Sports represent Facebook’s main goal. The Champions League final between Juve and Real Madrid was commented on by 34 million users with 94 million interactions. This is the main reason that convinced the most important social network in the word to invest in sports. Facebook wants to stream sports not only to attract users on the platform but to trigger interactions and content sharing. This is what Andrea Secchi, a journalist for Italian Oggi, reported.
Reportedly, Zuckerberg doesn’t want to spend to much on movies. No millionaire productions such as Netflix’s but revenue sharing on advertising with producers and rights holders which is a less risky way to develop this business.
Foto Daniel Chesterton / Panoramic / Insidefoto
Facebook’s last move is clear. The social platform signed an agreement with Fox Sports to broadcast 12 matches of the upcoming Champions League in the USA, some of which are exclusive.
Fox broadcasted some games only on its online platform (Fox Sports Go) but decided to go on Facebook too to be able to attract even more viewers and thus increase its advertising revenue.
In February, Facebook announced the partnership with Univision for the broadcasting of 46 matches of the Mexican league, while in March the streaming of the Major League Soccer was announced .
All of these moves (which now only affect the American market), and others previously made, fall within the strategy that Zuckerberg has been pursuing lately: video first.
To make sure to get the most out of the users in terms of monetization and advertising Facebook must keep them as much as possible on its platform offering everything they are looking for. This is a concept valid for newspapers, information, and for videos as well.
However, it’s not just a matter of quantity. The production of long video not generated by users means that Facebook can put more advertising on them but also that the social platform can develop premium advertising formats that will make users pay more.
Facebook is ready to challenge other online platforms such as YouTube or Netflix but also the traditional TV.
