Want to take your favorite Major League Baseball or National Hockey League team with you wherever you go? Twitter is hoping to make that a reality by live-streaming select games soon.
Variety reports that Twitter will start live-streaming games from the MLB and NHL to out-of-market viewers — whether they are logged in to the social network or not — once a week in the U.S. and some international markets.
The games will be aired exclusively for Twitter, although subscribers of other NHL and MLB subscription services will still be able to stream on those platforms.
Under the deal, Variety reports that Twitter has agreed to pay a certain level in ad sales generated from the live games to the leagues.
In addition to streaming NHL and MLB games, Twitter will also air a nightly sports highlight show called “The Rally” in conjunction with 120 sports.
Unlike the NHL and MLB games, “The Rally” will be available only to registered users in the U.S.
While there isn’t currently a timeline for when the social network will start airing the games, officials with the leagues tell Variety that the rights are effective immediately.
A schedule for games will be released in the near future, however the NHL is currently off-season.
“Twitter has long been a great partner and platform for both baseball and hockey fans as they follow their favorite teams and players every day,” Kenny Gersh, MLBAM’s executive vice president of business, said in a statement. “We know fans will embrace what this wide-ranging partnership brings – expanded and reliable access to live baseball and hockey and the introduction of Twitter’s first daily live highlight show delivered intuitively to a platform where they’re actively engaged with the games.”
The deal is the latest between the social network and professional sports leagues. Last year, Twitter inked a deal to air 10 NFL games on the “Thursday Night Football” schedule for the upcoming season.
Twitter has also partnered with the NBA for two live shows and with college conferences to air certain games and campus events.
Twitter to Live-Stream MLB, NHL Games for Free In Latest Sports Plays [Variety]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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