If You Think Twitter Is Dying You Need To Check Out This Announcement Regarding NFL Games Right Now

This morning Twitter and the NFL made an announcement that should silence all of the critics who claim that Twitter is dead/dying and cannot compete in the social media landscape.

Anytime Twitter misses growth projections or Facebook announces the acquisition of another new company the mainstream media loves to tell the general public that ‘Twitter is dying’. Sure, there’s been a carousel of executives coming in and out of Twitter HQ but the fact remains: Twitter is the fastest social media platform for breaking news, and it is the only social media platform that allows open discussion between followers in a coherent manner (Facebook’s comment/discussion format is terrible).

Well, as reported on ESPN this morning, Twitter won the bidding rights to stream the NFL‘s Thursday night games. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made the announcement earlier on, you guessed it, Twitter:

ESPN reports:

The league offered the package to a host of companies, including Facebook, Amazon and Verizon, which is in the last year of a sponsorship deal with the NFL that pays the league $250 million a year. Terms of the deal with Twitter were not disclosed.
“Twitter is where live events unfold and is the right partner for the NFL as we take the latest step in serving fans around the world live NFL football,” Goodell said in a statement. “There is a massive amount of NFL-related conversation happening on Twitter during our games and tapping into that audience, in addition to our viewers on broadcast and cable, will ensure Thursday Night Football is seen on an unprecedented number of platforms this season. This agreement also provides additional reach for those brands advertising with our broadcast partners.”
The league made the point of saying the games will be free and that viewers do not have to be registered Twitter users. The rights package also includes in-game highlights of the Thursday games and pregame Periscope broadcasts from players and teams.

“This is about transforming the fan experience with football. People watch NFL games with Twitter today,” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said. “Now they’ll be able to watch right on Twitter Thursday nights.”
Twitter will be the third destination for a fan to see a Thursday night game. In February, the NFL sold additional rights to five Thursday games each to CBS and NBC for $225 million. All of those games will be simulcast on the NFL Network as well.

Now seems like a good time to plug myself on Twitter, follow @casspa here, I’ve been hovering at 8k followers for the last week or so and I need you bros to help me get over that hump. I promise to only spam your feed with pics from my daily ‘Best Damn Photos On The Internet‘ picture roundups.

And if you’re feeling generous I also run the @Guyism account (follow that one), and chip in on @BroBible, @BroBibleSports, and @BroTips. So make sure you’re following all of those to keep up with everything from BroBible on Twitter (but mostly you just need to follow me).

[h/t ESPN]