NASCAR and Twitter have announced an expansion of the live in-car streaming broadcast that debuted during last fall’s 10 Monster Energy Cup Series playoff races. For the 2018 season, one ride-along camera will stream on the social media site for five regular season races — beginning July 7 with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway — as well as all 10 playoff races for the second year in a row.
Four of the 10 drivers to carry the point-of-view camera last year ultimately won that race — Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. Alongside the live stream, Twitter will curate a timeline of race conversation, following suit with its stated value proposition.
Twitter will live-stream the @NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs from in-car cameras. #NASCARPlayoffs
https://t.co/955verXbHu pic.twitter.com/aDxcedMBYG
— SportTechie (@SportTechie) October 19, 2017
“We are thrilled that NASCAR will make its in-car cameras available on Twitter in 2018,” Laura Froelich, Twitter’s global head of sports partnerships, said. “NASCAR fans will once again be able to access these unique in-car cameras at the same speed as the real-time conversation — all in one place on Twitter.”
NASCAR will continue to carry in-car camera angles on its NASCAR Drive and Mobile apps in addition to the selected Twitter stream.
“We’ve created an experience that brings Twitter users inside the cars at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour,” NASCAR chief marketing officer Jill Gregory said in a statement. “The live stream is yet another window into our sport that captures all the drama and intensity of NASCAR racing – now available to fans for even more races in 2018.”
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SportTechie Takeaway:
Twitter recently announced a three-year agreement to stream MLS soccer matches, showing that the social media site is interested in showcasing all forms of live sports content — both full-form game broadcasts and companion feeds such as the in-car stream. The new soccer deal, in which Twitter replaced Facebook as the carrier, and this auto-racing renewal suggest that fan traffic and advertiser sponsorship is worthwhile in both formats of streaming.