By Randy Williams, PNA / Xinhua and U.S. News Agency / Asian

At the just-concluded Sports Entertainment Summit, a day-long gathering of industry executives in Los Angeles, an overriding theme made itself clear across the different spectrums.

The theme is that the sports business is critical to the entertainment industry, as television networks, multi-media producers, corporate brand partners, filmmakers and technical innovators try connecting to today’s fans.

With unprecedented dollars connected to on-field performances in the wildly successful world of sports, many show business entities are looking for ways to adapt and incorporate that area of entertainment into their given operation and vice versa.

While the program covered a range of topics, including: new production technologies and the changing look of sports TV; conquering social media to boost fan bases; transitioning content to mobile and on-demand platforms; understanding the new demands of brands and sponsor partners as well as exploring the convergence of reality TV and traditional sports, at its core success is all about relationships.

Relationships, that was the secret to success stated by one of the program’s main speakers, Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment and producer of such films as Batman, The Color Purple, and Flashdance.

Guber, a long time sports fan who operates some minor league baseball franchises and recently purchased the NBA basketball team Golden State Warriors, felt that “service is crucial” and advised those expanding into the sports business to “aim for the heart, not the wallet.”

While the movie business between ticket-buyer and film can be relatively brief and fleeting, he emphasized how important it is to keep a one-on-one relationship with a team and a fan, and make it last maintaining a bond that will last years.

One of the convention’s look at trends is that while sports’ primary attraction is the experiencing of high drama and unpredictable endings live at a venue or television, the growth in athlete stature lends itself to social media and ecommerce.

Veteran sports television executive Perkins Miller, now chief operating officer of Universal Sports Networks, said social media has created more devoted and aggressive TV viewers, providing examples of equestrian and cycling as sports that social media has brought a lot more fans to his network which specializes in Olympic events.

Interactive giant Facebook offers proof that the far-flung reaches of social media and the distance covered by dedicated fans is growing in range when company manager Nick Grudin said the Los Angeles Lakers have 9 million fans on their Facebook page, but only 4.5 million in the Los Angeles area, a clear barometer that social media has extended reach beyond regional borders bringing in fans from all over. Grudin added that the NBA as a whole has 85 million Facebook friends.

Business Development Chief Omid Ashtari of Twitter commended the NBA on the innovative ways it connects to fans via his company’s social service.

The specialists in this area stated that flexibility and multiple check-in points give their business an edge in providing a platform that allows both fans and athletes to use different destinations online, and then companies can know where fans are watching and who they’re watching with, and send other people to them and build their consumer base. Certainly a helpful development for sponsors.

Many of Hollywood greatest actors, including: Paul Newman, Robert DeNiro, Elizabeth Taylor, Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster have starred in a sports movie. One of today’s leading performers, Brad Pitt, was the panel’s focus on the power of film to reach audiences and make a strong connection, particularly on an emotional level and how good storytelling is really key.

As a business partnership, panel member Elizabeth Scott, Vice President of Programming and Business Affairs for Major League Baseball pointed out the cross-promotion value of a movie involved with her sport, that it lends itself to “reaching baseball fans at stadiums across the country by running previews of the film on the scoreboards as well as online contests among other things.” Scott adds it will help sell MLB across borders predicting “this film is going to be a great success in Japan.”

Whether they use traditional or new media, the summit’s attendees affirmed the growing power of sports as an entertainment experience for fans in the stands, at home, and on the go.