SBJ: Leagues embrace Twitter, with eye on future revenue

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http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/.../21/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Twitter.aspx
Twitter execs selling the leagues on the idea that getting more tweets translates directly to getting higher ratings.

The NHL's Collins adds his two cents. Interesting read on how to monetize the social media/networking phenomenon:

“For us right now, it’s about managing the conversation and creating the national conversation around hockey so fans can better understand what’s going on around the league,†said John Collins, the NHL’s chief operating officer. “Just because there’s not real revenue today doesn’t mean that we don’t think there will be.â€

It’s clear that executives in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters are bullish about using sports to grow their business. The popularity of sports is why the company signed a large-scale deal last month with the NFL worth an undisclosed, low-eight-figure sum. The deal embeds football highlights, fantasy content and other material into the microblogging site and allows the league to partner on Twitter’s new Amplify advertising platform. Existing league sponsors Verizon and McDonald’s have signed on as advertisers in the venture.
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More similar Twitter-league partnerships are expected to soon arrive. The NHL is talking to the company about developing further ways to push national conversation around hockey, which traditionally has been very regional in its fandom. More specifically, the league and corporate partner Coors are working on social media executions for the coming debut of the Coors Light Stadium Series of outdoor games.

“Our partners and sponsors are looking for a social media play that can help drive a conversation around those platforms,†said the NHL’s Collins. “Sometimes they look to us for that and we can provide it. Sometimes they want to provide it and use their own resources to drve a specific program they have.â€

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A related story from SBJ about the NFL's deal with Twitter rankling TV execs, and just how powerful the NFL is in that they can dictate whether the broadcasters can even use the twitter symbol during broadcasts (form of advertising).

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...eagues-and-Governing-Bodies/Twitter-side.aspx


They, in essence, preclude the networks from using twitter and carve that out for themselves. Kind of smart actually, they know the value of digital media rights and the platform variants to monetize those rights.