With all the buzz around Facebook’s live streaming service, we almost forgot about it’s relatively stagnating sibling Twitter. And it’s fair to say that before the big announcement on Tuesday morning, only a handful of people knew Twitter was even in the running for the NFL streaming rights let alone actually entertained the idea that the platform would snag them.

Regardless of the basement price of US$10m that Twitter bought the live streaming rights of Thursday Night Football for (reportedly $6-7 million less than other bids), the win has huge ramifications for the platform, not just because it’s going to further assist the platform’s shift to mainstream but because it now opens the door for similar rights deals across a range of sports.

“The Ultimate Sports Centre”

Considering the current climate of broadcast rights and the rapidly evolving demand chain, Twitter has catapulted itself onto unstable ground. However it’s NFL coup, the fact that it is already a platform used for unofficial sports purposes (short segments of video, running commentary, score updates etc) and its sheer versatility makes it an extremely appealing platform for not only sports organisations but official broadcasters as well.

With this new deal and several others that are potentially already on the table, Twitter has positioned itself on the cusp of something very special – the creation of the ‘ultimate sports centre’ with a live discussion stream, a dynamic social engine and an ultra-flexible video platform. The ability to discuss sport with an endless chain of Twitter users whilst simultaneously watching a live, high-definition, multi angle stream using the very same application is every social media engine’s dream, and is a dream for sports organisations in terms of engagement.

While we don’t yet know what Twitter’s sports feature will look like or whether they’ll look to integrate it with its Periscope platform, what we do know is that, if they weren’t already, sports organisations around the world will be flocking to Twitter HQ.

Here’s a look at the sports that are likely to be next in the Twittersphere:

NBA

It’s no secret that the NBA does social media and behind-the-scenes footage better than any other sport on the planet. Considering the success of its broadcasts like team training sessions on Twitter’s main rival Facebook, Twitter’s reach and its aforementioned flexibility would be a main sticking point.

The proof of the pudding is in the numbers. The NBA has just shy of 21 million twitter followers on Twitter compared with just 6 million on Facebook so it makes absolute sense that the NBA would be next in line, particularly when the organisation has prided itself on its digital capabilities.

MLB

The MLB as well as its teams have spent almost the entire spring training streaming content through Facebook’s live service. But now Twitter will enter the official live streaming business, far outweighing its previous attempt with Periscope, MLB will be keeping a very close eye on it (if talks haven’t yet already begun).

The MLB has shown its enthusiasm in connecting the world through new social media platforms (like Infield Chatter etc) and it would be surprising if a deal wasn’t done with Twitter in the coming months.

UFC

Despite significantly improving its profile in the past 12-18 months, UFC still falls in the niche category. The case for its emergence on Twitter’s streaming platform, like the NBA, is made in the numbers. UFC’s Twitter followers outweigh its Facebook likes 2 to 1 and with it still looking to improve its following and crack the mainstream, a broadcast partnership with Twitter is really a no-brainer.

Football

While it may be too soon to suggest that the Premier League will sign on to show games via Twitter (we all know how protective it is over its broadcast rights), we may see football competitions like MLS – who is looking to up increase its profile in the US and abroad – as well as Spain’s La Liga competition on the platform sooner than later.

The La Liga competition has a number of partnerships with a range of different organisations and it’s always looked to be ahead of the bell curve in terms of digital. As for the MLS, it’s ability to connect with a wider audience than it’s current Facebook platform would certainly be hugely appealing.