Turner Sports and Snapchat signed a multi-year deal last week right before the 2016 NCAA March Madness Tournament kicks off. The deal features Snapchat creating their Live Story for games and events that Turner Sports covers, and as they do with most of their contracts, the social media giant will split all advertising revenue with Turner Sports.
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For the last six years every game of the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament has been covered live by Turner and its television affiliates which include TNT, and CBS, to name a few. The 2015 tournament had its highest average television ratings in 22 years. Turner is leveraging their more expansive coverage and recent success by adding a partner who has locked into a vital demographic, the youth market.
The Live Story coverage will allow fans to post videos and photos with Snapchat’s mobile app using branded NCAA March Madness logos and filters. Their entries will then be filtered and added to employees’ content, for behind the scenes footage of the events. This content is all then curated by Snapchat to create a Live Story. The hope is that the Live Story will help supplement the television product and generate greater fan engagement, with a focus on the sports fan.
“There is nothing more powerful on social than a passionate sports fan.” said Seth Ladetsky, senior vice president, Turner Sports Ad Sales. “While providing fans the tools to enhance their shared experiences, we are also creating an opportunity for advertisers to showcase their brand in an organic environment rich with engagement and interaction.”
There will be a total of 14 Live Stories over the nearly three-week event, of which a large majority of the games will take place on back-to-back weeks, Thursday through Sunday. The Final Four Games are on Saturday April 2nd and the Championship Game is on Monday April 4th; for the first time ever the final will be broadcast on cable television. The NCAA Tournament, with its 68 teams and 67 games packed into a relatively short window creates an environment that encourages fan interaction and involvement from all over the country.
However, March Madness is just the first big event in this deal between Turner Sports and Snapchat. The deal over the next few years will include their coverage of the PGA Tour, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, boxing, and many more.
As we have covered here recently, Snapchat is making waves in the world of sports and they have secured many deals in recent years. Two of the biggest were with the NFL for Super Bowl 50 this past February, and their brand new partnership with MLB.
Turner and Snapchat’s partnership, starting with The NCAA March Madness Tournament, could prove to be very successful for both sides. It combines two of the most profitable commodities in terms of generating advertising revenue at the moment: live sporting events on television, and their accompanying social media audience communities.