NFL and Twitter renew their content agreement

The National Football League and Twitter have announced that they have renewed a content agreement or what they’re calling “a multiyear strategic partnership” that will allow the social networking service to provide in-game highlights from the preseason all the way through Super Bowl 50.

In addition, the deal also lets the NFL deliver breaking news, custom game recaps, infographics, behind the scenes material as well as generate programming, improved video quality and brand integration. In plain English, this brings more video highlights and allows Twitter to sell ads directly into the NFL’s content.

It’s another way for the NFL to reach fans other than the traditional methods like TV, radio and newspapers. It’s a two-year deal that keeps Twitter in the NFL fold. The two companies have had a content agreement dating back to 2013.

Peter Kafka at Re/code puts the deal into perspective:

The significance here, from Twitter’s perspective, is that it’s the first time it has done a multi-year deal with a big media company like the NFL. And while Twitter execs won’t say it out loud, it looks as though they plan on using NFL content — everything from highlight clips generated from games that are still happening to behind-the-scenes footage — as part of their “Project Lightning” gambit, which will emphasize big, popular events happening in real time. Like NFL games.

Shortly after this deal was announced, Twitter stock jumped 4% which shows Wall Street liked the idea of more NFL content and ad sales on the service. From the official announcement, a Twitter executive noted how this will bring more content to users:

“Twitter users and brands cannot get enough NFL video and news, and they’ll now get more of it, and faster, than ever before,” said Glenn Brown, head of Twitter Content Partnerships and Amplify. “Over the past two years, NFL content on Twitter has seen best-in-class user engagement rates, and the expanded partnership will bolster the fan experience on the platform.”

So users who follow the NFL’s Twitter account will see plenty of video highlights and what the league hopes will be unique content. Re/code notes that the NFL also has content deals in place with Facebook and YouTube and it speculates that the league will look to further its reach with other digital deals down the road.

[Re/code]