@NFLNetwork gives NFL fandom a place on TV

The NFL Network (@nflnetwork) has launched a new Twitter-centric segment called NFL Fandom within its flagship program, NFL Total Access. The new segment, which bowed on October 16, integrates Twitter to spark discussion and empower fans to tell the network what they want to see. The segment looks at trending topics to guide its conversations, engaging fans by airing their Tweets during the broadcast and staging hashtag battles via Twitter voting.

NFL Fandom launched its first hashtag battle leading up to the October 17 game between the Seahawks and Cardinals. The show encouraged fans to make their pick to win the game by tweeting #SeahawksTNF or #CardinalsTNF.

Guest commentator Tommie Harris tweeted on air, too; he cast the first vote in the hashtag battle during the broadcast.

Once the battle began, @AZCardinals was quick to ask followers to vote.

Some fans were exceedingly enthusiastic about doing so.

Others tweeted for the very first time to vote for their team.

Later in the hour, @nflnetwork reminded fans that they still had time to vote, which @nfl retweeted.

During the Fandom segment, @nflnetwork displayed the results on air. Naturally, the hashtag percentages grew as more and more Tweets came flooding in, and the Seahawks came out on top (with 68% of the vote) — as they would in the game that night.

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