Twitter strikes deal to live stream Pac-12 sports
Pac-12 Networks announced Thursday it has reached an agreement with Twitter Inc. to make the social media hub the leading partner for Pac-12 Plus, a broadband network that will will live stream events from UCLA, USC and the other 10 schools in the conference.
At least 150 games are to be streamed live to fans over Twitter during the 2016-17 academic year.
The deal covers school-produced Olympic sporting events such as soccer, baseball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming and diving. Such sports usually don’t bring in the same level of revenue for a school as football or men’s basketball.
Games will still be available to watch live on university athletic sites and pac-12.com.
“Twitter is the fastest way to find out what is happening in live sports,†Anthony Noto, Twitter’s chief financial officer, said in a statement.
“The Pac-12 Networks’ collaboration with Twitter reflects our ongoing commitment to increasing exposure for Pac-12 universities and their live, school-produced events,†Pac-12 Networks President Lydia Murphy-Stephans said in a statement.
The schedule of Pac-12 events to be streamed live on Twitter will be finalized closer to the start of the college sports season.
This is the third live streaming deal Twitter has made this week to expand its platform. The San Francisco company and Bloomberg Media announced a deal Tuesday to live stream multiple Bloomberg TV programs and its hourly market coverage.
On Monday it unveiled a deal with CBS to live stream this month’s Republican and Democratic conventions.
The Pac-12 deal also deepens Twitter’s involvement in live streaming sports. Last week it live streamed the finals of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, and in the spring it agreed to a $10-million deal with the NFL to begin live streaming its Thursday night football games.
Live streaming has continued to grow on social media since the NFL agreed to stream a live game on Yahoo last season. League Commissioner Roger Goodell and San Francisco 49ers Chief Executive Jed York visited Silicon Valley in November to discuss additional opportunities with multiple outlets.
Twitter’s stock was up 1.1% to $17.94 on Thursday morning.
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