BT unveils social initiatives for Champions League final

BT has unveiled a range of initiatives to make coverage of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid available on social media platforms, on top of its recently announced plan to live-stream the match on YouTube.

BT said that the final will be covered by Snapchat Live Story, with behind the scenes footage from Milan and Madrid, for the first. Time.

Seprately, Facebook Live will be used to air interactive interviews with BT Sport presenters and former UEFA Champions League winning side players Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves.

Live match action clips will also be published in real-time via @btsportfootball on Twitter, with exclusive footage posted into Twitter Moments. Twitter followers will also be able to vote on Goal of the Season and Man of the Match.

BT Sport is teaming up with football network Copa90 and YouTube content creator KSI to tell the story of the final in Milan across social media, while football photographer Amy Maidment will join the BT Sport social team to produce exclusive images for Instagram and Snapchat.

Other social media initiatives by BT have included an Instagram competition to create a match poster for the final, which has been won by Irish illustrator Dan Leydon,

Ben Schwerin, director of partnerships, Snapchat, said: “We’re excited to partner with BT Sport on our first UEFA Champions league Live Story through which fans all across the UK will be able to experience what it’s like to be in Milan at one of the biggest global sporting events of the year. By capturing content from thousands of perspectives, we’ll bring them closer to the action than ever before.”

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “This shows once again we want to give top quality sport back to the people and this season’s UEFA Champions League Final will be the most accessible on social media platforms ever. We are bringing BT Sport to a new generation of sports fans and finding many ways to keep them entertained online and on their mobile devices. Our first season of showing the UEFA Champions League will conclude with lots of exciting content in the build-up and on the night across YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.”