BT Sport hails UEFA Champions League final as “most social sports broadcast ever”
BT Sport says it is making the 2016 UEFA Champions League final the most social sports broadcast ever by live-streaming the match on YouTube and breaking new ground across social media.
The all-Spanish final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid is being shown live on BT Sport, btsport.com and the BT Sport YouTube channel, bringing the big game to fans who do not yet subscribe to BT Sport. It is the first time the ultimate game in club football has been streamed live on a social media platform. And now BT Sport is announcing world-first innovations of the final weekend across Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Vine.
For the first time, the UEFA Champions League final weekend will be covered by Snapchat Live Story, with behind the scenes footage from Milan and Madrid.
Facebook’s ‘Live’ platform will be used for interactive interviews with BT Sport pundits and former UEFA Champions League winners, Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves.
Live match action clips will be published in real-time via @btsportfootball on Twitter, with exclusive footage posted into Twitter Moments. Twitter followers will also vote on Goal of the Season and Man of the Match.
The winner of BT Sport’s pioneering #ChampionsDraw Instagram competition is today being announced as Irish illustrator, Dan Leydon, after winning a public competition on Instagram and Twitter. Leydon has now created a match poster for the final which features Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone and his Real Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zidane travelling together from Madrid to Milan for the final. The winning poster, and a selection of the other #ChampionsDraw artwork, will be on display in central Milan this week as part of UEFA’s Champions Festival.
BT Sport is also partnering with global football network Copa90 as well as leading YouTube content creator KSI to tell the story of the final in Milan across social media. Leading football photographer Amy Maidment will also join the BT Sport social team in Milan to produce exclusive images for Instagram and
Stephen Nuttall, senior director at YouTube, said: “The YouTube audience loves football and we’re thrilled by the great viewing figures for the Liverpool vs Sevilla UEFA Europa League Final. Next up in our partnership with BT Sport is Saturday’s UEFA Champions League Final; we’re looking forward to bringing the game to the widest possible audience on TV, mobile, tablets and computers.”
Ben Schwerin, director of partnerships, Snapchat, said: “We’re excited to partner with BT Sport on our first UEFA Champions league Live Story through which fans all across the UK will be able to experience what it’s like to be in Milan at one of the biggest global sporting events of the year. By capturing content from thousands of perspectives, we’ll bring them closer to the action than ever before.”
Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “This shows once again we want to give top quality sport back to the people and this season’s UEFA Champions League Final will be the most accessible on social media platforms ever. We are bringing BT Sport to a new generation of sports fans and finding many ways to keep them entertained online and on their mobile devices. Our first season of showing the UEFA Champions League will conclude with lots of exciting content in the build-up and on the night across YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.
“BT Sport has led the way when it comes to new technologies and digital platforms, including the launch of BT Sport Ultra HD, our award winning BT Sport App, and connected red button functionality. Now we want to make sure that millions more sports fans can join in, accessing content digitally, whether that’s through social media, mobile devices or digital TV.”