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How is the sporting world using Periscope nowadays?


Adrien Danjou - 6th April 2016 - 0 comments

Two months after analysing how athletes, clubs and brands are using Snapchat, it’s time to focus on another platform which is also a big trend in the world of social media, Periscope.

The live-streaming application owned by Twitter celebrated its 1st birthday just a few days ago and the results are already very impressive. Indeed, in 12 months, Periscope has racked up over 200 million broadcasts and around 100 million users who watch over 110 years of live content per day. In January, Twitter started to broadcast content from Periscope directly on tweets, an important step for the platform to increase its audience.

Over time, broadcasters on Periscope have been engaging more directly with followers, with the ability for users to interact asking questions or commenting on what they are seeing. An opportunity for the broadcaster to build a relationship with followers, during a Q&A for example, in order to find out their opinion and increase engagement.

Used more and more by the stars as well as the media, Periscope is experiencing significant growth and could be the platform to watch in the next few months. But what about how the sporting world is using this live-stream platform now?

A platform used mostly by media

As well as Twitter, Periscope is a great tool for media outlets to inform people in real-time. From radio to TV, the sports media is starting to use the platform more often and for longer, in order to give followers a behind-the-scenes peek that immerses them in the life of the company.

In the UK, Sky Sports has already used Periscope regularly, especially during Deadline Day, to get reactions from journalists or to announce the latest transfers live as a breaking news. Another example comes from France with radio channel RMC, which broadcasts the 5 last minutes of one football show every evening to immerse viewers in the studio atmosphere and allow them to freely ask questions to journalists.

In the next few months, it’s expected that sports media will use Periscope as real daily tool to give information, show what happens during a report (ie. asking questions to fans around a stadium) or to conduct interviews.

Screenshot_2016-03-31-22-56-07

 

A new place for players to talk with fans

In February, Paris Saint-Germain player Serge Aurier created a huge buzz in the sporting world after attacking some of his teammates as well as his coach Laurent Blanc on Periscope. On one friend’s broadcast, the PSG star is answering questions from viewers giving inappropriate and impudent comments about his team. After being suspended for over a month, Aurier is now back in the PSG squad. However, this scandal was an improbable promotion for the platform which received a significant number of consultations in days following the buzz.

Serge Aurier is not the only athlete to use Periscope, indeed, FC Barcelona superstar Gerard Pique is very active on the platfrom and used it to host a Q&A with fans, featuring his teammates, to talk about the last game.

Periscope is a great tool for athletes to talk with fans or to roll out marketing activations with sponsors, as Nike Basketball did unveiling the latest Kobe Bryant shoe on the platform. However, the Serge Aurier case reminds us that being close to fans on social media can be dangerous for professional players without control from clubs.

 

A platform for clubs to immerse fans

Like Snapchat, Periscope allows sports teams to immerse fans behind-the-scenes in real-time. Nowadays, not many clubs have integrated Periscope into their social strategy, however, the platform is certainly a potential wave to surf on as it corresponds to fans expectations. Indeed, a broadcast of a training session, warm-up or press conference could probably reach a large audience as social users are always hungry for more exclusive content.

Some clubs as well as sports organisations are active on the platform, live streaming images before and after a game. One of the most recent examples comes from Crystal Place, who took us to Upton Park during the 10 minutes just before kick-off against West Ham. To celebrate the Opening Day of the new baseball season, the MLB used Periscope to broadcast players’ entrances and the national anthem. These two examples show perfectly how clubs can use Periscope even very simply to effectively provide a great digital experience to fans.

mlb pericope

The threat to Facebook Live

Some weeks ago Facebook launched its own live-streaming service, now available to all users. The service is enjoying sucess with a lot of views and broadcasts as a result of the massive audience on Facebook. In the last few weeks, a collection of clubs and sports organisations have used Facebook Live including England Rugby (90-second chat with coach Eddie Jones), French National Football Team (warm-up from the stadium) and Denver Broncos (Peyton Manning’s retirement announcement).

Facebook Live is definitely a better place than Pericope for sports organisations to reach a big audience, moreover, videos live-streamed can still be watched after broadcasting. On Periscope, the content can only be viewed for 24 hours. However, Twitter’s latest updates to boost its platform as well as acquiring the NFL streaming rights should aid Periscope’s development.

Échauffement des Bleus avant #FRARUS !

Posted by Équipe de France de Football on Tuesday, 29 March 2016

In any case, live-streaming can be the face of the sporting world on social media in the future, as social platforms are aiming to provide live sports content to social users, who want always more real-time and exclusive content.

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Adrien Danjou

Adrien is a French social media intern at Snack Media, and is a regular contributor to the blog. Follow him on Twitter: @Adrien_DH

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