Snapchat’s looking to expand its reach into sports content, via a new partnership with Togethxr, a sports media company founded by a group of former high-profile athletes, which aims to elevate attention for women in sport.
The initiative will see Snapchat launch a new content accelerator program called “Snap the Gap,” in which Snapchat’s team will work with an initial group of nine female athletes to help them grow their Snap presence.
As explained by Togethxr:
“Delivering a full suite of resources to these nine ‘Snap Stars’, Togethxr and Snapchat will equip the athletes with direct mentorship from Snapchat, as well as provide content guidance from Togethxr to transform their athletic journeys into compelling, monetizable stories in this first-of-its-kind program from women athletes.”
As noted, Togethxr was founded by a group of former professional athletes who’ve been able to use their sporting profile to build successful media careers. That’s inspired them to launch the project, so that they can pass on their learnings, and use their influence to help other female sports stars get more traction and coverage, bringing greater gender equality to global sporting conversation.
And Snapchat has emerged as a key driver of sports conversation, especially among younger users.
Indeed, research published by Snap earlier this year shows that almost 9 in 10 Snapchatters engage with sports weekly, and 85% watch sports matches at least monthly.
And that’s increasing over time:
In addition to this, Snapchat’s TikTok-like Spotlight feed has also been a key driver of sports engagement, with Snapchatters viewing 25 million minutes or more of sports content each day via this element.
That presents new opportunities for athletes to connect with a wider audience, which Togethxr is looking to tap into to boost its efforts.
It could be a good partnership, which may also help to enhance sporting engagement overall in the app. And for those brands looking to reach female athletes and sports fans, that could also make Snap an increasingly valuable proposition.
