ESPN Digital Media
STYLE POINTS:
ESPN has an enormous digital footprint, evidenced by the more than 112 million uniques that spent 7.9 billion minutes on the platform last year. ESPN Digital also continued its international expansion, launching in China through a collaboration with Tencent.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Facebook
STYLE POINTS:
It hasn’t stepped up for the biggest sports rights yet, but Facebook is experimenting through deals for Liga MX and the NBA D-League. Plus, Facebook Live’s platform provides huge reach for media companies like NBC, which used it during the Rio Games.
Photo by: MLBAM
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MLB Advanced Media
STYLE POINTS:
The streaming numbers are as gaudy as they’ve always been for MLBAM, evidenced by an MLB postseason that saw a record 1.1 billion minutes consumed during 110.5 million unique sessions. Disney’s $1 billion investment for a 33 percent stake in BAMTech shows how big the company has become in sports media.
Photo by: NFL
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National Football League
STYLE POINTS:
Not only was the NFL’s Twitter deal — $10 million for the nonexclusive streaming rights to 10 “Thursday Night Football” games — unprecedented, but the NFL also became the first league to start a channel on Snapchat and posted tremendous viewership growth for live games via mobile.
Photo by: NBC SPORTS GROUP
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NBC Sports Group
STYLE POINTS:
NBC’s digital performance during the Rio Games was astounding. The Games’ 10,000 events streamed were the most in history. The network also set records for total minutes (3.5 billion), live minutes (2.71 billion) and unique users (100 million).
Twitter
STYLE POINTS:
By most measures, Twitter’s streams of NFL “Thursday Night Football” games were a success. They were easy to use and brought in a younger, more international audience. Twitter has secured streaming deals with the major sports leagues (NBA, MLB, NHL) and promises to remain involved in the sports business for years to come.
