Twitter is in talks with the NBA, MLS and Turner Sports "about acquiring digital streaming rights for content related to live sports and events," according to sources cited by Kurt Wagner of RE/CODE. That could "include things like actual game footage similar to the deal Twitter struck with the NFL" to stream some of its "TNF" games this fall. Or it could be "fringe content, pre- or post-game material similar to the live interviews and analysis Twitter streamed around Wimbledon earlier this week." Twitter is talking to Turner because it "already locked up sports rights from a number of sources," including the NBA, MLB and the NCAA tournament. Turner also has its ELeague, which "could make sense for a platform like Twitter." The idea is that Twitter "wants to be the digital streaming arm for any and all live events, particularly around sports and entertainment." But Twitter is "missing a key component that makes distributing this content via traditional cable packages so profitable: Subscription fees." The other "challenge for Twitter will be convincing existing rights holders that handing over streaming rights can actually benefit their existing TV offers." Twitter paid the NFL $10M "for the right to stream" 10 "TNF" games this fall (RECODE.net, 7/8).
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: VARIETY's Todd Spangler wrote if Twitter's Wimbledon stream is "any indication, it has miles to go before it adds innovation to the sports-watching experience." The "glaring shortcoming is that live video coupled with a stream of unfiltered Wimbledon-related tweets simply doesn’t add up to more than the sum of its parts." It is an "annoying, confusing muddle of random chatter." Spangler: "It’s like you’re sitting in the world’s biggest sports bar, with random strangers blustering or snarking in your ear" (VARIETY.com, 7/7).
