click on links in tweets as those who check it on their tablets or laptops. Because laptops and tablets are more expensive than the average smartphone, they are remaining exclusive.

The Masters has also created their own mobile app for their most passionate fans. There is no clutter or advertising on the app, just as it is at Augusta National. Users have access to eight live video feeds, the Leaderboard where you can click on your favorite player to view where he is and what is doing, course, pairings, a news center and plenty of stats. Once again, this app was made more for a tablet than a mobile device.

The Masters will always remain true to their traditional values, but that does not mean that they are fearful of advancing technologically. However, they will always be very selective as they do this. Many other sporting events are attempting to become as popular and receive as much hype as the Super Bowl, but the Masters is the exception. They do not want the huge audience of sports fans getting as excited about their tournament as they do for the Final Four or the World Series; they only want their “exclusive” audience of white-collar professionals giving a timid smile and polite golf clap as they cheer on their favorite player either at the course, Gallery or while watching at home, not as they’re watching with a group of friends at the local bar and sharing their thoughts about it on Facebook.