Social media platform Twitter has agreed a deal to live stream games from the Liga Femenina, the top division of Spanish women’s club basketball.
As part of the three-way agreement between Twitter, the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) and the league's title sponsor, supermarket chain Dia, a game from each round of the league will be live streamed by Twitter via the federation’s account – @baloncestofeb.
The initiative commenced with reigning champion Perfumerías Avenida’s 74-65 win over Nissan Al-Qázeres Extremadura on Saturday and will continue with the meeting between Mann-Filter and Lointek Gernika Bizkaia on January 14.
The Twitter deal will exist alongside the league's partnership with Teledeporte, the sports channel of public-service broadcaster TVE.
Twitter has developed a special emoji that includes the logo of the competition with the hashtag #LigaDia to help promote and encourage conversation about the league among its users.
The FEB said the agreement has been struck to serve growing interest in women’s basketball in Spain, with the national team ranked No.2 in the world and the country due to host the 2018 Women’s World Cup in Tenerife from September 22-30.
Jorge Garbajosa, president of the FEB, said: “The agreement represents another step in the digital commitment and modernisation strategy that the federation is carrying out in recent times. The facts say that our girls are a world power in basketball and that fans want to see them, so it is our responsibility as organisers of the Liga to be able to find channels like Twitter where, with the help of Dia, we are convinced that we will achieve the audience figures that the players deserve.”