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You'll soon be able to live stream MLB and NHL games on Twitter

You'll soon be able to live stream MLB and NHL games on Twitter

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Catching the game might be easier than ever

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Twitter is going to start live-steaming games from Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, in addition to a new nightly show called The Rally in conjunction with 120 Sports.

The games will be available once a week to viewers in the United States and to some select international markets. There’s no schedule or announced timeline for the rollout of this new feature.

The Rally will be available live each night, and will be produced by 120 Sports in a "distinct format designed to integrate with Twitter’s platform." Unlike the baseball or hockey games, this program appears to only be available to registered users in the United States.

Officials from the MLB and NHL cited Twitter’s ability to reach and engage fans. At the same time, the technology platform gains a new content and revenue stream to attract and retain users, something it has struggled to do in recent years. This deal appears to build upon a six-year partnership between the MLB and NHL that was signed last year and allows each organization to distributes its content online to fans. Earlier this year, Twitter partnered with the National Basketball Association to distribute 360-degree video of games.

The partnership could prove to be an interesting one for users and could unlock a potential new means of content delivery for Twitter. The company has ventured into live-streaming ventures with Periscope and Vine, but has largely failed to keep up with the efforts from competing platforms such as Facebook.