This is an unexpected win for Elon Musk and Twitter.
Less than three months after completing its $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, the serial entrepreneur may finally have its biggest win: engaging major sports advertisers with the sustainability of juicy deals.
The microblogging site has signed agreements with major advertisers to continue promoting their services, events and products on the platform, Axios reports.
Almost all major sports leagues in the United States – NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, PGA Tour – have decided to continue broadcasting content on the social network. This content revolves around the promotion of their games and related events.
For example, expect the NCAA to commercialize March Madness, the NBA to promote the playoffs, and the NFL to bombard Twitter users with Super Bowl-related ads.
‘The party is on’
In addition to the major sports leagues, major broadcasters of sporting events such as Turner Sports with its TNT and TBS channels, ESPN, FOX, Univision and Telemundo also plan to continue communicating on Twitter around these sporting events, which often make up the majority of their best audiences.
Musk appeared to confirm this information by retweeting the Axios article and commenting, “The party is on.”
“The party’s on!! 🚀 💫‍♥️,” the billionaire wrote on Twitter.
This information comes as a huge relief to the billionaire and Twitter, whose revenue was 91% generated from advertising revenue in the second quarter of 2022, the latest period for which earnings are public. The company, which was delisted after the Musk deal, has been privatized. Consequently, it is no longer required to publish its financial results.
Musk’s early days as Twitter owner were marked by an exodus of advertisers, most of whom had paused their ads for brand safety reasons. They said they wanted to see what direction the tycoon wanted to take for the platform he wants to make the Conservative stronghold.
These advertisers were particularly concerned about Musk’s decision to reactivate accounts suspended by Twitter 1.0, including former President Donald Trump, for violating the company’s safeguards against xenophobia, racism, Covid-19, anti-Semitism and misinformation.
News Agencies Stay on Twitter
Brands feared Twitter could become a “hellscape” because the billionaire, who defines himself as a free speech absolutist, believes any message on the platform is acceptable as long as it doesn’t break the law. For many advertisers, Musk’s laissez-faire approach risks spreading hatred and xenophobia on the platform, a risk they don’t want to take given their brands are associated with such messages.
This exodus of advertisers had completely weakened the company’s financial health.
“Twitter isn’t safe yet, just not on the fast track to bankruptcy,” the serial entrepreneur said Dec. 24. “Still a lot to do.”
He previously warned last November that Twitter was “losing over $4 million a day.”
He reiterated this pessimistic view during a December 20 Twitter space. He said the platform is on track to reach $3 billion in negative cash flow before making drastic cost cuts. Of the company’s 7,500 employees employed when he arrived, at least 5,000 have been laid off or left.
Musk, who personally borrowed $13 billion to fund the Twitter deal, launched austerity measures. According to many experts, these cost reductions and the relaunch of the subscription service Twitter Blue were not enough to make the platform profitable. For that reason, the return of sports advertisers is a big win for Musk, as it could convince other advertisers in other industries to come back.
In addition to sports, media groups such as NBCU, Paramount and Disney also plan to take to Twitter around events such as award shows, concerts, prime time shows and hugely popular TV shows such as “The Bachelor” on Disney’s ABC, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on Paramount’s MTV and “The Masked Singer” on FOX, reports Axios.
Media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Portal, Axios, Bloomberg, Forbes, Conde Nast and USA Today also plan to maintain a presence on Twitter and highlight their coverage of key events with which they are partners, the news outlet adds.
“Businesses in general are missing out on the incredible opportunity that Twitter offers to reach customers,” Musk said on Jan. 17. “Just tweet interesting things!