In one of the biggest digital sport developments of the year to date, Twitter has won the streaming rights to NFL’s Thursday Night Football, beating out the likes of digital heavy hitters Amazon and Verizon.

According to Twitter, the 10-game deal is worth in the region of US$10 million which is very surprising considering CBS and NBC paid US$225 million for just five games each as well as the digital rights around the matches.

The deal will significantly strengthen Twitter’s ties with the NFL after the platform expanded and extended an agreement with the league last year revolving around highlights and other clips.

Last week, Facebook reportedly dropped out of talks with the NFL to stream matches through the platform’s live streaming service. It’s likely the platform’s significant reach would have got Twitter in front of the likes of Amazon and Verizon.

After a relatively slow 12 months for the platform, the deal is a huge coup and a landmark decision for Twitter. However, it’s not yet clear whether the matches will be shown via the Twitter-owned live streaming service of Periscope or in some other manner.

What is interesting about this deal is the precedent it creates and whether we’re likely to see these similar deals done with other leagues and organisations.

This fall Thursday Night Football will be streamed live @twitter so fans will see more of this. https://t.co/s6tbr9FjvY

— Roger Goodell (@nflcommish) April 5, 2016