It appears to be the season for new kinds of Twitter deals. Just after their major announcement with ESPN, for the first time, Twitter will partner with a sports league to curate and editorialize tweets. Starting with NASCAR’s Pocono 400 race, which will air on TNT, Twitter will be curating #NASCAR to capture the buzz around the game.
The potential for Twitter to launch more partnerships with sports leagues is huge. We’ll be looking to see how they not only curate the tweets algorithmically and editorially — the Twitter Media team will be helping curate the hashtag — but how they visualize them and provide analytics. “This new, complementary live race experience product is an evolution of that relationship with Twitter, and we’re excited about continuing to provide our millions of fans with greater access to our athletes and further engagement with our drivers, teams, tracks and executives,” explains NASCAR’s Steve Phelps.
The social TV data companies should be paying very close attention to this as these kinds of partnerships might affect their businesses the most. Mashable pointed out that Twitter’s even hiring a new editorial role for their sports vertical.
Does this partnership have anything to do with NASCAR’s TV audience and reach? Why has Twitter decided to partner with NASCAR? We spoke with Twitter spokesperson Rachael Horwitz.
Lost Remote: How do you think this will make the broadcast of NASCAR races more social?
Rachael Horwitz: On June 10th, NASCAR fans will not only tune in to TNT to watch the Pocono 400, but they will also be able to get an insider’s view of the action as it unfolds on the track and on Twitter around the NASCAR hashtag. During the race, we’ll curate accounts from the NASCAR universe and surface the best Tweets and photos from the drivers, their families, commentators, celebrities and other fans when you search #NASCAR on Twitter.com.
LR: Why is Twitter partnering with NASCAR?
Horwitz: Partnering with NASCAR will allow us to reach the sport’s millions of fans on race weekends with relevant content on Twitter that provides a unique complementary experience to the broadcast on TNT.
LR: Did you consider that NASCAR races have powerful TV audiences when making this partnership?
Horwitz: Yes! The fact that the entire league comes together weekend to weekend, is an incredible opportunity for us to iterate and improve the experience with each race in front of the a large, passionate audience.