NBA Best Practices: New Orleans Hornets Tap into Local Pride

Your team is part of your city's identity.

Take a minute to let that sink in.

It's why sports success can have such an uplifting effect on a city. The better a team does, the more economic impact, the more prestige, the more united a city can feel. If you're lucky enough to have lived in a city that wins a title, you've felt this. But we as teams don't often take note of this.

Enter the New Orleans Hornets.

I hit the Hornets home page and noted the multiple callouts for "I'm In." It's on the top, it's in the middle, it's on the bottom. Takeaway? It's important.

So, if it's important to a squad, I want to take a look. Clicking in takes you here, to the unofficial home of "I'm In."

So what's here? And said differently, why am I hyped? Simple... You have the Mayor involved. You have a mix of athletes (Drew Brees), fans, politicians (even the Governor of Louisiana), fans, and mascots here. The message? It's not about buying a season ticket. It's about uniting a region together.

Let's keep peaking around here.

You can support buy downloading a wallpaper, adding a button to your Facebook page (get that here), or you can buy season tickets. The Hornets have made it easy to be a part of the team, and they have made the team about more than what happens on the court. Super cool stuff here.

But I can't stop thinking about what this means, beyond this. This feels like a starting point, not a completed mission.

How could we make this better?

First, from an awareness standpoint, could we take the idea of buttons and make them into physical expressions of support? (Yard signs/bumper stickers for those who are all in?)

Then, this idea's so hot that it feels like there should be physical extensions for supporting the region. For being "All In." Yes, this is a digital site, but the best digital goes beyond digital -- and what I'm after here is access/experience. Is there a way to provide access to community give back events only for those individuals? Let those fans submit ideas for impacting the community and then unite everyone to support the best ideas? For example, join the Governor or Drew Brees or the Mayor in reading at schools, or in cleaning up neighborhoods, or in volunteering? Don't get hung up in the specific idea, the concept is how can we make the people who are ALL IN leaders in the community, socially and physically.

Come back tomorrow as we check out another best practice from the NBA. And as always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy