Elon Musk celebrates a big win on Twitter
This is an unexpected victory for Elon Musk and Twitter.
Less than three months after completing the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, the serial entrepreneur may finally achieve his biggest victory: the commitment of major sports advertisers to the sustainability of exciting contracts.
The microblogging site has reached agreements with major advertisers to continue promoting their services, events and products on the platform and reports Axios.
Almost all major sports leagues in the United States – NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour – have decided to continue broadcasting content on the social network. This content will be about promoting their games and related events.
For example, expect the NCAA to market March Madness, the NBA to promote the playoffs, and the NFL to overwhelm Twitter users with ads about the Super Bowl.
“party on”
Aside from the major sports leagues, major broadcasters of sporting events such as Turner sports with its channels TNT, TBS, ESPN, FOX, Univision and Telemundo also plan to continue to communicate on Twitter about these sporting events which often make up the bulk of their best audiences.
Musk appears to confirm this information by retweeting and commenting on Axios’ article with the words: “The party is on.”
“The party is on!! 💫 ♥ ️,” the billionaire wrote on Twitter.
This information is a huge relief for the billionaire and Twitter, 91% of their income comes from advertising Revenues In the second quarter of 2022, which is the last period for which earnings were announced. The company, which was delisted after Musk’s deal, has gone private. Thus, it is no longer obligated to publish its financial results.
Musk’s early days as the owner of Twitter were marked by an exodus from advertisers, most of whom paused their ads for brand safety reasons. They said they want to know what direction the billionaire intends to give the platform he wants to make a bastion of conservatives.
These advertisers were particularly concerned by Musk’s decision to reactivate accounts banned by Twitter 1.0, including that of former President Donald Trump, for violating the company’s safeguards against xenophobia, racism, Covid-19, antisemitism, and misinformation.
News outlets stay on Twitter
The brands were worried Twitter would turn into “hell” because the billionaire, who defines himself as the ultimate free speech tycoon, believes any message is acceptable on the platform as long as it doesn’t break the law. For many advertisers, Musk’s hands-off approach risks spreading hate and xenophobia on the platform, a risk they are unwilling to take, as their brands are associated with such messages.
This exodus of advertisers completely eroded the company’s financial health.
“Twitter isn’t safe yet, just not on the highway to bankruptcy. There’s still a lot of work to do,” the serial entrepreneur said Dec. 24.
He previously warned last November that Twitter was “losing more than $4 million a day.”
He reiterated this pessimistic view during his Twitter Spaces on Dec. 20. He said the platform is on track to reach $3 billion in negative cash flow before his deep cost cuts. Of the company’s 7,500 employees who were on staff when he arrived, at least 5,000 have been fired or let go.
Musk, who himself borrowed $13 billion to fund the Twitter deal, launched an austerity cure. According to many experts, these cost cuts and the relaunch of the Twitter Blue subscription service weren’t enough to make the platform profitable. This is why the return of sports advertisers is a big win for Musk as it could convince other advertisers in other industries to come back.
In addition to sports, media groups like NBCU, Paramount, and Disney also plan to promote themselves on Twitter about events like award shows, concerts, prime time shows, and super-popular TV shows like Disney’s The Bachelor on ABC and RuPaul’s Drag Race Report on MTV. Paramount and “The Masked Singer” on FOX, Axios reports.
Media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Axios, Bloomberg, Forbes, Conde Nast and USA Today also plan to continue a presence on Twitter and highlight their coverage of major events in which they are partners, the news outlet adds.
“Companies in general are missing out on the amazing opportunity Twitter provides to reach customers,” Musk said on January 17. “Just tweet interesting stuff! That’s all it takes.”