Joined April 2009
- Tweets 714
- Following 1,007
- Followers 356
- Likes 3,182
102 Photos and videos
Jun 12
Sports are a social good: no other cultural institution operates at a scale that makes this idea possible…
Jun 12
Love that my plan for Saturday's Knick's game is simply to find a street corner to stand on with hundreds of other people.
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Jun 12
The foundation of fandom is social connection; fans are simply nodes making up an activated social network.
Jun 12
Canada’s March to the Match continues to work its way through the Toronto streets toward the stadiums.
Beautiful scenes as fans chant and cheer and high five fans who are lining the streets.
It’s going to be electric inside the stadium today.
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ben valenta retweeted
Could not be prouder of this new initiative between Fox Sports and Harvard to better understand how sports brings us all together and contributes to a stronger social fabric. Big congrats to @ben_valenta who made it happen on our side.
May 11
FOX Sports deepens its investment in understanding the power and importance of fandom with the new Harvard Kennedy School Initiative.
🔗: bit.ly/4dB8uJR
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ben valenta retweeted
News: Harvard is studying why fans become so obsessed with sports.
sportico.com/business/media/…
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ben valenta retweeted
Mike Tirico’s lovely monologue to close out the epic gold medal game shows how the way we think about the core appeal of sports has changed, and for the better IMO. More than ever it’s about bringing people together and inspiring kids. Bring on the World Cup.
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Feb 17
Sports are entertaining, but they are not entertainment.
Sports are the business of belonging.
Feb 17
Why the NBA should embrace tanking -
The NBA has kate been misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It’s never been that way that way.
When I got into the nba, they thought they were in the basketball business. They aren’t. They are in the business of creating experiences for fans.
Few can remember the score from the last game they saw or went to. They can’t remember the dunks or shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, friends, a date. That’s what makes the experience special.
Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fan that care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring.
The one way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trades. And cap room. You have a better chance of improving via all 3 , when you tank.
We didn’t tank often. Only a few times over 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it got us to where we could improve, trade up to get Luka and improve our team.
The nba should worry more about fan experience than tanking. It should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking.
You know who cares the least about tanking , a parent who cant afford to bring their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their fave player
Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are
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ben valenta retweeted
The point why fans watch is correct.
It's not about winning or the players.
johnwallstreet.com/p/5bn-int…
Feb 17
Why the NBA should embrace tanking -
The NBA has kate been misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It’s never been that way that way.
When I got into the nba, they thought they were in the basketball business. They aren’t. They are in the business of creating experiences for fans.
Few can remember the score from the last game they saw or went to. They can’t remember the dunks or shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, friends, a date. That’s what makes the experience special.
Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fan that care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring.
The one way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trades. And cap room. You have a better chance of improving via all 3 , when you tank.
We didn’t tank often. Only a few times over 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it got us to where we could improve, trade up to get Luka and improve our team.
The nba should worry more about fan experience than tanking. It should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking.
You know who cares the least about tanking , a parent who cant afford to bring their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their fave player
Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are
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29 Nov 2025
A lot to love in this excellent piece from @RorySmith
Sport is the business of belonging
The only way to grow revenue is to frame fandom as a social phenomenon
And this is a social good because fandom = friendship = less loneliness
29 Nov 2025
The phenomenon of Scotland’s growing bands of ultras, and what they say about fandom, connection and friendship in a digital era. Photos amazing because they’re by @kierandodds.
observer.co.uk/news/sport/ar…
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25 Nov 2025
Sports fandom is a learned behavior that requires repetition over time…
and that behavior is stickiest when it occurs within the context of family bonding rituals.
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15 Nov 2025
Sports are an easy way to cultivate family rituals. Be a family that roots for a team together. It’s so simple and has a reliable, recurring rhythm.
15 Nov 2025
Invent as many family rituals as you can handle with ease. Anything done on a schedule—large or small, significant or silly—can become a ritual. Repeated consistently, small routines become legendary. Anticipation is key.
For more advice see my book Excellent Advice for Living amzn.to/3mQL4c4 #excellentadvice
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ben valenta retweeted
15 Nov 2025
Kids are capable of more than we realize. When we push them, believe in them, and hold them to high standards, they will rise to the occasion. @gregolsen88
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15 Nov 2025
Fans are increasingly priced out of fan experiences.
The sports business needs to adopt a long term, more sustainable approach because this short term, extractive model will have ruinous consequences.
nytimes.com/athletic/6799381…
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15 Nov 2025
"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Three hours before kickoff, Ann Whitehead’s Subaru Outback pulls into Lot 13 to continue a longstanding family tradition: attending Florida State football games."
Fandom is a learned behavior that requires repetition over time. That behavior is stickiest when it occurs in the context of family bonding rituals.
If families are priced out of those bonding rituals, over the years, fewer people will become engaged fans.
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15 Nov 2025
The revenue is downstream of the passion. If we don't sustain the passion, the revenue will suffer.
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30 Oct 2025
A lovely piece from @SimonKuper in the @FinancialTimes on the power of sports to bring people together. Yes, sports are social superpower. Yes, we should teach our kids the language of sport so they can be more socially fluent adults.
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11 Oct 2025
Fandom is - at its core - a reason to hang out…
11 Oct 2025
How it feels to get another chance to go to the same bar with the same people and drink the same beer this weekend
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