Facebook is pushing further into the live sports rights business, signing a one-year deal to carry every World Surf League event on Facebook Live this year. Execs would not discuss specific deal terms, including financials. A formal announcement is expected later this afternoon. The WSL deal comes three weeks after Facebook agreed to carry 46 Liga MX games on Facebook Live and four months after it agreed to carry NBA D-League games. Sources said Facebook has talked with NFL execs about the “TNF” streaming package that is available, but it is still too early in the negotiating process to determine if such a deal is likely. Regardless of whether it gets the NFL package or not, deals with WSL and Liga MX show that Facebook is interested in picking up live sports content. “We feel Facebook is a natural home for sports content, including live games,” said Facebook Head of Global Sports Partnerships Dan Reed. “Early experiments with these events on Facebook have delivered great results for fans, broadcasters and rights holders.” As part of the WSL deal, the league will make its '17 Champions Tour men’s and women’s events and Big Wave Tour events available live on its Facebook page. All told, Facebook plans to livestream 800 hours of WSL coverage this year, starting next week with the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast from Australia. The events also will be available via WSL.com and the WSL app. Some local TV stations also will pick up rights to certain events.
TAKING THE NEXT STEPS: WSL describes itself as a “digital first” league and has brought in relatively big viewer numbers through deals with YouTube, for example. It also has experimented with Facebook Live before, though this is the first time it has made its entire season available on the platform. WSL execs said the unpredictable nature of surfing competitions, which start when waves get big enough, is best suited for a company like Facebook, which can alert fans as soon as a competition is starting. WSL execs also liked Facebook Live’s global reach, the popularity of its mobile apps and the potential to better interact with fans through polls and comments. “The deal with Facebook is another way to push out our content,” said WSL Chief Community Officer Tim Greenberg. “We’ll use Facebook’s scale to bring our content to a new audience.” Greenberg said the average WSL fan is 32 years old, which fits with the younger demos that use Facebook.
