NFL keen to enhance Twitter Amplify partnership

American football league the NFL is in talks to expand the video content provided through its partnership with the Amplify platform of social networking website Twitter.

Following a deal struck in September 2013, the NFL was among the early partners on Twitter Amplify, showing extra footage on certain game days, after games and during the off-season.

NFL Digital vice-president Vishal Shah said the league is in negotiations to broaden its presence and expand exclusive material through more video, photos and audio.

“The NFL is the highest performing Amplify partner on Twitter,” Shah told the Adweek.com website. “Reaching that type of scale on a consistent basis is typically unavailable outside of television.”

Shah said the NFL’s videos were clicked on 4.5 times more than the average Amplify partner’s messages. Up to 30 million consumers interact with the NFL via Twitter, with videos commanding a five per cent view rate, rising in the off-season to the high single-digits, he added.

NFL contracts with other distribution partners only allowed for sharing in-game highlights from Thursday night games on Twitter last season. However, Shah believes the NFL may be able to show Sunday coverage close to real time during the upcoming 2014 season.

“Going into 2014, we have a lot more rights flexibility, where near-live content really becomes the NFL’s to distribute independent of the game window,” Shah said.

Adweek added that the NFL commands the most advertising money of any Twitter Amplify partner, pulling in more than $10m (€7.3m) in extra revenue. Twitter and the NFL divide the revenue, but the league declined to say what the split was.