In an attempt to reach millennials and remain relevant with the younger generation, the National Football League has signed with Snapchat to become the first sports partner of its new Explorer service. Now the NFL is already a partner with Snapchat Live Stories where users can see videos collected into a certain theme. With the new Explorer, users swipe up and see videos surrounding the same event and in the NFL’s case, see game video taken by users from different angles.
The partnership for Explorer began with the Tampa Bay-St. Louis game last night and will continue through Super Bowl 50 in February. And both the NFL and Snapchat hope that it will trigger fans to take videos and upload them so fans from all over the world can view them:
For Snapchat, the NFL provides content from one of the biggest brands in the world, which should help spur usage of Explorer. In fact, sports may be particularly well suited for the product, given the obsessiveness of fans. “Now you can see the biggest plays from different perspectives throughout the stadium, from sidelines to the stands,” said Ben Schwerin, Snapchat’s director of partnerships.
To date, the NFL said it has been receiving tens of thousands of fan-submitted snaps every week for its Live Stories, and those videos are being viewed by millions of fans. The league has run ads in its weekly Stories, but right now Snapchat isn’t selling ads in Explorer content.
The Wall Street Journal notes that the NFL’s Live Stories have reached as many as 10 million users on Sundays and up to 7 million for Monday and Thursday night games. The league says the audience on Snapchat Live Stories is growing each week. And the league is happy to add that a big chunk of that audience is from abroad.
So as the power of social media continues to grow, the NFL looks to partner with services such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat so it can reach young audiences and grow its fanbase.
Comments are closed.