Digital Sport’s Weekly Wash-Up 12/03/17
Barcelona comes back to stun PSG
It was an historic comeback from Barcelona, as they rebounded from a 4-0 last-16 deficit against Paris St-Germain in the Champions League to win 6-5 on aggregate. Twitter exploded after Sergi Roberto put home the winning goal in the 95th minute of Wednesday’s match. Even the guys at BT Sport couldn’t control themselves.
Scenes in the studio!
Where on earth is @themichaelowen going?! ???????????? #FCBPSG https://t.co/HZ8CqBuJh5
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 8, 2017
Fans around the world celebrated, and the Barcelona Twitter account collected the best reactions.
???????? Barça Fans #WeDidIt pic.twitter.com/us0ivvBUS6
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 10, 2017
There was more fun to be had on Twitter, including this clip of Roberto’s goal accompanied by dramatic music attracting over 17,000 retweets.
Sergi Roberto's goal is 100x better with the Titanic music… #BARCA #scenes pic.twitter.com/kmLzL6aEFp
— Sports Gazette (@SportsGazette) March 8, 2017
Lastly, the New England Patriots gave a shoutout to Barcelona for their epic win. Keep in mind the Pats pulled off an equally great comeback in the Super Bowl a month ago. Barcelona was quick to thank the American football club as well.
Welcome to the comeback club!
Congrats on an unbelievable win, @FCBarcelona! pic.twitter.com/UNnEj4wMeJ
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) March 8, 2017
Football great tweets out his retirement
Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso took to Twitter on Thursday to signal his retirement from professional football. Earlier this season, rumors swirled regarding Alonso walking away, but now it seems official. The 35-year-old has found success with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern, and will go down as one of the legends of the game.
Lived it. Loved it.
Farewell beautiful game. pic.twitter.com/1aSN7GGNzZ
— Xabi Alonso (@XabiAlonso) March 9, 2017
Bleacher Report capitalises on new Instagram feature
Instagram’s latest update is the album feature, where users can post up to 10 photos in a single post. Bleacher Report made good use of this feature in a post regarding free agent running back Adrian Peterson. The post featured six photoshopped pictures of the former MVP, with Peterson in a different uniform in each one. This is a great way of highlighting Peterson’s potential free-agent destinations.
Nike cashes in on $1 billion deal with Ronaldo
Back in December of 2016, Nike and Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to a $1 billion (£820 million) lifetime deal, the third-ever lifetime deal the sports giant has inked. While this seems like a great deal for the football superstar, it may work out even better for Nike. Ronaldo’s social media strategy was estimated to have generated $474 million (£389) last year, implying that Nike could potentially regain their investment in just over two years.
Nike’s lifetime pact with arguably the biggest star in football illustrates the value of mega influencers in terms of fan engagement and maximizing reach. Of course, the success of the deal from Nike’s standpoint depends on Ronaldo’s on-field success, so expect them to be watching the striker closely for the rest of his career.
Atlanta United begins with a bang
When the MLS opened their season this past weekend, Atlanta United FC played their first game as a franchise. Though they lost, the team celebrated a victory with the fourth largest football attendance worldwide that weekend, and the most followers of any MLS Twitter account. Check out their hype video celebrating the match.
One epic night.
Atlanta, this is just the beginning
#UniteAndConquer pic.twitter.com/0x48pwIqcw
— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) March 7, 2017
NBA confirms Sina Weibo partnership
Earlier this week the National Basketball Association and Chinese social media website Sina Weibo announced a long-term partnership that will make Weibo the official Chinese social media platform of the NBA.
Weibo, which boasts about 340 million users per month, will now have rights to exclusive live videos, game highlights, and other much sought-after content. Weibo also has plans to launch an NBA page on its Discover section and feature NBA -specific notifications.
Recently, Weibo passed US rival Twitter in terms of value, jumping to $11.3 billion, about $200 million more than Twitter.
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