Twitter and ESPN Team Up for NBA Finals

Ready for the NBA Finals?

Advertisers who buy into the integrated packages will have access to Twitter’s promoted tweets and trends along with ESPN’s full slate of ad products around the event. “Working together, ESPN and Twitter are giving marketers a clear and powerful way to link on-air and online social conversations around sports,” said Joel Lunenfeld, Twitter’s Vice President of Global Brand Strategy. “It’s the first time advertisers can engage the audience around ESPN’s premier content across screens and where the conversation is happening on Twitter.”

Sports fans are vocal. When Tim Tebow “shattered the mold” by throwing an overtime, game-winning touchdown against the Steelers, fans sent out a record 9,000 tweets per second commenting on the action. When you can’t cheer on your team at the stadium, the next best thing is to root for them in social media on the Internet. Broadcasters are already linking social media and live events. Fox sports places twitter handles and hashtags on the screen in an effort to get fans to participate socially. And while not the most traditional sport, pro wrestling has expertly expanded its pyrotechnic soap opera into the social media sphere.