• Loading stock data...
Monday, June 2, 2025

Without Basketball, Rockets Develop Content Plan With Heavy Fan Input

  • Rockets aim to give fans a sense of normalcy on their social media accounts.
  • Team has revived their #FanArtFriday campaign in effort to stay engaged with its supporters.
houston-rockets-fans-content
Photo Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Steven Goldfried knows that these are not normal times. Since the NBA temporarily suspended its season on March 12, he has tried to make the abnormal appear anything but.

“That’s very hard to do because there aren’t games being played,” Goldfried, the Houston Rockets’ director of digital content strategy, said. “These are not normal times, but if we can give them something that is a little bit comforting in terms of basketball content, then that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

FOS REPORT: 54.5% of industry executives believe that it would be at least 60 days before leagues resume play.

While it is still unclear when the NBA will return from its hiatus, Goldfried and his team have built a three-month-long content plan that will keep the Rockets’ social media presence active through early June regardless if there are games before then or not. 

Adjusting to life without basketball has made the Rockets look to deepen their relationship with their fanbase, Goldfried said. Early on, the team is leaning on fans to help decide what it should be posting across its various social media platforms. 

On Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, the Rockets have created more posts that allow for fan opinions to be seen. Their first fan-friendly post asked followers to name the location and year of an in-game photograph featuring Clyde Drexler. The Rockets then opened a “Clyde Drexler Flashback Friday Signed Poster Giveaway” sweepstakes for fans to enter and win a signed poster from Drexler. Two winners were ultimately chosen from Facebook and Instagram.

Days later saw the Rockets use social media for numerous paid partnerships. One post had the team and luxury watchmaker Tissot asked fans to vote on which James Harden outfit they enjoyed most during the season. Another piece of content with phone maker Rokit was a tribute to Toyota Center visitors thus far with the caption, “We miss our fans! We’re thinking about y’all & hope you’re staying safe. Thank you for being the best!”

“We know they missed basketball, and we miss them,” Goldfried said. “Getting them engaged as much as possible has been sort of the high-level idea and trying to give them as much sense of normalcy as possible.”

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/1240676908968431618

The Rockets are bringing back a past social media campaign to interact with their fanbase in 2020. Beginning on March 26, Houston will host its weekly #FanArtFriday challenge, where fans submit their art using #RocketsArt for a chance to be featured on the team’s Instagram profile. 

Created during the 2019 offseason, the best pieces from #FanArtFriday were then recreated by Goldfried and his team and placed onto electrical boxes outside of the Toyota Center, the Rockets’ home venue. It then turned into a four-video YouTube series titled, “From IG to IRL,” which included Rockets Graphic Designer Sandra Lara and Houston-based artists Fernando Aragon and Franky Cardona as they each detailed the design process behind their murals.

READ MORE: Houston Rockets Bringing Art To Life Outside Toyota Center

“I see different people posting about it, and it’s just good to see how much Houston has not only accepted these boxes but accepted art,” Cardona told Front Office Sports in January. “I feel like Houston’s already accepting the art scene, but I feel like it’s going to be the next city to accept it even more, so it feels good as an artist to see people appreciating the artwork.”

While the coronavirus pandemic has caused a decline in social media engagement for nearly every sports team, the Rockets have not suffered as much from the absence of games. 

Since Houston began posting again on March 18, it has posted more than 65 times on social media – tenth-most in the NBA – and will continue to rise as it lengthens its content calendar, Goldfried said. As a result, engagement across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have exceeded 987,000 during that same stretch, third-most in the league, according to Goldfried.

It has also been able to cultivate a wider following in spite of the circumstances. Across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, it has added more than 424,000 followers, second-most in the NBA. It has also seen the second-highest increase in YouTube subscribership since March 18, bringing in more than 9,500 subscribers to the platform.

With most people stuck at home, for the time being, Goldfried is using this as a chance to drive more video content. Coming soon, one of the Rockets’ team trainers is going to lead a video series on workouts and exercises that people can do indoors. 

Another content series will involve the Rockets’ dance team leader, who will host multiple dance tutorial videos. While both series will be produced by the team, both the trainer and dancer will be shooting everything themselves. 

READ MORE: Baltimore Ravens Pump Up Podcast Content For Fans At Home

But still, the fans’ opinions during this time will not go unheard.

“We’re really just trying to have an actual conversation back and forth with them because we miss basketball too,” Goldfried said. “At the end of the day, we are people who run these accounts, we’re fans of the game, and we miss it as much as they do. So we’re trying to have that conversation from the standpoint of, ‘we’re all basketball fans.’”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

As TNT NBA Era Ends, Charles Barkley Calls ESPN Move an ‘Honor’

TNT’s final NBA game was Pacers–Knicks on Saturday night.
Oct 27, 2022; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and LA Clippers guard Paul George (13) walks down the court during a time out during the first half at Paycom Center.

Pacers, Thunder Both Built Finals Teams Off Trading Paul George

George is a key piece of trivia in this year’s NBA Finals.

Pacers-Thunder Is Lowest-Payroll NBA Finals in Years

Neither team is in the luxury tax, despite rosters with multiple All-Stars.

MSG Tickets for Potential Pacers-Knicks Game 7 Start at $1,100

The current get-in price for a potential Game 7 is $1,099.

Featured Today

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.
May 25, 2025

How Rolex Paved the Way for Luxury’s Love Affair With Tennis

“It’s almost impossible to think about tennis without thinking about Rolex.”
Mar 23, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Alexandra Eala (PHI) reacts after winning a point against Madison Keys (USA)(not pictured) on day six of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.
May 24, 2025

Alex Eala Is Defying Her Country’s Odds to Make French Open History

The Philippines native has overcome a unique set of financial odds.
May 30, 2025

Panthers-Oilers Rematch Could Be Big in Canada. Will U.S. Ratings Dip?

Likely viewership declines in the U.S. are countered by robust Canadian audiences.
May 30, 2025

French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

Coco Gauff has also said the French Open schedule could be improved.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
May 28, 2025

NBA East Finals Delivers Strong TV Ratings, but West Is Struggling

The Pacers and Thunder are both up 3–1 in their conference finals series.
Around the Horn
May 23, 2025

Behind the Scenes of Around the Horn’s Final Days

FOS followed Tony Reali at the penultimate taping of the ESPN icon.
Around the Horn - October 26, 2020
May 23, 2025

‘Quirky, Nutty, Bombastic’: 10 ‘Around the Horn’ Faces on Their Top Moments

“A quirky, nutty, bombastic, mostly wrong, sometimes right, crazy sports family.”
May 22, 2025

NBC Eyes MLB Rights, Looks to Own Sunday Nights Year-Round

The league continues to shop media rights being forfeited by ESPN.