Eurosport taps Facebook for digital Winter Olympics coverage in Europe
Eurosport has embraced Facebook to help bolster the reach of the Winter Olympics across Europe.
The Games, streamed through Eurosport on Facebook
It comes after Eurosport chief executive Peter Hutton announced he would depart the broadcaster to join the social network after the Games, which kick off in PyeongChang today (9 February).
A partnership has now been orchestrated with Facebook that will see the opening ceremony will be streamed via the social platform in Germany, Sweden and Norway. Furthermore, highlights of the Games, as ell as athlete interviews and social influencer content will be broadcast in the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Norway.
The broadcaster has been open about wanting to make PyeongChang the first fully digital games, with Hutton sharing with The Drum that he has no issues in embracing new platforms to get the content in front of the right audeince.
To deliver on this, Eurosport has erected a digital studio designed to capture the vibe at the tournament. The broadcaster has had a partnership with Snapchat in place for months now, it will help the Games reach a younger audience.
Michael Lang, president of DNI Digital and Eurosport Digital, said: “For the first time in close to 50 European countries, one digital provider will stream every minute of every Olympic Games event, starting with the Olympics ceremony this Friday from Pyeongchang. Partnering with Facebook expands our reach and promotes us and encourages audiences wanting to watch the ice hockey, snowboard and other Games events to download the Eurosport App.
“We are committed to redefining the Olympic Games experience and in addition to streaming every event LIVE and on-demand, our use of Eurosport experts, athletes, digital influencers and first-of-its-kind mobile studio will bring digital audiences closer to the Games than ever before.”
Dan Reed, Facebook head of global sports partnerships, added: “The Olympics bring communities together like few sporting events can, so we’re excited to partner with Eurosport to enable fans in Europe to watch and connect around the Olympic Winter Games on our platform. We look forward to collaborating closely with Eurosport to help it reach new audiences and optimize its Facebook strategy throughout the Games.”
Eurosport will host more than 4,000 hours of coverage and 100 events digitally.