NFL announced as the first sports partner for Snapchat's Stories Explorer feature
The NFL has deepend its ties to Snapchat by becoming the first sports partner to sign up to new feature Story Explorer, which will promote user generated videos to give a unique perspective on the action.
Building on Stories - user generated videos from a particular location or event - Snapchat Stories Explorer adds the option to swipe upward and see more videos from the same event. The mixture of fan-shot footage and official NFL footage will be curated by Snapchat's custom technology and offer a number of different vantage points on the action.
The agreement builds on the partnership created in September to co-produce a weekly Live Story, such as a video featuring unique highlights of a Monday night match.
With Stories already generating between 10-20 million views during particular NFL events, the latest feature is likely to further incentivise advertisers, meaning more brands could join the likes of Bud Light, Gillette and Ford in advertising on the social media platform.
The massive popularity of the NFL and tendency of fans to share clips will help spur the take-up of the new feature.
Ben Schwerin, Snapchat’s director of partnerships said Explorer will allow fans to “see the biggest plays from different perspectives throughout the stadium, from sidelines to the stands".
Snapchat has made a number of partnerships with various sports teams in recent months including Real Madrid which agreed to become the social media app’s first individual sports team with its own account and an ‘official live story’ documenting the team’s upcoming matches.