Back in April, The NFL and Twitter partnered up in an effort to live stream 10 Thursday Night Football games this season. Twitter beat out Facebook, Amazon, and others for the right to stream these games. This is a big win for everyone in the game:
CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey is excited about the new changes: “We think this is a great opportunity for our advertisers and also people that are interested in the NFL and football.”
On September 22, the New England Patriots faced off against the Houston Texans. Despite the game resulting in a complete blowout, Twitter’s viewership increased about 34% from the previous week. About 327,000 people tuned in to stream the game every minute. Even though fans have been enjoying the new service, that doesn’t mean this is the new way for everyone to watch live sports.
You might think that if trends continue, TV could become obsolete and streaming the primary way to view content. But for many sports fans, the best way to watch a game is on your own TV set. With high definition, instant replay and a bathroom with no lines, there really isn’t anything like experiencing live football on TV. It’s the closest you can ever be to the action unless, of course, you’re sitting on the sidelines.
Streaming on a phone or tablet can affect the viewing experience. With smaller screens, it’s harder to get the full picture. Some would argue that it can almost ruin the way you watch sports. What do you miss by watching on such a small screen? And what’s worse than lagging issues when you’re trying to watch a game? That being said, if Gen Z follows in the footsteps of the millennials before them, there could be a seismic shift away from traditional TV that may never recover.
At the end of the day, Thursday Night Football streamed online via Twitter is a landmark in our media landscape. And where the NFL goes, advertisers follow. When Twitter and the NFL struck a deal, Twitter set a goal of $50 million in ad sales. And with video ad packages that put brands next to game highlights, keeping the viewers constantly engaged, you’ve got the usual suspects (i.e. Bud Light, Sony Pictures, and Bank Of America) paying between $2 million and $8 million dollars to promote their products and services. In addition, the Thursday Night Football games streamed on Twitter will show 20 more ads that TV viewers won’t see. Twitter and other major players are expected to make similar deals with the MLB, NHL, and the NCAA in the future. As Senior Vice President of Bank Of America, Lou Paskalis said “The NFL got it right.”
What do you think of advertising on streaming video? What about watching sports on streaming? Are you a Twitter fan or a TV watcher, tried-and-true?