Before winning gold at Rio 2016, the USA men's and women's basketball teams played exhibition games in preparation, games that streamed live on Facebook.
From July 22 to Aug. 1, Facebook streamed five men's and four women's games against international challengers. The games were live-streamed on the NBA and the USA Basketball Facebook pages, as well as the NBA TV site. Although that last option required authentication, the two Facebook pages were open to all.
Although partnering by social platforms and sports is still in the experimental phase, the goal is to create new options for fans to watch their favorite teams. As ReCode reported, the nine exhibition games attracted 7 million views (a view being a viewing session of at least three seconds). Of the nine games, the top draw was the men's match against China on July 24.
Facebook has made video a central focus and welcomes the experimentation taking place with sports broadcasters.
Our mission is to connect fans to the content they love most, says Devi Mahadevia, head of global sports league partnerships, Facebook. With 650 million sports fans on Facebook globally, we are excited to uncover more innovative ways to provide fans with a unique, immersive, and engaging experience. Sports partners globally - leagues, teams, media, athletes - continue to test various formats of live content on our platform - from interviews and Q&As to behind-the-scenes on game days to live games - to drive new areas of growth, fan reach, and engagement.
To watch the live games, Facebook members needed to be a fan of the NBA or USA Basketball. Then the videos appeared automatically in their newsfeeds. It's a simpler interface than hunting down a stream on Twitter. Although Mahadevia can't say exactly what lessons the basketball live streams taught the video team at Facebook, she notes, We are constantly learning from all of our partners, from sports to entertainment to news, around how people interact with live content and assessing product changes to create the best experience.
Facebook has paid deals in place with some publishers and content owners, but the exhibition basketball games weren't a paid arrangement. Verizon was the presenting sponsor, and the payment went to the NBA, not Facebook. The NBA and NBA TV produced the games and all related branded-content integration, then delivered the feed to Facebook using the Live API. The NBA handled the ads during the events, as well as third-party branding elements. Hosts mentioned that Verizon would supply content in the commercial breaks, and the NBA included branding in all segments with preproduced video or in-arena streams.
The NBA used Livestream software for some of the events and Tricaster for others, but Facebook didn't work with any outside vendors on these videos.
A big part of succeeding on social platforms is using their toolsets to create a unique experience for the viewer. A Facebook stream needs to feel distinctly like a Facebook stream.
Facebook Live has interactive elements built into the product, such as Live Reactions and inviting friends to watch the Live. These features are available for all live videos on the platform, Mahadevia explains. Live Reactions makes it easy for your viewers to express their feelings in real time during a live broadcast. Using the same reactions, we launched in News Feed; viewers can select Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, or Angry; and the reactions animate right on top of the video. Live Reactions disappear quickly so broadcasters and other viewers can get a sense of how people are feeling at different points during the live video. It's like hearing the crowd applaud and cheer. When your friend reacts to your video or to a video you are both watching together, you'll see their profile pic and a little starburst before their reaction appears.
The big question for the Facebook team going into these games was, do people want to watch long, live sports events on its platform? The results put a smile on their faces.
Initial results indicated that fans are interested in engaging with longer-form sports content on our platform and that we can help support viewership globally, Mahadevia explains. We will continue to explore these kinds of experiences and help partners develop innovative content strategies on Facebook to drive more fan reach and engagement.
That's good news for sports fans, because it means more live games coming to the social network - hopefully, with no authentication required.
Says Mahadevia, We will continue to test various forms of live sports content on Facebook with our partners.
North America Stories
25/04/2024
Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford during a press conference at the 1996 ...
25/04/2024
alt= class=wp-image-12361 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-booth-2024-960x540-1.jpg/> Set against a vibrant backdrop of innovation and collaboratio...
25/04/2024
alt= class=wp-image-12356 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-mod-win-960x540-1.jpg/>NAB's Eric Trabb (right) awards SNS with two NAB Show Product...
25/04/2024
PHILADELPHIA Comcast beat earnings estimates in its Q1 2024 financial report, as streaming losses continued to decline and Peacock's paid subscribers spiked...
25/04/2024
SEATTLE The Seattle Kraken have inked new multi-year agreements with Tegna and Prime Video that will expand access to their games over broadcast stations and st...
25/04/2024
Cintel Scanner G3 HDR Restores Egypt's Cinema Treasures to Their Former Glo...
25/04/2024
Sinclair Broadcast Group said it named Kevin Coskren chief meteorologist at KTUL, its ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma....
25/04/2024
The Business of TV News, a new one-day event featuring Martha Raddatz, Shannon Bream, Glenn Kirschner and other major figures in television news, happens at Hot...
25/04/2024
Conditions put on the proposed sale of WADL Detroit, to Mission Broadcasting have created a potential drama in the Motor City....
25/04/2024
TelevisaUnivision reported a $52 million loss in the first quarter, up from $3 m...
25/04/2024
Comcast reported flat first-quarter earnings as it reduced the red ink at Peacock but continued to lose video and broadband customers....
25/04/2024
Music-video network Vevo said it launched its app on Telly, the company offering consumers free dual-screen TVs in return for data about what they're watchi...
25/04/2024
Future Today said it has introduced a redesigned user interface for about half of its 300 streaming apps, including Fawesome, HappyKids and iFood.TV....
25/04/2024
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
25/04/2024
Lightware Visual Engineering, a leading manufacturer of connectivity solutions for the professional integrated systems market and a pioneer in signal management...
25/04/2024
Net Insight has entered into a collaboration with DMC Production that positions Net Insight at the forefront of sports broadcasting in the Nordics. Net Insight ...
25/04/2024
GlobalM has announced a strategic partnership with scoopa, the specialists in broadcast-quality content distribution, offering a complementary service for live ...
25/04/2024
PlayBox Neo announces the completion of a new multichannel playout system for the DDish direct-to-home satellite television network in Mongolia. Based in the na...
25/04/2024
Canadian music producer and engineer Garth Richardson also known as Gggarth due to his stutter - has embraced immersive audio by installing a PMC monitoring s...
25/04/2024
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Televisa, the Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company, has chosen Synamedia as its pa...
25/04/2024
OTTera, a leading provider of end-to-end OTT and FAST channel solutions, proudly announces its strategic partnership with ThinkAnalytics, a global leader in adv...
25/04/2024
The American Tobacco Campus will be hopping with activity tonight and this weekend with two fun events!
Durham Night Market
At last! The Durham Night Market i...
25/04/2024
WEST CHESTER, Pa. Video commerce provider Qurate Retail Group has launched The Big Dish, a new culinary-themed FAST channel on The Roku Channel....
25/04/2024
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association has announced that submissions for the 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards are now being accepted. This re...
25/04/2024
NEW YORK The digital media measurement and analytics firm DoubleVerify has announced that it has received Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for Video Vie...
25/04/2024
SAN FRANCISCO Fox Corp.'s ad-supported streaming service Tubi has announced a licensing agreement with the sports platform DAZN that will see DAZN Ringside ...
25/04/2024
NEW YORK In the runup to the 2024 IAB NewFronts, the IAB has announced three key appointments to its leadership team....
25/04/2024
Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam f...
25/04/2024
Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux
Andy Marken April 24, 2024
0 Comments
My empathy is creeping towards what I would de...
25/04/2024
The Carolina Panthers and Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) announced they have...
25/04/2024
Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist The accomplished saxophonist secured a spot among the elite winners of this year's ...
25/04/2024
Stations everywhere take pride in having a main anchor who comes from the market they represent. That applies in St. Louis, too, but it also pertains to general...
25/04/2024
Edward Moody is joining the WBTW Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, anchor crew, and will anchor the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts alongside Trish Williford. He comes f...
25/04/2024
MTV said the 2024 Video Music Awards will return to New York and take place at the new UBS Arena....
25/04/2024
Season three of comedy The Outlaws premieres on Prime Video May 31. Stephen Merchant co-created the show, and stars. There are five episodes....
25/04/2024
The E.W. Scripps Co. is evaluating offers for Bounce, its multicast channel for African-American viewers, according to a report from CNBC....
25/04/2024
Paramount Plus has ordered a second season for Dora, the animated preschool show based on Dora the Explorer. The show, featuring Dora on a rainforest adventure ...
25/04/2024
April 25th, 2024 Press Materials Available Here
TRIBECA FESTIVAL 2024 ANNOUNCES AUDIO STORYTELLING AND GAMES LINEUP
Audio Storytelling Program Features 10th ...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Verizon Expands Broadband Capacity To Handle the Spike in Demand Mobile cells will help accommodate first responders, social media, sports betti...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Media Teams With The Fantasy Footballers on Hybrid, REMI Pro...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presenta...
25/04/2024
Back to All News
Let the Pleasure Begin: Doctor Climax' and Its Steamy Q&A...
25/04/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Joins The Thursday Murder Club
Entertainment
25 April 2024
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Writer, Director: Chris Columbus
Prod...
25/04/2024
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
25/04/2024
Support for Battle.net on GeForce NOW expands this GFN Thursday, as titles from the iconic StarCraft and Diablo series come to the cloud.
StarCraft Remastered,...
24/04/2024
ATLANTA Mundo Hispano Digital has launched a new advertising product, MundoNow Connect, that is designed to help advertisers reach Hispanic audiences on connect...
24/04/2024
Epic Games has released a major new version of Unreal Engine, which has become a mainstay in virtual production, that includes new features and improvements to ...
24/04/2024
The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed the industry to its annual extravaganza last month in Las Vegas. The sights and sounds were similar to previou...
24/04/2024
NEW YORK Chptr and Gray Television have announced that they are introducing a new video solution for funeral homes and communities that will allow funeral direc...
Before winning gold at Rio 2016, the USA men's and women's basketball teams played exhibition games in preparation, games that streamed live on Facebook.
