Twitter Strikes Deal With NFL For Live Show & Other Content

Despite failing to win NFL games streaming rights this year, Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) will offer its users streaming of official NFL video and other exclusive content from the games. Notably, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has won the streaming rights this year.

Twitter recently announced a “multilayer” deal with NFL “to deliver uniquely packaged official NFL video and other types of content to fans around the world daily, year-round.”

The exclusive content that will be available on Twitter includes live show, live pre-game coverage and video clips. The 30-minute live show will be streamed five days a week and include pre-game updates, highlights, storylines and other exclusive content.

Notably, this deal is expected to increase traffic on Twitter during the NFL season, given the huge fan following of the game.

Moreover, Twitter is expected to gain from advertising revenues that will be generated during the broadcast of official NFL content

Twitter is trying to bring more video content to attract ad dollars. Ad revenues contribute the lion’s share of its total revenue. It intends to capture the opportunity presented by ever increasing video viewing on social media platforms.

The company has been signing live streaming deals with several companies. Last year, Twitter signed live streaming deals with Bloomberg, PBS NewsHour and BuzzFeed as well as sports organizations like NBA, MLB and NFL. Not just Twitter, given the ad revenue potential, all social media companies right from Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) to Snapchat are pumping huge resources to increase live video viewing on their platform.

We note that Twitter has outperformed the Zacks Internet Software industry in the last one-year. While the stock returned 30.3%, the industry gained 24.1%.

The upside can be attributed to increasing mobile users and its strategic acquisitions. Moreover, the recent spate of live streaming deals also looks promising.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Currently Twitter carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the broader technology space include AppFolio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) and Paylocity Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:PCTY) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Notably, long-term growth rates of AppFolio and Paylocity are 30% and 36.25%, respectively.

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