Facebook has reached an agreement with the Major League Baseball (MLB) to live stream 20 games this year. The MLB will broadcast games on Facebook every Friday, which will be scheduled to begin on May 19, 2017, between the Coronado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds at 7:10 pm ET.
"Baseball games are uniquely engaging community experiences, as the chatter and rituals in the stands are often as meaningful to fans as the action on the diamond," Facebook's head of global sports partnerships Dan Reed said in a statement.
"By distributing a live game per week on Facebook, Major League Baseball can re-imagine this social experience on a national scale."
Terms of the agreement are not yet shared.
The MLB's deal with Twitter to stream games nationally will be subject to blackout policy in the local market. According to Facebook, blackout restrictions will not apply. Last year, Twitter agreed to sign a deal with MLB Advanced Media for the streaming rights to broadcast one game for free.
Creating live-streaming contents to draw audiences
People start to watch streams of live sports. As TV sports ratings seem to decline gradually, sports leagues have actively sought a deal with tech companies to develop live-streaming strategies and contents to draw audiences by watching games on social media, especially millennial viewers.
Two months ago, Facebook signed a contract to with the Major League Soccer (MLS) to broadcast over 22 games online. Additionally, in February 2017, the league scored a deal with Univision Communication Inc. to transmit Mexico's 46 Liga MX soccer games.
As a part of marketing effort to generate video advertising revenue, Facebook has reached agreements with five video game teams to promote professional e-sports contests on the social network.
The company also intends to ink a deal with ESL (originally Electronic Sports League), the world's largest e-sports company, to broadcast matches, video gamer interviews and more.
Amazon wins a deal with NFL
Facebook, which remains the largest social network in the main markets, has previously expressed an interest in a streaming-rights deal with the National Football League (NFL) but Amazon won the bid.
The contract between the NFL and Amazon is reportedly worth $50 million.
In addition to the MLB, Twitter partnered with the National Hockey League (NHL) to stream games once a week. The company also teamed up with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to broadcast behind-the-scenes videos, highlights and original shows online.
