You don’t have to park it in front of your television set for game night anymore. At least, not if you’re trying to catch games from Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. That’s because Twitter will now be live-streaming these games to its users, and will also be debuting a new nightly show called “The Rally,” which will be produced by 120 Sports in a “distinct format designed to integrate with Twitter’s platform.” So, sports fans, now you can comment, watch, and hear commentary about all your favorite matchups, all from a single platform.
While there’s no word yet as to the timing of this latest Twitter live-stream, The Verge reports that the games will be made available on a weekly basis to users in the U.S. and “select international markets.” On the other hand, “The Rally” will be shown live every night, but will be viewable only to those in the U.S.
According to both the MLB and the NHL, the new partnership with Twitter will capitalize upon the social media platform’s wide reach and capacity to engage fans. It’s also the latest step in Twitter’s ongoing foray into the sports world. Earlier in 2016, Twitter and the National Basketball Association partnered to show exclusive 360-degree videos of games.
“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, MLB Advanced Media’s executive VP of 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 CFO Anthony Noto echoed these sentiments, noting, “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.”
