National Football League and Snapchat Announce Partnership to Bring NFL Content to Fans Around the World
Weekly NFL Live Stories on Snapchat throughout the 2015 season
New York City, NY(17 Sep 2015)
The National Football League (NFL) and Snapchat today announced a partnership that will deliver NFL content to fans around the world, combining the passion surrounding one of the world’s most popular sports with the fast-growing social platform.
The partnership, which centers on Snapchat’s Live Story product, made its debut in Week 1 of the NFL’s 2015 season, enabling millions of fans to engage with uniquely packaged NFL-centric video and photo content on the Snapchat app.
The NFL and Snapchat have created a weekly programming schedule that will feature all 32 NFL teams and will be available worldwide to all Snapchat users each week of the NFL’s regular season and continuing throughout the postseason, including Super Bowl 50. The next NFL Live Story will go live tonight ahead of the Thursday Night Footballgame between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs and will be available on Snapchat for 24 hours.
Each NFL Live Story, curated by Snapchat, will provide an experience that captures the energy and excitement from various NFL locations and events. A mix of fan-submitted Snaps* and official inside access content will be featured in each Live Story so that each is told from both a fan and League perspective with many different points of view. NFL and Snapchat will offer brands the opportunity to advertise within the Live Story.
“Partnering with a popular platform such as Snapchat is another important step in our plan to reach our fans wherever they are, whether on NFL.com, NFL Network, NFL Mobile or outside of those properties,” said Blake Stuchin, Director, Digital Media Business Development for the National Football League. “The weekly programming schedule will provide another touch point for millions of fans to connect and share around their passion for the NFL while creating a unique vehicle to reach that audience for our trusted partners and sponsors.”
“We're thrilled to partner with the NFL on Live Stories,” said Ben Schwerin, Head of Partnerships for Snapchat. “Our users will get an exciting look at what's it's like to be right in the middle of the action with the fans and players all season long.”
This partnership comes on the heels of a successful first Live Story from the NFL and Snapchat around the 2015 NFL Draft. The League and Snapchat teamed up to produce a Live Story from the NFL Draft in Chicago which was viewed by nearly 15 million fans worldwide.
This deal represents the latest in a series of partnerships that the NFL has struck with leading digital platforms to continue to increase the accessibility and consumption of some of the most valuable content in the entertainment business.
NFL content has never been more popular across the media landscape. According to the Nielsen Company, the 2014 NFL regular season reached 202.3 million unique viewers, representing 80 percent of all television homes and 68 percent of potential viewers in the U.S. NFL games accounted for the top 20 and 45 of the 50 most-watched TV shows among all programming in 2014.
*Snapchat users who have their location services on at select NFL event and game locations will be able to contribute Snaps to the NFL Live Story.