Twitter, Gatorade, and Intersports Launch Live-Streamed High School Hoops Series, #TheDebut

Twitter is continuing its push into live streaming sports with a new series focused on high-school basketball in partnership with Gatorade and Intersport. #TheDebut is a new live stream broadcast on Twitter, featuring eight high school basketball games highlighting high-profile matchups that include some of the top players in the country. NBA 2K TV host Rachel Demita and former NBA players Baron Davis and Nate Robinson will serve as the broadcast team, providing live commentary and game coverage on-site from all eight games.

The live coverage – which begins Jan. 19 with Spartanburg Day School vs. Shannon Forest Christian – will be available globally to Twitter’s logged-in and logged-out audience, and can be found at live.twitter.com/TheDebut or via @Gatorade on computers, tablets and mobile devices. The live stream will also be accompanied by a Twitter timeline, featuring related real-time conversation to create a unified experience for viewers to watch, Tweet and view commentary about high school basketball’s top prospects.

This partnership comes off the heels of other recent Twitter brand/advertiser video collaborations and aligns with the company’s growing sponsored live business. Recent partnerships include Nike’s #Breaking2, Converse’s Public Access series, #TOMMYNOW by Tommy Hilfiger.

According to Twitter’s announcement, high school basketball is at the forefront of conversation on Twitter, making it the natural platform for high school hoops commentary. Twitter represents a national forum for high school hoops recruiting. Athletes declare commitments, coaches shout out players, and fans & alumni join the conversation all in one place on Twitter. Intersport is leading the partnership on school recommendations, talent, and will direct the consumer-facing stream.