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Sports Marketing Media Winter Olympics

Snapchat deepens ties with NBC as pair ink 2018 Winter Olympic Games partnership

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By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

March 30, 2017 | 3 min read

NBC is going for gold with Snapchat, extending the pair's partnership to bring coverage from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games to users in the US.

WINTER OLYMPICS SNAPCHAT

Snapchat deepens ties with NBC as pair ink 2018 Winter Olympic Games partnership

The move follows on from a $500m investment in Snap from NBC as part of the tech upstart's March IPO.

Announcing the news, NBC said the pair will partner to bring "unique" Olympic Winter coverage from South Korean host city PyeongChang next February.

Content will include daily updates Snapchat's user-generated service Our Stories as well as official Publisher Stories. Footage uploaded to Our Stories will showcase behind-the-scenes and fan moments, while content from publishers will give viewers a look at all aspects of Games and will be co-produced by a dedicated BuzzFeed team on the ground in PyeongChang.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal alleged that advertising commitments related to the deal could clock in at between $50m to $75m. However, neither Snap nor NBC have yet commented on any financial aspects of the deal.

NBC said the collaboration will allow brands to buy vertical video ads on the messaging app, but will also offer opportunities to purchase interactive Lenses and location-enabled Geofilters.

Ampere Analysis claims that 51% of Snapchat's video users are under 24; something that is likely to be a draw for advertisers looking to share their campaigns during the event.

"Snapchat is an incredibly dynamic platform, offering unique coverage opportunities that allowed us to extend the broad reach of the Olympics during the Rio Games, especially engaging young fans," said Gary Zenkel, president, NBC Olympics. “With Snapchat’s continually evolving platform, and with the expertise our partners at BuzzFeed have of creating relatable, sharable content, we are looking forward to bringing the depth and quality of this coverage to the next level for our audience and advertisers at the 2018 Winter Olympics.”

Snap's deal with NBC follows on from the duo's 2016 Summer Olympics partnership, which reached almost 35 million US users. Last year, the app claimed that 49 million viewers had tuned in to watch coverage within the first seven days of the Rio Summer Games.

While Snap has been inking deal with a number of content makers to showcase live events and produce original series its rival Facebook has been looking to emulate its core features.

After Mark Zuckerberg's firm announced a slew of camera updates earlier this week Snap Inc's shares seesawed, dipping by 1% then closing the day up 1.5%.

Sports Marketing Media Winter Olympics

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