SportsCastr, the social live-streaming platform that has backing from former NBA Commissioner David Stern and the NFL Players Association, has announced its first foray into MMA with an exclusive Muay Thai streaming deal.
The company, which allows anyone to provide color commentary on live events and earn blockchain-backed rewards for participation, will begin exclusively streaming the North American Muay Thai League, Friday Night Fights, beginning Sept. 14.
As part of the deal, the companies will deliver free and pay-per-view Friday Night Fights globally, enabling MMA fans to access or provide live color commentary on fights through SportsCastr.
“Friday Night Fights is the longest running full-contact sports event series in the region,” said Friday Night Fights CEO Justin Blair, in a statement. “By partnering with SportsCastr, we’re able to deliver a new and innovative viewing experience to our fans that can’t be found anywhere else.”
To kickoff the partnership, SportsCastr will provide an exclusive stream of the first half of the Sept. 14 fight, with the second half becoming available on UFC Fight Pass. Fans who tune in will be able to customize the commentary they choose to hear during the fight and post reactions in real time.
“Fight commentary is currently homogenized and domestically focused,” said Kevin April, SportsCastr CEO. “SportsCastr makes it possible for viewers to personalize their experience to receive commentary from other fans, fighters and analysts; regardless of language, gender, location or vantage point.”
SportsCastr has received backing from a number of noteworthy investors and partners in recent months. After announcing its sports industry-focused streaming cryptocurrency, FanChain, the streaming service started rewarding people for their participation in its ecosystem. Users who rack up tokens can use them to get real-life discounts and perks, such as discounts to pay-per-view Friday Night Fights content.
The company is working with teams and leagues to make FanChain the ubiquitous currency of the sports industry so that additional perks outside of the app can be redeemed with the cryptocurrency over time.
This summer, the NFLPA acquired a minority stake in SportsCastr, making the streaming platform an officially-licensed NFLPA platform with promises to incentivize current and former NFL players to add color commentary to games. It struck a similar partnership with the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA) last week.
SportTechie Takeaway
SportsCastr differentiates itself from other streaming services by letting anyone post their live reactions and commentary on games. In that sense, it’s more like Twitch than a traditional streaming platform. That said, the launch of exclusive MMA content on SportsCastr comes as interest in MMA has increased. Perform Group DAZN just launched in the U.S. with a slate of MMA content through its partnerships with Matchroom and Bellator. Both DAZN and SportsCastr are betting on the rocketing popularity of MMA in the U.S. and are hoping to leverage their platforms to bring content that has long been restricted to pricey paywalls to the masses.