The NFL is taking yet another step to make sure the league can satiate its huge fanbase’s hunger for content across a variety of multimedia platforms.
The latest online move for the NFL, which actively uses social media to promote further fan engagement and even has a new streaming deal in place with Twitter, is an expansion of the league’s partnership with ephemeral-messaging service Snapchat that will make the NFL the first sports league with its own official Snapchat Discover channel. In a joint press release, the NFL and Snapchat said the league’s media group will curate the Discover channel, offering followers around the world a stream of NFL content that will include news and analysis, and video content from the league.
The NFL already had a partnership with Snapchat related to the platform’s Live Stories feature and the league said this week that it will expand that aspect of its Snapchat presence by creating Live Stories, including behind-the-scenes photos and video, for every NFL game, as well as important NFL events such as the draft and scouting combine. NFL fans on Snapchat will also be able to use Snapchat Geofilters customized for each of the league’s 32 teams, allowing users to access team-specific content based on their proximity to NFL stadiums, practice facilities and other venues.
“The launch of the NFL on Discover will provide a key touch point to follow storylines throughout the week, and the expansion of Live Stories will provide fans with a unique perspective of the excitement in and around our stadiums at every game all season-long,” Blake Stuchin, the NFL’s director of digital media business development, said in a statement.
Bringing the NFL and its millions of fans on board represents a marquee addition to Discover as Snapchat looks to push the new redesign it introduced for feature earlier this summer, which was meant to make it easier to follow specific content publishers. Meanwhile, the partnership gives the NFL yet another online avenue to reach its fans online, while also better reaching the younger-skewing Snapchat demographic.
Earlier this year, the NFL surprised the sports and media worlds when it handed Twitter a lucrative deal to broadcast the league’s Thursday night football games online. That deal will see the social media platform stream 10 regular season games this season after Twitter outbid online rivals such as Amazon, Yahoo, and Facebook.
