NBA teams with Twitter for streaming, but no games

NEW YORK - Agence France-Presse

AFP photo

Twitter and the National Basketball Association announced a deal on July 19 to stream live content, but not games, to users of the social media platform.

The deal will deliver a weekly NBA pregame show with "first-of-its-kind elements created specifically for integration with Twitter conversation," according to a joint statement.
 
"The weekly pregame show will be featured exclusively on Twitter for logged-in and logged-out users. Ahead of the 2016-17 season, the NBA will announce an additional to-be-determined show that will also stream exclusively on Twitter."  

The deal adds to the live sports content on Twitter as it seeks to expand its audience beyond a core base of celebrities, politicians and journalists.
 
"We're excited about bringing live content to Twitter, which has proven to be an ideal destination for real-time sports conversations," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.
 
"We've seen technology bring fans closer to our game, teams and players in ways we could have only imagined a decade ago. This expanded partnership will help feed our fans' growing demand for the NBA by more deeply integrating the league across Twitter's many platforms."  

Twitter chief Jack Dorsey added in the statement that "the league has been at the forefront of embracing new ways to reach their fans" and that "we're happy to bring even more great NBA content to our global audience."  

The partnership includes an extension of the NBA and Twitter's Amplify program, which allows advertisers to deliver marketing pitches alongside Twitter content.
 
The deal calls for more NBA content to be made available on Vine, the looping video feature of Twitter, and Periscope, which offers live streaming.
 
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
Earlier this year Twitter struck a deal with the National Football League to stream Thursday night American football games, and also streamed content from the Wimbledon tennis tournament.