The MLS kicked off its 21st season this past weekend and the league continues to grow and mature in new and exciting ways. While the league still struggles with certain image problems, it is regularly praised for the ways it, and its teams, leverage social media. I caught up with Scott Sandalow, Digital Media Manager for the New York Red Bulls recently to find out more about his role.

RL: What’s your role with  RBNY and what do you do?

SS: I am the Digital Media Manager for New York Red Bulls. While wearing many hats, I manage our club’s website, NewYorkRedBulls.com, and am the Editor-In-Chief for all New York Red Bulls content.

Do you engage with other Red Bull properties, from extreme sports to the Austrian football club?

We follow their progress closely, and all of the clubs actively engage with each other on our respective social networks. We’re definitely cheering for every Red Bull club, and are proud of all of them!

How do you balance between having a “soccer voice” and a “Red Bull voice” for the social content?

The idea of a “Red Bull” voice goes far beyond our content on social. The “Red Bull” voice is established through other mechanisms, including our visual vernacular, branding, and even our play on the field. For social and digital, we can focus on creating the most engaging content possible, while the “Red Bull voice” is already firmly established through other verticals within the club.

How have RBNY, and MLS in general, embraced social in the last couple of years?

More than anything, we’ve worked tirelessly to create empathy with our fans through our social and digital channels, and this effort has been spearheaded by our Social Media Manager, Molly Brady, who I work closely with every day. Our content will only be engaging and successful if our fans know that we care as much as they do, and don’t take our responsibilities lightly. Molly has done an amazing job establishing a voice and tone on our social channels that our fans can respect, and be proud of. Much like our players, we don’t let the highs get too high, and the lows get too low – we are level-headed, and even keeled, which makes our one-off, surprise and delight content all that more impactful

What’s next for RBNY in terms of fan engagement? What new platforms or tools might you try out soon?

Throughout this preseason, we have been working with Periscope heavily, specifically since their integration with GoPro, to create engaging, high-quality live-streaming content. You will see more of that during the regular season as well. Most importantly, though, even more than emerging networks, we want to continue to engage our fans in the most positive, and authentic ways. There will always be new and exciting ways to reach our fanbase, but the most important thing is what the message is.​

Rick Liebling is an independent sports marketing professional and the founder of Arsenal America. You can follow him on Twitter @RickLiebling