NEW YORK – Today, the National Hockey League (NHL), Twitter, and Disney Streaming Services announced a partnership which will deliver two-minute Live Look-Ins on Twitter of select NHL® games during the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers™ and Stanley Cup® Playoffs to fans in the U.S. For the first time, hockey fans will be able to utilize Twitter poll voting to select which games will feature Live Look-Ins, as part of an effort to drive awareness and viewership of NHL game broadcasts.
Starting August 1, for each subsequent week during the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers™ and the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the NHL will select two game nights per week (schedule permitting) that will feature the Live Look-Ins on Twitter. On the days leading up to the selected dates, fans will be invited to vote for the game they’d like to see featured as the Live Look-In game via the NHL’s Twitter channel (@NHL). The NHL will announce the winning match up the morning of the game. During the Stanley Cup Conference Finals, a minimum of five games will be featured as Live Look-In games, while Live Look-ins of every game of the Stanley Cup® Final will be featured until the Stanley Cup® is raised.
“NHL fans are fiercely passionate and are among the most engaged sports fans on social media,” said Heidi Browning, NHL Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer. “Everything our fans do shows us they want to have deeper connections with the League and our teams, and this exciting partnership with Twitter and Disney Streaming Services – especially during this unprecedented time of social distancing – provides the perfect platform to facilitate fan interaction and conversation, as well as drive broadcast tune-in. The 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers and Playoffs are going to be a wildly exciting and unique time for our game, and we’re thrilled to provide our fans this opportunity to demonstrate their team pride through voting for the games they want to see and to engage in conversation on social during game broadcasts.”
During the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers™ and Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Twitter will stream the first two minutes of the first period and the first two minutes of the third period of the select Live Look-In games. During Round 2, the Stanley Cup Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup® Final, Twitter will stream the first two minutes of the first period and the last two minutes of the third period of the select Live Look-In games. The Live Look-ins are designed to both drive tune-in to live game broadcasts on NBC Sports, regional sports networks and NHL Network, as well as encourage fan interaction and conversation.
In addition to live NHL action, hockey fans on Twitter will also see video highlights during each round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs plus Twitter Moments during the final two rounds, featuring top Tweets from top hockey personalities and content partners.
Finally, fans will see the return of the #StanleyCup Twitter emoji, plus unique team logo emojis for every team competing for the Cup.
“As the puck drops on the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Twitter will once again be home to an awesome mix of premium NHL content and real-time hockey conversation,” says TJ Adeshola, head of U.S. sports, Twitter. “The appetite for live sports content on Twitter is massive and as teams hit the ice in the coming weeks, you’ll feel the roar of the crowd on Twitter during each round of the NHL postseason.”
“The virtual fan experience has taken on a new meaning this year and we are excited to be partnering with Twitter and the NHL to launch these new interactive experiences for hockey fans during these unprecedented times,” said Barry Tishgart, SVP and General Manager, Hockey, Disney Streaming Services. “The games are back and the power is in the hands of the fans to vote and determine the action they want to see.”
Follow @NHL to get in on the voting, stream live game look-ins, and participate in ongoing polls.
You must be logged in to post a comment.