There’s always a question of how to get the most people possible to watch a particular sports event. One of the approaches there we’ve frequently seen in recent years is the idea of an “altcast” alternate broadcast, which usually is on a linear or streaming platform with shared ownership to the rightsholder.
But the BIG3 three-on-three basketball league is taking a different approach with “othercasts.” There, they provide their broadcast feeds for free to selected streamers via Creator Sports Network, who then share them with their audience. On Wednesday, the BIG3 announced their results there so far, and who they have lined up for their next rounds of othercasts at the next round of BIG3 games in Portland, Oregon Saturday.
Here’s more on that from a release:
Today, the BIG3 announced the outstanding results of its first five weeks providing select live BIG3 games to premier creators via Creator Sports Network. In this groundbreaking new program, a selection of top influencers, streamers, and creators are given access to live BIG3 games to in turn distribute directly to audiences and subscribers on their own social and streaming channels. More than two million viewers have watched the BIG3 via their chosen streamer – including Kenny Beecham and Los PollosTV – over the past few weeks, 83% of which were in the coveted under-34 demo. BIG3’s Week 6 slate of games will take place at the Moda Center in Portland, OR on July 20, 2024, and will be available on Jesser’s YouTube, Nick Mercs’ twitch and Kick, and summit1g’s twitch. Due to initial success, BIG3 and CSN are expanding the program to include additional streamers.
“I am extremely excited to work with the BIG3,” said Jesser. “Their team is supporting my vision to create an immersive viewing experience for fans, offering viewers fresh new options to see a top sports league at the highest level!”
Jesser will be streaming games three through five (3-6pm ET), Nick Mercs will be streaming games four and five (4-6pm ET), and summit1g will be streaming games four through six (4-7pm ET).
“This program allows the BIG3 to meet the next generation of fans where they are – on social media,” said BIG3 president and co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz. “Increasing fandom of our sport will feed back into linear viewership and capture the attention of young, cord-cutting viewers who oftentimes are not existing sports or basketball fans, similarly to what has been done in eGaming.
“The entertainment industry is still only now understanding the power of influencers and their audiences, and while they are finally beginning to benefit from cultivating their hard-earned followings, too many corporations take from these individuals without uplifting the creator community at large. We are doing the exact opposite. We are supporting these creators and allowing them to do what they do best, use their unique voices to curate and customize the world-class professional content we are providing, in order to supply their audiences with the best possible experience for their particular tastes.”
It’s interesting to see the BIG3 take this approach. And it adds to the variety of broadcasting approaches they’re taking. They have more traditional broadcast deals with CBS Sports and its platforms (and have been working with that company since 2019), but they also stream some games (and other content) live on Twitter/X.
The 2017-founded BIG3 has wound up in many controversies since then, but it’s also shown impressive persistence by surviving this long, not always easy for newer leagues. And it’s notable to see what they’re doing with streamers and creators (a growing part of the sports world) here. We’ll see how this works out for them.
