Tyler “Ninja” Blevins reacts after a game win in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 during the Doritos Bowl 2018 at TwitchCon 2018 in the San Jose Convention Center on Oct. 27, 2018. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)
Gaming celebrity Tyler “Ninja” Blevins will co-stream tonight’s Thursday Night Football matchup on Twitch between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers. Ninja’s 12 million Twitch followers—a record number for the platform—can join his live stream tonight to watch TNF and listen to his broadcast commentary.
Twitch personalities Jericho, TimTheTatman, and GoldGlove will also co-stream and commentate tonight’s game to their own Twitch communities according to a news release from Amazon. Ninja’s co-streaming debut comes in time for the 11th and final TNF game that will stream for free on Twitch in 2018.
“Playing video games is just one of my passions. I’m also a lifelong NFL fan, which runs in my family,” said Ninja in the news release. “It’s cool to be able to co-stream and commentate a Thursday Night Football game for my Twitch community and connect with them over other interests like this.”
In addition to supporting co-streaming, Twitch has integrated several other interactive video features to its Thursday Night Football streaming experience. Digital overlay extensions enable viewers to see stats such as NFL standings and Team Stat Pages without interrupting the game video, and fans can virtually cheer during broadcasts through unique emotes native to Twitch.
Ninja, a Detroit native, has said before that he is a Detroit Lions fan. His Fortnite Twitch streams have previously been joined by celebrities such as Drake, Ellen, and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster. This past September, Ninja became the first competitive gamer to be featured on the cover of ESPN the Magazine.
SportTechie Takeaway
Former NFL tight end and television personality Shannon Sharpe co-streamed Thursday Night Football games on Twitch earlier this season. By allowing Ninja to commentate an NFL game through his Twitch channel, the Amazon-owned social streaming service may help the NFL reach a young and diverse audience. The league has previously shown an interest in reaching Fortnite gamers by partnering with Epic Games to bring NFL uniforms to the video game.
