Did you know that the National Football League has more than 1.5 million online viewers across China weekly, and viewership there is reportedly on the rise? That’s the word from the NFL this week and helps to explain its announcement that it entered a strategic partnership agreement with Sina Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in China. According to a statement, in addition to the six regular season games streamed the past couple weekends, Sina Weibo will live stream in China the final Sunday Night Football game in Week 17, three playoff games, and the Super Bowl.
“We strongly believe that social media is a core platform to promote and consume domestic and international sports events. Sports + social will become a key industry driver,” Zhang Zhe, head of Sina Weibo Sports, comments.
Sina Weibo is reportedly one of the most popular sites in China with 132 million daily active users, 297 million monthly active users, and what is said to be “a market penetration similar to that of Twitter and YouTube in the United States.” The company reports that on average, 100 million messages are posted daily.
In addition to live streaming NFL games, Sina Weibo will also have rights to non-game video-on-demand clips, highlights, and other NFL video content, including Top 10 performances of the week, Top 5 runs and catches, and more.
