First of all, I must admit that I needed time to try and figure out how Snapchat works. I am glad I finally found time and I have to tell you – It’s so addictive! When I am on my mobile phone (that’s almost always), I am literally 50% of time on Snapchat, and other 50% are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Why? Probably because Snapchat brings you the best ‘behind the scene’ activities, it’s as if you are on the pitch, in the locker room, with players… It also gives you an opportunity to be creative and to publish content that you can’t publish on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
Sometimes things happen in the moment, and you don’t have time for editing… many photos on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter are edited. Snaps are meant to make conversation more spontaneous, visual and fun!
Millennials can easily ‘skip’ through boring snaps, or if they are not interested in this kind of content. Snapchat is also an ad-free place, which is another cool thing about this app! It’s a quick social network that gives them what they really want (interesting and quick content).
NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, PGA and the NCAA are on Snapchat, and these partnerships are helping Snapchat to grow as a content hub.
Snapchat has become a go-to source for sports
Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, NBA’s senior vice president of digital media, said for International Business Times: “As a proof point, half of our social media actions for tip-off came from Snapchat.” And now the NBA, and other major leagues, are shooting for more.
Fans also competed for cell phone signal, phone reception as one of the barriers for the league embracing Snapchat. MLB shelled out $300 million to bring Wi-Fi and a distributed antenna system to every baseball stadium. (Source: International Business Times).
Why do I like Snapchat?
FC Inter Milan gave its fans great content before the first game on the home ground vs Sassuolo. You can see the whole story from the time before the game, from photos in front of the stadium, video of players that are coming to the stadium, video of locker room before the game etc.
When I saw this, it was as if I am at the stadium. Why? Because, with these non – edited photos from the game, Snapchat has other cool features such as comments or temperature reading you cna include in your snaps.
And that is not all, there is also space for advertising / sponsors (which, I believe, should be done through content). Last night I was on Snapchat (did I mention I am addicted to Snapchat?!) and I saw a great idea how you can present your sponsors or products.
First photo was a part of LA Lakers Snapchat story (second is from Bayern Munchen Snapchat story)! Of course, you can’t do it every time. I like it because the best ad is when people think it’s not an ad!
How to make cool club branding?
Snapchat has a great option for clubs branding. They made it easy with the Snapcodes option. What is this? An easy way to add friends on Snapchat. Simply point your Snapchat camera at a Snapcode and tap your screen to add! Now it’s even easier to share and personalize unique Snapcode with downloadable vector files and branding guidelines on Snapchat website.
San Jose did a great job with it (to gain more users), you can do it in the same way. Be creative if you want to be succesful on Snapchat, creativity is a ‘must have’!
Players ‘takeover’
It was / is very popular on Instagram, and fans like it. Why change that on Snapchat? David Alaba has taken charge of Bayern Munchen official Snapchat, he created cooool content! I loved it!
Accounts to follow
I am following a few people and clubs on Snapchat, others can be found here, in this great list made by Jeff Mason. My Snapchat username is marijanpalic89 (or simply point your Snapchat camera at my Snapcode below).
I will try to give you ‘behind the scene’ content from our work at Overtime, and from our projects!
I follow these Snapchat accounts:
btsportfootball
NBA
Lakerssnaps
Chicagobulls
CAAfootball
Houston.Dynamo
Washcapitals
UCLA.Athletics
spursofficial
fcbayernsnaps
southamptonfc
seancallanan
mls
hawkssnaps
sjearthquakes
da_twentyseven
And of course, it would be great to follow Gary Vaynerchuk, he is the best person to learn from about Snapchat!
You can also learn more from our article Snapchat’s Role In Sports Marketing.
Do you recommend any clubs/athletes/sports marketing people? Please share usernames in comments below! See you on Snapchat 
PHOTO: Screenshot Youtube
Thank you for the very good article, Marijan. I have been trying to get into Snapchat as well, but somehow I don’t find it very appealing. I am well aware of the possibilities and opportunities for clubs, but prefer the longevity of the content on platforms such as Twitter or Instagram, or even email newsletters. Nevertheless, great to see that certain clubs are creating a good experience for their followers on Snapchat. Again, props for the article.
Thank you Sebastiano, it’s nice to hear your opinion about Snapchat 👻 and article.
Good post mate, I’m doubling down on using Snapchat as well, the partnerships it is forming with leagues and teams is way ahead of Twitter and it is resulting in great content for fans. Hoping they will open up story curation for teams at their venues that will really get fans involved. Watch what platforms fans are using in stadiums, more and more I’m seeing Snapchat open.