Writer’s Strike End a Boon for Sports Networks, Agencies
The two brands have teamed up again to stream live WNBA games on Twitter. (Image via Twitter)
Last year, the WNBA and Twitter made history signing a three-year deal that made the WNBA the first professional women’s sport to be live streamed on the platform.
This year, the league is back on the platform in year two of the deal after seeing positive feedback and results from year one.
During its inaugural season on Twitter, the WNBA averaged 613,000 unique viewers per game over the course of its 20-game schedule. That number is higher than what last year’s full five-game WNBA Finals averaged, pulling in 559,000 viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC.
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Over the course of the 20 games, each WNBA team will appear twice and both parties are hoping to see similar if not better numbers.
As part of the original agreement, the WNBA was placed in Twitter’s Amplify program, allowing the league to monetize up to 40 highlight packages a week on the platform.
As for the growth of the WNBA going forward, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sees making sure young women and girls are interested in the sport as a key to success in the future.
"I'm particularly frustrated that we've been unable to get young women and girls to attend those games." – Adam Silver on the marketing problem the WNBA is facing. pic.twitter.com/WTsMSwTc2H
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 23, 2018
As for live content on the platform, WNBA games are just part of Twitter’s strategy when it comes to streaming live sports and sports-related shows, a strategy that is going to play a more major role over the course of 2018 with the company announcing deals with everyone from Bleacher Report and Barstool Sports to ESPN and MLS.
