“The playbook hasn’t changed”: How Twitch is keeping sports connected during the coronavirus hiatus

If sports fans have been trying to find ways to keep up with their favourite teams and athletes during the coronavirus shutdown, it would be fair to say that their best bet has probably been on Twitch.

Indeed, while some companies have wound up in the unfortunate position of twiddling their thumbs as business dries up as a result of the global health crisis, the Amazon-owned streaming platform has found itself busier than most.

As sports scramble to maintain engagement with their fans remotely while being prevented from doing so in person, a number of rights holders have turned to live esports competitions as a substitute for the countless games, series and events that have been postponed or cancelled. Athletes with newfound time on their hands are also playing more video games than ever before – some have even competed in the various esports tournaments that have been set up – and their followers have appeared willing to watch them do so.

Initially established in 2011 as a platform built specifically for gaming, Twitch has been ready to welcome them all with open arms. The company has not disclosed official numbers, but a study from influencer marketing platform Upfluence Software found that, between 15th February and 22nd March, viewership on Twitch was up 24 per cent as a result of the lockdown measures in place.

The traditional ways in everyday life aren’t available to people these days, the sports events aren’t occurring, so Twitch is a place where this can occur in a digital setting.

It is not just esports that have proved popular on Twitch. While the various competitive gaming competitions streamed on the platform have seen fans flock to the service’s chat rooms, some teams and leagues have opted to simply show old games on their channels, enabling supporters to relive and share their memories of those particular matches. Spanish soccer giants Real Madrid, largely resistant to esports so far, recently went live with their channel initially for the purpose of airing striker Marco Asensio's efforts in La Liga's charity gaming tournament on the FIFA title before adding full broadcasts of famous fixtures.

Farhan Ahmed, Twitch’s strategic partnerships manager, describes it as “natural” for sports “to look at other areas to explore and create community” when live and public events cannot happen, adding that Twitch has been “looking to support” as many sporting organisations as possible.

SportsPro caught up with Ahmed, whose own role involves heading up new verticals at Twitch, which encompasses everything outside of gaming, to hear how the company has responded to the growing demand for its services, and how sports can make the most of the platform’s interactivity during the coronavirus-enforced hiatus.

How have you seen sports up their activity on Twitch since the coronavirus outbreak?

Twitch has been in the mindset of a lot of sports organisations through the multi-player entertainment offering and producing communities around their more traditional content. Now that unfortunately isn’t possible at the moment, the gaming angle and the esports angle is certainly something they’re more and more interested in.

Also, Real Madrid have started streaming on Twitch, and they’re streaming archive football matches, their old matches, like Ronaldo’s debut and a couple of Copa del Rey matches and Champions League games too, so they are still using their traditional content.

But yes, as a general rule we are seeing more people coming to our service, as sports organisations focus primarily on the gaming and esports. That’s also partly athlete led – the talent on the books are already very much integrated into gaming and have a passion for it, so it synergises very well.

Has Twitch had to adapt to the growing demand at all? Is it something you were prepared for?

I don’t think anyone was quite prepared for this. Twitch, as an organisation, our mission hasn’t changed. We are the enablers of creators and the enablers of people creating content to create community, so what drives us and what our business is hasn’t really changed. The volume has perhaps come from a different place and from a place that hasn’t necessarily been looking to activate on Twitch so much within the gaming space, so that has changed, but our teams are working as much as possible to support the ongoing demand. We’re trying to help, and guide, and support, and give case studies and examples of what has worked on our service to help these athletes and leagues with their content plans and ideas.

What value can Twitch offer sports at a time when they are unable to engage with their communities in person?

Twitch has been before this happened – and will be after this event occurs – a place where people come together, where communities come together, to create entertainment, share interaction and experiences. The traditional ways in everyday life aren’t available to people these days, the sports events aren’t occurring, so Twitch is a place where this can occur in a digital setting. When people are either having to self-isolate, and just generally the access to the outdoors isn’t there, Twitch is the perfect place for people to come to put on these events, to create the content, to interact with their communities.

Even in traditional sports too you can still have the multi-player entertainment experience that we’re talking about, you may just have to think more carefully about what content that’s going to be given that live events aren’t going on at the moment.

What is some of the advice you are giving to sports organisations using the platform during the health crisis?

I think the playbook hasn’t changed too much – you have to think about what kind of content you want to be doing and what your objectives are. Twitch is centred around live longform content and there needs to be an interactive element within that. I think when it comes to gaming and esports, is there a particular game that you’re affiliated with or that you can work with to create a competitive showcase or event out of it?

We’ve seen a significant amount of growth with athletes on our service. [Formula One driver] Lando Norris immediately comes to mind, he’s been streaming F1 content. If you have a roster of athletes that you can bring to our service to give your content new life, the community traditionally watch and rally for a particular personality, a particular creator, so having athletes come and stream gaming or even outside of it fits the model of user-generated content on Twitch very well. Athletes also have the advantage of bridging their other social channels to help you build an audience on our service too.

Are you trying to encourage the sports that you are working with at the moment to make Twitch part of their long-term fan engagement strategies?

For sure, and we hope that the partnerships that we build are long lasting ones and we can help grow the communities for these sports providers and entities. I think the current climate makes it difficult for people to think on a long-term strategic basis. But that’s our objective here: once people come to our service they understand the community a bit more, they see the value of streaming on Twitch, and it becomes an important part of their content plans once the pandemic has subsided and life goes back to normal.

Are there any untapped content opportunities that sports can take advantage of on Twitch beyond esports and gaming?

Yeah, so we’re looking at the archive content. Real Madrid stream their old matches, but I think to add to that they could use either existing athletes or players who played in that game to co-stream that game on their own channel, and if they were playing in the game they can provide a really unique perspective on that content. I think add that to the interactivity that they can have with chat, that makes it a compelling proposition.

Then I think using and harnessing athletes as much as you can will help because we’ve certainly seen that the audience have taken to people like Lando Norris coming to our stream, and I think the community really get around these personalities who come to our service. There may well be many other ways to create content that we haven’t thought of and if we can support that in any way then we will.

We spoke previously about how Twitch could change the way people watch live sports in the future. Do you think the fact more fans are becoming familiar with the platform during the lockdown might accelerate some of those changes?

I certainly think when it comes to explaining what Twitch is to rights holders, that should be a much more simple process after this event. When people are coming to our service and chatting to people they have a much better idea of what Twitch is now, and I think once they see the community we have and the value in growing the community, those conversations will become easier.

It’s a big unknown what the sports landscape will be after this, what events will be on, will be cancelled, how the rights holders react to that, so my hope is that this has opened a lot of doors for us, but we won’t know until the pandemic has died down and we see what the sports landscape is afterwards.

Virtual racing has proved popular on Twitch during the coronavirus pause

Does this change Twitch’s plans for live sports at all, or will you still be taking an experimental approach?

I think the demand that we’ve seen for gaming content and esports competitions from sports providers is something that existed even prior to this event. As enablers we need to consider if that’s something we should double down on and provide further support, and then almost leverage, use these partnerships that we have, and then help with their content both within gaming and also look at the traditional side as well.

So that may definitely be a shift in focus for us, the focus on the gaming as well as the traditional sports from these providers, but other than that we’ll still be quite selective in terms of who the partners are that we work with when it comes to live rights and whether we want to work with people who want to grow a community on our service. I think also given the current climate our strategy may just evolve and adapt based on the sports landscape in general.

If sports fans have been trying to find ways to keep up with their favourite teams and athletes during the coronavirus shutdown, it would be fair to say that their best bet has probably been on Twitch.

Indeed, while some companies have wound up in the unfortunate position of twiddling their thumbs as business dries up as a result of the global health crisis, the Amazon-owned streaming platform has found itself busier than most.

As sports scramble to maintain engagement with their fans remotely while being prevented from doing so in person, a number of rights holders have turned to live esports competitions as a substitute for the countless games, series and events that have been postponed or cancelled. Athletes with newfound time on their hands are also playing more video games than ever before – some have even competed in the various esports tournaments that have been set up – and their followers have appeared willing to watch them do so.

Initially established in 2011 as a platform built specifically for gaming, Twitch has been ready to welcome them all with open arms. The company has not disclosed official numbers, but a study from influencer marketing platform Upfluence Software found that, between 15th February and 22nd March, viewership on Twitch was up 24 per cent as a result of the lockdown measures in place.

It is not just esports that have proved popular on Twitch. While the various competitive gaming competitions streamed on the platform have seen fans flock to the service’s chat rooms, some teams and leagues have opted to simply show old games on their channels, enabling supporters to relive and share their memories of those particular matches. Spanish soccer giants Real Madrid, largely resistant to esports so far, recently went live with their channel initially for the purpose of airing striker Marco Asensio's efforts in La Liga's charity gaming tournament on the FIFA title.

Farhan Ahmed, Twitch’s strategic partnerships manager, describes it as “natural” for sports “to look at other areas to explore and create community” when live and public events cannot happen, adding that Twitch has been “looking to support” as many sporting organisations as possible.

SportsPro caught up with Ahmed, whose own role involves heading up new verticals at Twitch, which encompasses everything outside of gaming, to hear how the company has responded to the growing demand for its services, and how sports can make the most of the platform’s interactivity during the coronavirus-enforced hiatus.

How have you seen sports up their activity on Twitch since the coronavirus outbreak?

Twitch has been in the mindset of a lot of sports organisations through the multi-player entertainment offering and producing communities around their more traditional content. Now that unfortunately isn’t possible at the moment, the gaming angle and the esports angle is certainly something they’re more and more interested in.

Also, Real Madrid have started streaming on Twitch, and they’re streaming archive football matches, their old matches, like Ronaldo’s debut and a couple of Copa del Rey matches and Champions League games too, so they are still using their traditional content.

But yes, as a general rule we are seeing more people coming to our service, as sports organisations focus primarily on the gaming and esports. That’s also partly athlete led – the talent on the books are already very much integrated into gaming and have a passion for it, so it synergises very well.

Has Twitch had to adapt to the growing demand at all? Is it something you were prepared for?

I don’t think anyone was quite prepared for this. Twitch, as an organisation, our mission hasn’t changed. We are the enablers of creators and the enablers of people creating content to create community, so what drives us and what our business is hasn’t really changed. The volume has perhaps come from a different place and from a place that hasn’t necessarily been looking to activate on Twitch so much within the gaming space, so that has changed, but our teams are working as much as possible to support the ongoing demand. We’re trying to help, and guide, and support, and give case studies and examples of what has worked on our service to help these athletes and leagues with their content plans and ideas.

What value can Twitch offer sports at a time when they are unable to engage with their communities in person?

Twitch has been before this happened – and will be after this event occurs – a place where people come together, where communities come together, to create entertainment, share interaction and experiences. The traditional ways in everyday life aren’t available to people these days, the sports events aren’t occurring, so Twitch is a place where this can occur in a digital setting. When people are either having to self-isolate, and just generally the access to the outdoors isn’t there, Twitch is the perfect place for people to come to put on these events, to create the content, to interact with their communities.

Even in traditional sports too you can still have the multi-player entertainment experience that we’re talking about, you may just have to think more carefully about what content that’s going to be given that live events aren’t going on at the moment.

What is some of the advice you are giving to sports organisations using the platform during the health crisis?

I think the playbook hasn’t changed too much – you have to think about what kind of content you want to be doing and what your objectives are. Twitch is centred around live longform content and there needs to be an interactive element within that. I think when it comes to gaming and esports, is there a particular game that you’re affiliated with or that you can work with to create a competitive showcase or event out of it?

We’ve seen a significant amount of growth with athletes on our service. [Formula One driver] Lando Norris immediately comes to mind, he’s been streaming F1 content. If you have a roster of athletes that you can bring to our service to give your content new life, the community traditionally watch and rally for a particular personality, a particular creator, so having athletes come and stream gaming or even outside of it fits the model of user-generated content on Twitch very well. Athletes also have the advantage of bridging their other social channels to help you build an audience on our service too.

Are you trying to encourage the sports that you are working with at the moment to make Twitch part of their long-term fan engagement strategies?

For sure, and we hope that the partnerships that we build are long lasting ones and we can help grow the communities for these sports providers and entities. I think the current climate makes it difficult for people to think on a long-term strategic basis. But that’s our objective here: once people come to our service they understand the community a bit more, they see the value of streaming on Twitch, and it becomes an important part of their content plans once the pandemic has subsided and life goes back to normal.

Are there any untapped content opportunities that sports can take advantage of on Twitch beyond esports and gaming?

Yeah, so we’re looking at the archive content. Real Madrid stream their old matches, but I think to add to that they could use either existing athletes or players who played in that game to co-stream that game on their own channel, and if they were playing in the game they can provide a really unique perspective on that content. I think add that to the interactivity that they can have with chat, that makes it a compelling proposition.

Then I think using and harnessing athletes as much as you can will help because we’ve certainly seen that the audience have taken to people like Lando Norris coming to our stream, and I think the community really get around these personalities who come to our service. There may well be many other ways to create content that we haven’t thought of and if we can support that in any way then we will.

We spoke previously about how Twitch could change the way people watch live sports in the future. Do you think the fact more fans are becoming familiar with the platform during the lockdown might accelerate some of those changes?

I certainly think when it comes to explaining what Twitch is to rights holders, that should be a much more simple process after this event. When people are coming to our service and chatting to people they have a much better idea of what Twitch is now, and I think once they see the community we have and the value in growing the community, those conversations will become easier.

It’s a big unknown what the sports landscape will be after this, what events will be on, will be cancelled, how the rights holders react to that, so my hope is that this has opened a lot of doors for us, but we won’t know until the pandemic has died down and we see what the sports landscape is afterwards.

Does this change Twitch’s plans for live sports at all, or will you still be taking an experimental approach?

I think the demand that we’ve seen for gaming content and esports competitions from sports providers is something that existed even prior to this event. As enablers we need to consider if that’s something we should double down on and provide further support, and then almost leverage, use these partnerships that we have, and then help with their content both within gaming and also look at the traditional side as well.

So that may definitely be a shift in focus for us, the focus on the gaming as well as the traditional sports from these providers, but other than that we’ll still be quite selective in terms of who the partners are that we work with when it comes to live rights and whether we want to work with people who want to grow a community on our service. I think also given the current climate our strategy may just evolve and adapt based on the sports landscape in general.