The Importance Of MLS’ Deal With Twitter

Not everybody reading this is going to have a fun or even fond memory or thought process when it comes to social media, and that’s okay. We all have our reasons for either loving or hating it, and to be honest, they’re all perfectly valid. Some have argued that it’s a bit like Marmite in the sense that we either love it or we hate it – but we don’t think that’s the case at all.

Social media can be an anecdote you use to communicate with friends and family, or perhaps just to give your thoughts and opinions on things. In our mind it’s a ‘give or take’ type of deal, and even though some folks decide to take it one step further than that, it doesn’t mean we all need to be incredibly cynical towards it.

After all it makes the world go round in more ways than one: with sports being a perfect example of that.

One step beyond

As reported by MLS Soccer, Major League Soccer and Twitter have come to an arrangement which will see them extend their partnership through to the 2022 season.

“Our collaboration with Twitter has proven to be a highly effective vehicle to connecting with fans in innovative ways and bringing our teams and world-class athletes to new audiences,” said Chris Schlosser, SVP Media, MLS. “We are excited to extend our partnership and look forward to working with Twitter and Univision on creative executions during live matches and at our big events.”

Aside from the pure logistical side of this, we want to talk about why it’s a positive for MLS fans around the world. First off, as reported by Sport Techie, Twitter has also got links with the likes of the National Football League (NFL) and ESPN. Those are two companies that you aren’t exactly going to be angry about being in the company of, and that alone should be a sign of the potential at hand here.

On a general scale, though, we just think visibility is going to be a big deal for the MLS in this deal. It’s no secret that they aren’t considered to be amongst the elite of the elite in the realms of world football/soccer, and at this moment in time, that’s okay.

Thinking of the future

As we get closer and closer to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, however, that needs to change. The MLS has a lot of great things to offer this sport, and if more and more eyes are progressively being drawn to the product, that means more opportunities for the players, franchises and fans themselves.

There’s no ‘one sided’ way of looking at this, because it’s all about how this deal works cohesively for all sides. The MLS wants to be rubbing shoulders with the other big four sports leagues, and we already believe that they are. Some of the biggest and best names and stars are coming over to the league and have been for a few years now, and it’s just a case of keeping that ball rolling for the foreseeable future.

Social media is bad for a lot of reasons, not for sports. For sports, it’s a big deal.