SAN FRANCISCO, July 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Twitter today
announced it will live stream weekly out-of-market games from Major
League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL). 120
Sports, the OTT network, will also produce an exclusive, nightly
multi-sports highlights show called 'The Rally', the first show of
its kind to be streamed live on Twitter. The MLB, NHL, and 120
Sports streaming rights come through Twitter's new partnership with
MLBAM.
"Twitter is the fastest way to see what's unfolding in MLB and
the NHL," said Anthony Noto,
Twitter's chief financial officer. "MLBAM has pioneered streaming
live digital video and we could not be more excited to partner with
them on live games as well as 'The Rally', giving our audience the
live sports events they are already talking about on one screen on
Twitter."
"Twitter has long been a great partner and platform for both
baseball and hockey fans as they follow their favorite teams and
players every day," said Kenny
Gersh, MLBAM's executive vice president, business. "We know
fans will embrace what this wide-ranging partnership brings –
expanded and reliable access to live baseball and hockey and the
introduction of Twitter's first daily live highlight show delivered
intuitively to a platform where they're actively engaged with the
games."
"Twitter has become a crucial forum and engagement tool for
hockey fans to enhance their NHL viewing experience and stay
connected to the game on and off the ice," said Stephen McArdle, NHL executive vice president of
digital media and strategic planning. "We are excited that
fans will now be able to enjoy live NHL games through our
partnership with Twitter."
The once-per-week live streams of out-of-market MLB and NHL
games will be available free to logged-in and logged-out Twitter
users in the United States. MLB
games also will be available worldwide, except in select
international territories. A schedule for the MLB and NHL games
will be available at a later date.
Twitter also will live stream 'The Rally', a nightly program
produced by 120 Sports that will include highlights and expert
perspective across multiple sports exclusively to Twitter users in
the United States. 'The Rally'
will utilize a distinct format designed to integrate with Twitter's
platform, using Twitter-based data to determine live trending
topics as well as adding other interactive elements for instant
conversation and analysis of the moments that matter most to sports
fans – covering professional to college to action to Olympic sports
and more.
"'The Rally'" on Twitter will combine the production and
editorial values of television with the speed and interactivity of
digital media," said Jason Coyle,
120 Sports president. "We are excited to bring this
first-of-its-kind programming to Twitter as we continue the push of
120 Sports beyond the limitations of traditional media, infusing
real-time, scaled fan sentiment and feedback into the sports
conversation every night."
About Twitter, Inc
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) is an iconic service and global
platform for self-expression and live conversation. Twitter has
always been the best place to see what's happening now. Whether
it's breaking news, entertainment, sports, or everyday topics, only
Twitter lets you connect with people anywhere in the world with
live conversation. Anything that happens, you see it first on
Twitter. By developing a fundamentally new way for people to
consume, create, distribute and discover content, Twitter enables
any voice to echo around the world instantly and unfiltered.
Twitter is available in more than 40 languages around the world.
The service can be accessed at Twitter.com, on a variety of mobile
devices and via SMS. For more information, visit about.twitter.com
or follow @twitter.
About MLBAM
Established in June 2000 following
a unanimous vote by the 30 Major League Baseball club owners to
centralize all of Baseball's Internet operations, MLB Advanced
Media LP (MLBAM) is the interactive media and internet company of
Major League Baseball. MLBAM manages the official league site,
MLB.com, and each of the 30 individual Club sites to create the
most comprehensive Major League Baseball resource on the Internet.
MLBAM also develops, deploys and distributes the highest-grossing
sports app, At Bat, and #1 live sports streaming service, MLB.TV,
as well as manages live video content for dozens of sports, news
and entertainment clients. It captures, encodes and distributes
tens of thousands of live video events annually, powering more live
events on the Internet than any other property in the world.
About The NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL®), founded in 1917, consists of
30 Member Clubs, with players from more than 20 countries
represented across team rosters, competing for the most revered
trophy in professional sports – the Stanley Cup®. Each year, the
NHL entertains hundreds of millions of fans around the world. The
League broadcasts games in more than 160 countries and territories
through its rightsholders including NBC/NBCSN in the U.S.,
Sportsnet and TVA in Canada,
and Viasat in the Nordic Region. The NHL reaches fans worldwide
with games available online in every country including via its live
and on-demand streaming service NHL.TV™. Fans are engaged across
the League's digital assets on mobile devices via the free NHL app;
across nine social media platforms; on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio™,
and on NHL.com, available in eight languages and featuring an
enhanced statistics platform powered by SAP, providing the
definitive destination for hockey analytics. A historic media
rights partnership between the NHL and MLBAM has transformed the
fan experience across the League's digital and broadcast assets,
with an emphasis on deeper access into the game and enhanced
storytelling. To celebrate the NHL's international diversity, the
World Cup of Hockey will return in September
2016, a best-on-best international tournament featuring
eight teams comprised of the world's best hockey players. In 2017,
the League will celebrate its Centennial anniversary, commemorating
100 years of NHL hockey. The NHL is committed to giving back
to the community through programs including: Hockey is for
Everyone™ which supports nonprofit youth hockey organizations
across North America; Hockey
Fights Cancer™ which raises money and awareness for hockey's most
important fight; NHL Green™ which is committed to the pursuit of
sustainable business practices; and a partnership with the You Can
Play Project, which is committed to supporting the LGBT community
and fighting homophobia in sports. For more information, visit
NHL.com.
About 120 Sports
120 Sports, America's Over-the-Top Sports Network, is the
ultimate source for multi-sport highlights, live-looks-ins,
interviews, analysis, and commentary, integrated with real-time
social conversation and trending sports topics. Available to both
cord cutters and television enthusiasts alike, 120 Sports operates
365 days a year, offering 53 hours of live or original content and
over 750 on-demand video clips each week. Equity partners in 120
Sports include Time Inc. / Sports Illustrated, MLB Advanced Media,
the National Hockey League, the PGA TOUR, Campus Insiders, and
Silver Chalice. For more information, visit 120Sports.com or
download the app in the iTunes App
Store or on Google Play.
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