Twitter has launched a new program that will enable student-athletes to generate income from replays of their highlights within Tweets, with ads inserted into their posted clips, pushing direct revenue to athletes as part of a new agreement with PAC-12 Football.

As Twitter explains:

“For the first time ever, Twitter and Opendorse will now provide a pathway for student-athletes to earn NIL compensation by sharing personalized game highlights, enabled by Tempus Ex, to Twitter via their own handle. Throughout the 2022-23 college football season, PAC-12 Football players will publish personalized highlight clips following games. Once published, pre-roll advertising secured through Twitter Amplify will run on the video and the student-athlete will be compensated, marking the first time student-athletes can monetize their own game highlights in this way.”

PACmen

This is one of the first Social Media -specific initiatives to capitalize on the NCAA’s new rules that allow specific college athletes to generate income from their ‘likeness’. This new initiative is expected to bring in millions of dollars for these young stars every year. The deal is also specifically facilitated for PAC-12 athletes due to PAC-12 networks owning the licensing rights to the conference’s game footage, regardless of if they would first air on other networks such as Fox or ESPN.

This is what enables this new type of direct monetization for student-athletes, further opening up opportunities and a new range of ways for brands to place ads and potentially reach college sports fans in entirely new ways.

It’s certainly a unique proposition. What’s more interesting to see is just how much revenue players would be able to make from this type of supplementary process, as well as what kind of results they might drive for brands. Think about it, the PAC-12 alone already has millions of fans, not to mention a huge reach. It wouldn’t be too surprising to see these highlights generate significant Tweet responses, with each play equating to extra dollars for these up-and-coming celebrity athletes. With the evolution of Social Media and influencer marketing, these young players are, in some ways, a new breed of creators.

The Wrap

This initiative could also incentivize more highlight plays, which may not be such a bad thing – those post-touchdown dances and showboating could take a life of their own, sparking new trends and going as far as to even allow players to crowd-source their next performance, maximizing virtual traffic.

Though it caters to a more niche audience, it’s still an interesting consideration. If you want to at least tap into the rising popularity of sports discussions and the discovery of sports-related content on Twitter, then this is big news indeed.

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Sources 

https://bit.ly/3QwfUzF