Twitch, Amazon‘s interactive streaming platform announced a multi-year deal to show content from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Twitch is considered the largest gaming streaming platform in the world and led the audience in live broadcasts last year – on Q4, the platform reached 5.4 billion hours watched, that is, 65.8% of the total hours watched on all platforms in that period.
Now, FIBA is the first international governing body to join the service.
According to reported by FIBA in its website, FIBA will broadcast around 600 hours of live basketball games each year to its own Twitch channel as well as other unique programming formats, which are specifically developed to leverage Twitch’s unique interactive tools and features.
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The terms of the deal have not been made public but the money FIBA is receiving will be primarily used to invest in the content production process on the platform, Frank Leenders, Director General of FIBA Media and Marketing Services told Reuters.
“It is not a platform like YouTube where you just stream your games and people consume. You have to use the specificity of Twitch which means you have to invest in interactivity and co-streamers who are very important influencers on the platform,” he said.
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The live games, which will be streamed both on FIBA’s Twitch channel and on the channels of its creators’ network, will include all FIBA 3×3 competitions, the EuroLeague Women and selected youth tournaments. Additionally, highlights and delayed coverage of FIBA’s national team and other club competitions and youth tournaments will be packaged and distributed uniquely for Twitch creators and basketball communities around the world.
