As part of an effort to boost revenue since going public, Reddit has announced a partnership program with major sports leagues that will bring more sports highlights to the Reddit platform and open up new advertising opportunities on Reddit via video ads, automotive model ads (AMAs), and other formats.
The new partnership program will involved many of the most popular sports leagues in the U.S. including the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, and NASCAR to bring content to Reddit communities.
In making the announcements, Reddit noted that the major sports leagues are some of “our most engaged Reddit Pro users and best-in-class examples of the power of engagement within Reddit communities. In addition, sports are one of Reddit’s most popular and fastest-growing (at +26% YOY) interest groups, bringing together highly engaged fans across over 1000 communities.”
“We believe these new partnerships can enhance our community experience with content that fans want while enabling advertisers to align with expanded fan content on Reddit,” Reddit said in a blog post. “Through our official partnerships with the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, and NASCAR, redditors will gain access to video highlights from games and tournaments, player AMAs, behind-the-scenes videos, and more special content posted by the leagues throughout their seasons and including during major events like Super Bowl and NBA All-Star.”
The effort builds on a test with the NFL during the 2023-24 season that saw FanDuel, Samsung, Ford, Volkswagen of America and several others advertise on the platform. “During the test, an alcoholic beverage brand saw a +11.3 point lift in purchase intent, a +9.4 point lift in brand favorability, and a 5.9 point lift in awareness by activating alongside premium video content from the NFL,” Reddit reported.
“Reddit is the go-to destination for sports fans around the world because it’s the place where they can dive deeper than anywhere else, and connect with other fans beyond the season and throughout the year,” said Reddit’s COO Jen Wong said in a statement. “The country’s major sports leagues see the opportunity to reach global audiences on Reddit. We’re continuing to build more ways for businesses and organizations to engage with Reddit’s communities; this benefits our communities, program partners, and advertisers.”
Reddit also noted that there are over 1,000 active communities in the sports category. Those produced 20.4 billion screen views to communities in the sports category in the last 12 months (up 26% YoY) and 249 million global monthly engagements (posts, votes, comments) in sports communities on Reddit.
