The National Football League and Twitter today announced a groundbreaking partnership that will deliver NFL content to fans around the world, leveraging the reach of the fast-growing social platform. The partnership, which is part of Twitter's Amplify program, will enable fans to engage with customized NFL video content, created specifically for the Twitter platform, on PCs, tablets and mobile devices. This deal represents the first time the NFL has partnered with a social platform and is the first step in a broader strategic collaboration around some of the most valuable content in the entertainment business.
There will be multiple premiere sponsors of the program throughout the 2013 NFL regular season and postseason, including an exclusive sponsorship of the program for Super Bowl XLVIII. The partnership enables national sponsors to realize maximum engagement and conversation around NFL content on a social channel.
Starting today, Twitter users will have access to a uniquely packaged, seven-day-a-week NFL content programming schedule on Twitter, including in-game highlights from NFL Network's "Thursday Night Football" as well as clips from other regular-season and postseason games. In addition to content featuring game footage, NFL video packages on Twitter will include news, analysis, fantasy football advice and voting platforms from NFL Network and NFL.com.
"Partnering with Twitter provides the NFL with a unique vehicle to reach millions of highly engaged fans in an environment which will allow trusted partners and sponsors to align with our brand," said Brian Rolapp, Chief Operating Officer for NFL Media. "With consumption habits shifting to mobile devices and companion experiences alongside broadcasts of our games, this partnership will provide us an additional channel to reach those users which is completely complementary to our flagship mobile product, NFL Mobile from Verizon."
"The NFL brand is more than just the premiere sports league in the world, it is creating content that is extremely popular and widely consumed," said Adam Bain, President of Global Revenue for Twitter. "This partnership brings the best of the NFL to fans on our platform, and allows them to connect and share around their passion for football. The NFL has always been at the forefront of media innovation and this is the next step in that evolution. Having access to this type of highly coveted content on Twitter will not only offer our users a unique programming schedule which will deepen their engagement with our platform but will also provide our sponsors with a value proposition that few other partners can bring to the table."
NFL content never has been more popular across the media landscape. According to The Nielsen Company, the 2012 NFL regular season reached 200 million unique viewers, representing 80 percent of all television homes and 69 percent of potential viewers in the United States. In the fall of 2012, NFL games accounted for 31 of the 32 most-watched shows among all TV programming and, for the first time ever, an NFL game was the week's most-watched TV show in all 17 weeks of the 2012 NFL regular season.
