USA TODAY International Edition
Twitter, NBA agree to livestream shows
Twitter’s livestreamNEW YORK ing plans are getting an assist from the NBA, but it won’t be streaming games.
In a joint release with Twitter, the league announced Tuesday it will bring two live shows to the social network for the upcoming NBA season. The first of the two broadcasts, a new weekly pregame show, will launch around the start of the season. The content will be available for free exclusively on Twitter and accessible regardless of whether a user is logged into the service.
The NBA would not disclose the financial aspects of the deal.
Beyond live broadcasts, the league is also expanding its use of Twitter’s Amplify platform, increasing the amount of content it produces for Twitter, Vine and Periscope.
The league has a large following on the social network with 22.4 million Twitter followers, top among sports leagues on the platform.
“We’re excited about bringing live content to Twitter,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We’ve seen technology bring fans closer to our game, teams and players in ways we could have only imagined a decade ago.”
The deal with the NBA is the latest in Twitter’s strategy to lure more users who want to watch and interact with live events, particularly sporting events. The company recently broadcast live pregame and postgame coverage from Wimbledon and will stream live Thursday night NFL games this fall.
Twitter was also recently reported to be in talks with Major League Soccer to stream its content.