Whenever the Milwaukee Bucks post a highlight, a graphic or a giveaway to their 13 million social media followers, Jesse Clark is usually involved in the process.
The Mount Horeb native was promoted this summer to the Bucks’ social media director, putting him in charge of the anonymous voice behind the NBA team he grew up rooting for.
He’s the one who decides how the Bucks keep up with the latest TikTok trends while balancing the need to provide key injury updates and lineup decisions that fans need to know.
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Prior to returning to Wisconsin in 2023, Clark worked in social media for the Kansas City Royals in MLB and the Houston Texans in the NFL.
He joined WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” to share what it’s like to work with stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and how different sports and regions compare to his experience in Milwaukee.
The following interview was edited for clarity and brevity.
Kate Archer Kent: You grew up a Bucks fan in Wisconsin and went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What does it mean to go from following this team for fun to doing it professionally from behind the scenes?
Jesse Clark: It’s a really fun, full-circle moment for me. I’ve been a Bucks fan since I was 5 years old. I remember going to my first Bucks games at the Bradley Center, rooting for the team.
Unfortunately, the team didn’t win a lot of games during that time, but my fandom was really strong from the start.
Now, if I would have told my 5-year-old self what I’m doing now for a career, I think that kid would be really excited and proud. It means a lot to me to be able to make such important decisions and be in charge of sending out these messages and this content to our fan base.
Milwaukee Bucks Director of Social Media Jesse Clark, center right, records players Giannis Antetokounmpo, center left, and Thanasis Antetokounmpo, left walking in the Fiserv Forum. Photo courtesy of Jesse Clark
KAK: What is the balance between being corporate and professional versus hip and trendy?
JC: As a brand, we have a lot of different objectives, and different departments have different needs to service on social media. We need to make sure we’re effectively communicating those, whether that’s a PR message or community initiative or something that’s sponsored through partnerships.
But, also we want to have fun online too, and we want to be keeping up with the trends. We want to be playful and concise and interact with fans and be engaging.
We want to be informative and be valuable to partners and increase ticket revenue. We also want to be engaging to fans and increase their fan affinity. Maybe they are a fan and now we can make them a core fan. Or maybe they weren’t a fan at all, but now they are, because they saw our content or a story that we posted and they learned more about a player’s background.
It’s so hard to stop the thumb from scrolling these days and so we want to make sure that we’re creating content that allows them to do that and engage and share.
KAK: How do you handle negative comments you get from fans or trolls on social media?
JC: I always say that I’d rather have passionate fans in our comments — either positive or negative — than apathetic ones. Certainly we get a lot of both. We can’t control what happens on the court and sometimes the results are positive and sometimes they’re not so positive. Fans are very vocal and eager to share their thoughts because social is their easiest access and touch point to do so with the Bucks.
Earlier in my career, when there was a lot of negativity, it wore on me, because it is our job to see it and read it all the time. When there’s a lot, it can be easy to take it personally or have it weigh on you. But I feel like I’ve gotten better at that as my career has progressed, and I would rather them be passionate and vocal than not at all.
We do want to be mindful of the one-on-one interactions that we can provide fans online if they have a question that we can answer, a surprise-and-delight moment or responding to some positivity, because I do look at those interactions as a digital autograph of sorts. It is cool when fans receive a response or a reply from the official team account. It’s not a huge lift on our end, but it can be really impactful on theirs. So we do want to be active in the comments, hear what they’re saying and respond back to what they’re saying. Because as a social account, we need to be mindful of the conversations that our fans are having, and how we can participate in that in a positive way.
KAK: How does working with Giannis Antetokounmpo compare to some of the stars you worked with at the Kansas City Royals or the Houston Texans?
JC: I’ve been really fortunate to work with a lot of great athletes who understand social content and want to participate in it, and so that’s been really great. Every locker room is different and certain players may prefer to be more content forward on social media than others, and that’s totally OK.
Giannis is obviously an amazing athlete, but he’s an amazing person as well. I’m very fortunate that he is in Milwaukee and we get to work together and cover his amazing talent on the court every night.
KAK: Have you noticed regional differences between fans down in Houston and Kansas City compared to Milwaukee?
JC: In terms of overall sentiment? I don’t think so. I think most of that has just been either positive or negative, depending on how the team is performing on the court. There are obviously ebbs and flows that happen with that over the course of the season, no matter what sport that you’re playing. Sometimes we’ll tailor our messaging depending on different interests.
Certainly there are differences in interests… For example, whether it’s pop culture or food or things like that in Texas, that may not apply as directly to Kansas City or Milwaukee. We want to make sure we’re tapping into the interests of the state, the city and the team as it pertains to social and content.