With Twitter and Amazon seemingly all-in on live sports content, it figures that Facebook would have to at least consider getting in the game.
Well SportsTechie.com reports that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has fairly mixed feelings on broadcasting sports. Zuckerberg apparently wants to dip his toes in the live-sports waters but doesn’t view that as a long-term goal. Via SportsTechie.com:
“In terms of working with folks to produce all kinds of content, sports is probably something that we’ll want to try at some point.”
“The goal is going to be creating some anchor content initially that helps people learn that going to the video tab that that’s a great destination where they can explore and come to Facebook with the intent to watch the videos that they want,” he added. “And then the long-term goal is actually not to be paying for specific content like that, but doing a revenue share model once the whole economy around video on Facebook is built up. But we’re working on that, and I think we’ll probably look at different pieces of content like this around the world, but at this point don’t feel like any specific one of them is a must-have for us.”
Recode previously reported that Facebook had interest in airing the NFL’s Thursday Night Football during the upcoming season, but those rights went to Amazon. Facebook has dabbled in live sports a tiny bit with Facebook Live broadcasts of MLS games.
It figures that Twitter, which aired TNF last year, would have more interest in live streaming than Facebook given that Twitter is all about in-the-moment reaction and commentary, whereas Facebook’s model rewards more enduring content. Amazon’s dive into sports streaming also makes sense, since Amazon already has a substantial streaming infrastructure.
It sounds from Zuckerberg’s comments that Facebook would rather have a hand in producing its own content rather than paying for content, which could make live sports an awkward fit.
At the same time, sports leagues will increasingly look for new platforms for their games, and Facebook, as one of the biggest tech companies around, will always be a tempting partner.
About Alex Putterman
Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.