What are some innovative ways that your team/brand has tried to connect with its fanbase on Facebook and Myspace?

While many marketers understand that social networking applications are the most effective means for targeting young consumers, many have not discovered effective ways to make use of these mediums.

The Cincinnati Bengals have discovered an easy solution for engraining their brand in the lives of their fans... The team created the "Bengal Widget", a transferable item that users can post on their social networking profiles.

The Bengals Widget offers the 2008 schedule, team videos, news updates, and related team events. Users can simply "own" the Widget by copying it directly from the team site to their social networking profile or copying and pasting the widget's HTML code directly into their website. All consumers have to do is hit the "Grab It button" on the widget, posted on the team webpage.

Look for more teams to discover and create unique widgets that fans can post on their fan profiles to show their team support! The sports applications on Facebook have already demonstrated the popularity of these types of widgets among users.