London 2012: the “Facebook Olympics”

One company looking to make its way onto the podium at the London 2012 Olympic Games is Facebook, which has signed deals with broadcasters in the UK and US to feature exclusive content.

In an indication of the power and global influence of the social network, both NBC and the BBC have linked up with Facebook.

The former will upload Olympics news, polls and photos to Facebook, while the BBC is planning to provide live streams of events at the Games on Facebook.

With Euro 2012 having proved the power of social networking in sport, the 900 million users on Facebook and 140 million registered Twitter accounts are ideal portals through which to publicise, monetise and advertise the Games and related products.

Even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is infiltrating social networks, creating official Facebook and Twitter accounts for the Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville.

Meanwhile, Visa is getting in on the act, using Twitter and Facebook’s combined global reach to encourage us to cheer for its sponsored athletes.

Head of the NBC Sports Agency, John Miller said: “This is a new generation of the Olympic fan, and we really want to reach them.”

With NBC having paid more than $1.1 billion for exclusive US TV rights, the focus on social networking is entirely understandable – however, unlike the BBC, NBC has ruled out providing live coverage on Facebook as it looks to expand the basic broadcast TV audience for its coverage.

Read the full Financial Times article here.