FOX Sports reporter and host Rachel Bonnetta has creatively leveraged Facebook Live during a few soccer broadcasts in 2016.
Bonnetta, who joined the The Buzzer on FOX in early December, and her colleagues utilized the social media platform to bypass the traditional linear broadcast restrictions. Recently, she went ‘Live’ on her own Facebook account from the 2016 MLS Cup in Toronto, with the camera focused on her and the crowd during penalty kicks between Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders FC at BMO Field.
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The nine-minute video is close to 90,000 views as of this writing. Yet, arguably more importantly, it displayed not only the power of Facebook as a content distribution engine but also its complementary nature to the first-screen experience on traditional television. Coupled with commentary from Bonnetta, viewers saw the frigid conditions in Toronto while hearing crowd reactions after every kick.
Earlier this year, Bonnetta and FOX senior editor Ryan Rosenblatt again took advantage of Facebook Live during COPA America as Chile upset Argentina in penalty kicks. The broadcast on FOX Soccer of Bonnetta and Rosenblatt reacting to the PKs and their post-match conversation had nearly 340,000 viewers along with roughly 140 Shares and 3,700 comments.
Facebook’s Rob Shaw, Manager of Strategic Partner Development (Sports Media), recently spoke at the SVG Summit last week about Bonnetta’s use of Facebook and the social platform’s role in sports, admitting that properties and media entities are currently unable to have the same business on television and Facebook.
“That was an incredible experience,” Shaw said of the Live broadcast. “You had Rachel Bonnetta, one of the rising talents for FOX Sports, going ‘Live’ with a pre-game show and then in-game. The biggest moment of the Finals in the Copa was penalty kicks. She was going ‘Live’ and that was actually the biggest audience she had on Facebook the entire time. I assure you people weren’t just watching Rachel Bonnetta’s reaction as the first screen — I promise you that.
“It’s definitely a great way to still drive people to the broadcast on the big screen, but it’s also a key focus of ours to make this into a real business, to make this into a real alternative, to put the best content in the world on our platform. We know we have the massive audience but what we need to be able to do is support the business better. That’s something we’re going to try to do.”