One of the biggest stories in the sports industry this summer has been Twitter’s focused push into live streaming sports content. The social networking site has made a flurry of moves to lock up streaming rights to a number of sports across the athletic world.
Included in those new streaming deals will be over 300 live college events from the Mountain West Conference, Patriot League and West Coast Conference, that were part of a deal with Campus Insiders, a college sports all-digital platform.
Craig Thompson, Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, was kind enough to share some insights and thoughts on how this deal will impact the conference, its fans and overall content offerings.
How will streaming games across the major sports in your conference change how your digital team engages fans during games?
Craig Thompson: While we have been in the streaming business now for three years, this exciting new opportunity to partner with one of the pre-eminent platforms in the world allows us to exponentially broaden the reach of the Mountain West and engage an entirely new cross-section of fans.
In comparison to the traditional TV experience, what can fans expect from this new experience of streaming Mountain West games on Twitter?
CT: As you know, live sports and social media are a perfect marriage of passionate fans and the way they like to interact. In addition to being able to follow their favorite team, fans will now be able to simultaneously connect with their friends and rivals in what is the equivalent of a virtual sports bar.
How might this opportunity to stream so many Mountain West sports help grow the conference?
CT: As the only NCAA Division I football conference that will be live streaming football games on Twitter this fall, the Mountain West is again positioned as an innovator, joining the NFL in the live football space. This creates innumerable benefits toward growing the MW brand and elevating the Conference’s profile. Add to that a full palette of high-quality men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball, baseball and Olympic sports content (which is even more important in this Olympic year), and the increase in the Mountain West’s reach is significant.
Another area we would like to explore will be coverage of our league championship events. The Mountain West prides itself on providing the best possible championship experience for its student-athletes and our streaming coverage of those events has been very well-received. Extending that distribution via Twitter could bolster this important initiative.
What new advertising opportunities are now available for the Mountain West Conference?
CT: We are working closely as we speak with our partners at Campus Insiders and Twitter to develop the most effective model going forward.
How will this new viewing option be promoted to Mountain West fans?
CT: We have been working over the past several months to establish a focused structure which includes a Digital Manager at each member institution, as well as a point person in the Conference office, through which a strategic approach can be efficiently executed across all of our footprints and platforms. With this system, we can connect various cross sections of fans (e.g., current students, alumni, boosters, recruits) to our offerings through integration of our multiple platforms.
From a broadcasting technology perspective, what is the implementation process like for the Mountain West to set up streaming of so many games across so many sports?
CT: Due to the infrastructure which has been established on each campus and in the Conference office during the three-year evolution of the Mountain West Network on Campus Insiders, we are well-positioned to execute the production and streaming of multiple events to a variety of distribution platforms. The next step will be to strategically elevate the production values of selected events to optimize the viewer experience on Twitter. We are working now with our institutions on further infrastructure improvements. The Campus Insiders-selected football and men’s basketball games already offer this enhanced production, as did the inaugural NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl which was carried in the digital space by Campus Insiders. We’ll certainly explore with Twitter the opportunity for Arizona Bowl distribution this December.
How has fan reaction been so far to this news that games will be available to watch on Twitter?
CT: The response has been very positive, as evidenced by the nearly 8 million followers who have been reached by the original announcement. The Mountain West has made a conscious commitment to the social media space to engage with our constituents and the ability to enhance that relationship via this Twitter partnership has resonated with our audiences.