Twitter is hoping cash in on their deal with the NFL to live stream games next season. It is being reported that Twitter is asking advertisers to pay up to $8 million for their NFL ad packages.
This fall Thursday Night Football will be streamed live @twitter so fans will see more of this. https://t.co/s6tbr9FjvY
— Roger Goodell (@nflcommish) April 5, 2016
The social media giant won the rights to cover ten Thursday Night Football games during the 2016-17 season, paying $10 million to do so. Now they are trying to make a profit from this partnership. Twitter is actively trying to sell three different levels of advertising packages for their live streams: platinum, gold, and silver.
The $8 million platinum package will include two 30-second ads per game. As well as spots during the pregame and postgame coverage. Twitter’s Amplify program, which has been a partner of the NFL since 2013, will also be included in the deal, along with Periscope coverage. The biggest potential gain for large companies will be the “category exclusivity outside of the live games,” which “will be limited to four advertisers.”
The $5 million gold package features only one 30-second ad per game. It will include all of the features that come with the platinum deal, aside from the category exclusivity. Twitter is also hoping to land six partners at this level. The $2 million silver package will be limited to their Amplify platform only.
Anheuser-Busch and Verizon are reportedly the first two companies to sign Twitter’s Thursday Night Football advertising deals. Anheuser-Busch and Verizon both already have major sponsorship deals with the NFL, and they will be platinum sponsors next season. Neither company reportedly paid the full asking price, which could prove to be a common theme.
Twitter’s Thursday Night Football deal does not give them the exclusive rights to broadcast games next season. They will simply deliver a live OTT digital stream, provided by NBC and CBS. Those same games will also be simulcast on NFL Network. This could make it harder for Twitter to secure these huge advertising deals.
Get The Latest NFL Tech News In Your Inbox!
Their asking prices are very high, especially when considering that their top two options are more expensive than a Super Bowl ad. Thursday Night Football is not as popular as the rest of the NFL schedule throughout the week, but it still pulls in big ratings.
An advertiser close to the Twitter deal views any contract as more than a sponsorship. The “real value for us is in trying to figure out more about our audience.” The NFL is by far the most popular sport in the United States, and Twitter is hoping advertisers clamor to gain as much exposure as possible.