Marketing & Communications Briefs

Running NFL Social Media On Game Day—An Interview With Dave Feldman

February 14, 2018

If you know me, you know the intersection of social media + live events is one of my sweet spots. I’ve started & run social media programs for some of the biggest live events in the world including a three-day concert series for  Bud Light Hotel at Super Bowl where our team published social content every 3 seconds simultaneously on RollingStone.com and E! Entertainment.

So—when I say Dave Feldman, Sr Director of Digital at the NFL, is running one of the biggest, most complex, real-time social content teams on the planet, it’s coming from experience.

Think about it: on game day, Dave’s team is covering multiple games, in different cities, in different time zones, across multiple platforms—in real-time both live and from NFL HQ. Yeah, it makes my head spin, too.

With this level of content creation, distribution and management, it’s all about strategy, scalable process, extreme coordination and everyone and I mean everyone, must be on their A game. So, when I sat down for a full hour-long interview with Dave to talk about the social content machine of the NFL, I was hanging on every word.

Here are the top 7 highlights from this podcast:

1. The New Playbook: When Dave and I both started in ‘social’, it was a tacked-onto-the-side afterthought where we both had to scrap it out for every inch of progress. During our conversation, Dave shares how social has become an essential and integrated part of the entire organization.
2. Huddle Up: It takes a team! Most social-digital pros would consider running social for the NFL a dream job (Dave does!) but no matter where you work, hearing Dave share what it’s like to grow a Social Team of 25 is really inspiring. Hint: see #5!
3. Keep ‘em Benched: In our conversation, Dave hit on one of the “social delusions” I talk about ad nauseam and it’s always worth repeating: no, the interns can’t run your social media accounts!
4. A Winning Strategy: The content beast of the NFL takes a lot of work, strategy, management and delegation to get to the cross-platform responsibilities for the NFL & NFL Network. In this interview, Dave gives us a sneak peak at how his role, team and strategy have evolved over the years.
5. Touchdown: One of the questions I get most often from up and coming social-digital professionals is “how do I get more budget?” Dave talks about the importance of showing the numbers — and other creative ideas — of getting buy-in for a growing team and social program.
6. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Socially mature organizations integrate social across departments. Dave’s team integrates with business development to sponsorships & PR for everything from co-branding opportunities to pilot programs.
7. Pass Rate: As all senior pros can attest, running a department for an organization like the NFL is all about the data! But how do you get the data? Dave shares how he uses pilot programs to test and prove out the business case and get the proof points he needs -- very clever!

For those that are hungry for real talk about sophisticated, strategic social programs, Dave’s interview paints a really clear picture of what it takes—and I have to say, his humility and gratitude toward his team is remarkable. In sports, entertainment and tech, people like that are great to find. Thanks for the time, Dave! Now, buckle up—it’s Super Bowl time!

Listen to the interview on the Social Paradigm Shifters Podcast here.

This piece was originally published by Forbes.