Report: Facebook looks to stream MLB games next season

Dive Brief:

Facebook is reportedly in advanced talks with Major League Baseball (MLB) to stream one game per week next season, according to Reuters.
"Facebook is aggressively going after sports content and they are now one of a number of competitors to traditional media outlets that are going after sports programming," Lee Berke, a sports media consultant, told the publication. "It makes perfect sense that they would be going after name brand properties like the MLB."
For its part, the MLB has been making moves with its video streaming company BAMTech, which it owns in conjunction with Disney and the NHL. Variety reports that Michael Paull, who previously served as the vice president of digital video at Amazon, is now joining the venture as CEO.

Dive Insight:

Live streaming has become increasingly appealing to both professional sports organizations who have traditionally found a home on linear television and for social media platforms who are looking to increase their value past user-to-user interactions.

For Facebook, bigger live streaming video partnerships play into its interest in building out video content that has traditionally been relegated to the realm of TV. More robust live streaming deals might carve out new advertising revenue streams, which are becoming increasingly essential for the company as traditional digital ad real estate on its core News Feed platform crowds out.

For brands like the MLB, the challenge is chasing viewers, and especially younger viewers, who have shown favor for digital streaming alternatives and a trend toward cable cord-cutting. Facebook has a total audience of more than 1.8 billion and has been pushing hard for those users to adopt its Live streaming feature, creating potentially fresh sets of eyeballs for the MLB.

How or whether the MLB's separate BAMTech venture would play into a potential Facebook deal is unclear, but the hiring of Paull shows the sports organization has live video top of mind and that streaming games will likely manifest in more ways next baseball season regardless.