Monday, December 6, the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City played host to the Sports Networker Summit (#NYCSports) co-hosted by Digital Royalty and Sports Networker. The four-panel, half-day summit featured an all-star list of speakers representative of progressive brands using social media within the sports industry. The NY Knicks, Rangers and NHL were represented on various panels while reps from the MLB, NFL and NBA attended. In true social-savvy form, individuals not able to attend the summit were able to follow along in real-time via live stream at http://livestream.com/sportsnetworker.

The panels covered a variety of topics all of which centered around the underlying theme of social media. From sports sponsorship ROI to ticket sales, service and retention. Separate panels focused on the convergence of traditional media and social media, as well as social media marketing and measurement. A lively conversation revolved around Tiger Woods and his level of involvement with social media.

Key takeaways included case studies of fan loyalty and retention via social media, to the value and process of being credentialed for pillars in the journalism industry such as The New York Times, versus bloggers. Discussion also focused on the trend of geo-tagging and the potential use in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

After the summit wrapped, attendees snacked on hors d’oeuvres and mingled with speakers such as New York Times Sports Editor, Tom Jolly, Founder of The Cuban Revolution, Brian Cuban, and Founder of Invoke Media, Ryan Holmes.

Photo Credit (from left): Amy Martin (Founder of Digital Royalty), Jim Bankoff (SB Nation CEO), Brian Cuban (Founder of The Cuban Revolution) and Tom Jolly (Sports Editor of The New York Times).