The International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Channel digital platform has agreed a wide-ranging partnership with Snap Inc, the parent company of social media platform Snapchat.
The multi-year deal includes content, distribution and creative tools that the IOC hopes will engage young people in Olympic sports throughout the year.
As part of the deal, Snapchat’s Discover page will feature Olympic Channel original programming. Snapchat will also produce ‘Our Stories’ that will feature archive footage provided by the Olympic Channel team in partnership with Olympic broadcasters during the upcoming winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
As of yesterday (Tuesday), fans are able to watch the worldwide premiere of the new Olympic Channel original series ‘Far From Home’ through Snapchat’s Discover page.
The multi-part series follows Olympic hopefuls whose attempts to qualify for Pyeongchang 2018 have been hit by financial, political or cultural hurdles. The first four episodes of the series will be rolled out on a daily basis exclusively for Snapchat in English and Spanish, before the full series debuts on the Olympic Channel on February 5.
In addition, the Olympic Channel and Snapchat will work on creative tools that feature Olympic-themed lenses, filters and stickers, including for Pyeongchang 2018, which runs from February 9-25.
From the opening day of the Games, Snapchat users will be able to use face lenses featuring the Olympic Channel and Pyeongchang 2018 logos, and stickers featuring the official Games mascot, Soohorang.
“As the Olympic Channel continues to evolve, we are dedicated to creating more personalised experiences for our viewers as we continue to expand our global footprint,” Mark Parkman, general manager of the Olympic Channel, said. “We’re excited to begin this new collaboration with Snapchat which will allow us to capitalise on its unique distribution platform and creative tools through bespoke, youth-oriented content that reaches our common target audiences.”
The IOC also said that the Olympic Channel and Snap will seek to work together on activations outside of the Olympic Games, as well as this year's Youth Olympic Games, which take place in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires from October 6-18.
Public-service broadcaster France Télévisions, the exclusive French rights-holder for Pyeongchang 2018, has also announced a partnership with Snapchat for the Games through which it will provide exclusive content to the platform.