AT&T will expand its long-running sponsorship of USA Swimming to include branding on a new social media platform the governing body is launching Friday. The site, called the AT&T Social Deck, consolidates user-generated content and social media conversations from across the Internet, creating a central platform for swimming fans, athletes and the AT&T brand. Both parties believe it is a particularly effective way of reaching mobile phone users, which now make up 50% of the traffic to USA Swimming’s online properties. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal does generate additional revenue for USA Swimming on top of the group's existing relationship with AT&T. “With mobile consumption growing rapidly, we are taking the flood of great social media content and presenting it in a more visual, dynamic and entertaining way,” USA Swimming CMO Matt Farrell said. The site, built by Austin-based Spredfast, repurposes Vine video clips, Twitter feeds, Instagram photos and other sources into a single coherent site. Its design and colors can be customized to match a sponsor’s brand identity, and gives USA Swimming an easy way to more frequently update its content. Spredfast has built similar sites for the NFL, ESPN, Target and Whole Foods. One feature, called a “social streamline,” will feed Twitter commentary into a live webcast of USA Swimming Championship Series events, such this week’s event in Charlotte. AT&T has been a USA Swimming sponsor since '07, with the AT&T Winter National Championships at the center of its program. Its current contract runs through '16.
