Twitter to live stream sport outside the US for first time with Victoria Racing Club partnership
Twitter has partnered with Victoria Racing Club (VRC) to stream the Emirates Melbourne Cup, a leading fixture in horse racing.
Victoria Racing Club
The Australian event will serve as the social network’s first live streamed event outside of the US.
On 1 November, the event will be broadcast globally for free on Twitter. Perhaps serving as a draw to new users is the fact non-logged in browsers can also watch the races.
"Twitter is where the world of sport is happening every single day, and Australian sporting events don't come more iconic than the Emirates Melbourne Cup," said Jonathan Harley, Twitter Australia's director of media partnerships.
"Live streaming the race that stops a nation with the VRC and the Seven Network, combined with the live commentary and conversation on Twitter, will create a one-screen experience at the centre of the action unlike any other."
Nick Addison, VRC executive general manager of commercial operations, said: "The Emirates Melbourne Cup is one of the hotly anticipated events on the global racing calendar.
“By leveraging the power of Twitter's enormous real-time platform for reaction, commentary, analysis, and more, this partnership will provide viewers with the opportunity to watch the Seven Network's exceptional production and interact with the action on and off the track as it happens live on smartphones, tablets and computers."
Arguably Twitter's biggest live-streaming deal to date is its acquisition of Thursday Night Football in a deal with the NFL, however reports last week claimed that advertisers are not impressed with viewer retention on those streams.