By Andrew Zuhosky
How many of you have watched “Thursday Night Football” on TV this season? Actually, how many of you have watched “Thursday Night Football” on Twitter this season?
I know that some of you might be thinking right now, “Whoa, wait a minute, I can watch the Thursday night games on Twitter now?!”
Yes, you can, and it’s awesome that the NFL is doing this.
Last spring, the NFL and Twitter agreed to stream 10 of the 16 Thursday evening contests televised on the NFL’s over-the-air TV networks for the package (NBC and CBS), including tonight’s contest between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, the last of the CBS package for this year on Twitter.
All “TNF” games, even the ones not streamed on Twitter, still air on the package’s original TV home, NFL Network. The best part of it all? The Twitter simulcasts of the football games can be accessed worldwide.
Now that you know about this new feature, you’re probably wondering “How can I access this?” Tonight, just go to tnf.twitter.com around 8:25 p.m. EDT, when Chicago and Green Bay kickoff.
If you’re on Twitter’s mobile app, select the “Moments” option, the one with the lightning bolt icon and select the “NFL” option. You should see a link to access the live stream. Just choose that link.
This is a great move by the NFL and Twitter. Sports Twitter is already like sports talk radio, except that you’re the host of the show, your followers act as “callers,” there are no phone lines you have to worry about, so you’re never on hold and there are no commercial breaks.
Prior to this year, there was something that sports radio had that sports Twitter didn’t, live play-by-play of the NFL.
It’s also great, because it gives more viewers an opportunity to watch. It provides a viewing opportunity to people who don’t usually have access to the games on a regular basis. It takes advantage of our cell phones and laptops, which we have on us consistently.
I’ve already taken advantage of the Twitter stream a few times this season. The first time a game was streamed on Twitter this year, I decided to watch the stream, just to see what it was like.
It’s a great quality video stream, one that even has a live Twitter tracker of messages from viewers who watch the game.
Just watch the Twitter stream tonight. There’s a good chance I’ll be watching it too.
