Skip to main content

NBC Sports uses Snapchat account to promote ‘Winter Classic’ hockey game

companies advertise on snapchat for super bowl 50 how to use
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Hockey may not be as popular in the United States as it is in our neighbor to the north, but that may begin to change now that NBC Sports is using Snapchat to drum up interest for its “Winter Classic,” which airs New Year’s Day. The new account will give sports fans a brand new inside look at how the legendary Gillette Stadium is transformed from the home of the New England Patriots to an outdoor hockey rink. By giving subscribers a behind-the-scenes look at everything from NBC’s production trucks all the way down to rink-side, this may be the closest some of us get to the event.

By allowing NHL analyst and former player in his own right Jeremy Roenick to take over the account on Thursday, the media outlet hoped to give hockey fans a more intimate look at the makings of a great game. This isn’t the first athlete NBC Sports’ has allowed to manage its account — in fact, it has an ongoing program that features different takeovers of various social media accounts. Yesterday, that Snapchat account also featured footage from the yearly “Fan Fest” in addition to the alumni game between ex-Boston Bruins and ex-Montreal Canadiens. And today, as the game gets underway, you can get up-to-the-minute updates with videos and photos from the match up.

“Oftentimes, the angle that we take on the social media side is: What do viewers want from us that they may not be able to get from our league partners, or teams or the athletes themselves?” said Lyndsay Signor, director of social media marketing at NBC Sports, in an interview with Digiday. The outlet is going to have to get creative to compete with main rival ESPN, which also maintains a popular Snapchat account of its own.

“We’re tapping everybody who can help fans get access to these areas they otherwise couldn’t,” said Signor, so if you’re a hockey fan, you may want to download (or stay on) Snapchat today.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Bluesky social media app logo.

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more