What Happened
Following its entry into live sports streaming with a test Wimbledon broadcast on Wednesday, Twitter is reportedly in talks with the NBA, Major League Soccer (MLS), and Turner network to seek more live sports content. Turner, in particular, holds the broadcast rights of games from several popular sports leagues, including the NBA, MLB, and the NCAA.
What Brands Need To Do
It should come as no surprise that Twitter is doubling down on its quest for live sports content, given it is the kind of premium content that the microblogging network needs to expand its stalled user base and make a compelling case for its ad products. As more and more audience turns online, media owners and sports leagues will have little choice but to follow along and embrace live streaming. Even ESPN, king of sports broadcasting, is reportedly considering launching OTT streaming packages to deliver live sports content directly to viewers so as to capture the cord-cutters and cord-nevers. Therefore, brands targeting sports fans need to closely follow the developments in this field and start exploring live-streaming channels to see if it provides a viable channel to reach your target audience in a cost-effective way.
Source: Re/Code
