FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 19th, 2017

USA SWIMMING TAPS NBC SPORTS’ PLAYMAKER MEDIA TO POWER VIDEO CONTENT DELIVERY FOR USA SWIMMING PRODUCTIONS

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 19, 2017 – NBC Sports Group and USA Swimming will broaden their partnership with the announcement that NBC Sports’ Playmaker Media will power the launch of USA Swimming Productions.

Playmaker Media, owned by NBC Sports Group and operated by NBC Sports Digital, delivers direct-to-consumer, live streaming and video-on-demand solutions for major sports leagues,
professional team franchises, regional and national sports broadcasting networks and other premium rights holders of live-event content. USA Swimming is the first U.S. National Governing Body to employ Playmaker, which also provides video support for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) global digital Olympic Channel.

USA Swimming Productions is the cornerstone of USA Swimming’s long-term strategy to expand video delivery across all digital channels. It has been created to produce video, social, informational and educational content that will be distributed on different USA Swimming platforms to grow its membership and base of fans and also to promote the sport more widely. Designed to make the sport of swimming more accessible through additional video offerings, including live event coverage, USA Swimming will also leverage its new Productions unit to provide shoulder programming at major events, athlete profiles, and training and nutrition information for swimmers of all ages and backgrounds through its Playmaker alliance.

“When we looked how to best expand our distribution of content to TV, web, mobile, connected TVs and other digital areas, Playmaker Media clearly rose to the top as the most useful platform to reach our audiences,” said Matt Farrell, USA Swimming Chief Marketing Officer. “More and more, people are turning to digital first, and this partnership will make it so much easier to find events, educational content and to be introduced to our next generation of swimming stars leading into Tokyo 2020.”

“The NBC Sports and USA Swimming alliance continues to grow, and this Playmaker Media partnership is the latest example,” said Eric Black, Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, NBC Sports Digital. “Our digital team has always enjoyed a terrific relationship with USA Swimming, including our collaborative work during last summer’s USA Swimming Olympic Trials that attracted almost a half-million live streaming users. It’s successes like that which directly led to this USA Swimming Productions powered by Playmaker Media agreement.”

NBC Sports Group and USA Swimming recently announced a media rights agreement that provides NBC Sports Group with exclusive television and digital streaming rights to five premier
USA Swimming events through 2024.

USA Swimming Productions powered by Playmaker Media will debut on https://www.usaswimming.org/ on June 27 in advance of its 2017 Phillips 66 National Championships and World Championships Trials June 27-July 1 from Indianapolis.

About Playmaker Media

A company owned by NBC Sports Group and operated by NBC Sports Digital, Playmaker Media launched in May 2016 to provide end-to-end video support service for companies in need of best-in-class live streaming and VOD solutions. Since its launch, Playmaker Media has streamed tens of thousands of events that air across NBC, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Telemundo, NBCUniverso and six NBC Sports Regional Networks, including the record-setting Rio Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) signed on as Playmaker Media’s first client, with Playmaker providing live streaming video support for the IOC’s Olympic Channel, a global digital initiative which launched following the Rio Olympics. It also provided streaming support for NBC News’ 2016 election coverage. Playmaker also powers NASCAR’s global direct-to-consumers NASCAR TrackPass product that provides live, season-long coverage of NASCAR to 120 different nations. Starting in June with the Confederations Cup, Playmaker will provide the video platform for Telemundo’s extensive, Spanish-language streaming of FIFA 2018 World Cup from Russia.

About USA Swimming

As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 400,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.