WWE is bodyslamming its way on to your smartphone screens, thanks to a new multiyear partnership with Snapchat.
The wrestling coverage will kick off with footage from WWE’s biggest event, WrestleMania, which is due to take place this Sunday April 3 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
WWE will broadcast a Snapchat Live Story from WrestleMania that combines video footage and images from fans attending the event, alongside behind-the-scenes clips from the wrestling entertainment behemoth.
“We are thrilled to partner with Snapchat and provide our fans with a new way to experience WrestleMania,” said Jayar Donlan, WWE senior vice president, digital and social content. “The Snapchat Live Story allows WWE fans to share their stories from our annual pop culture extravaganza and dive into the live action of WrestleMania in more ways, and from more perspectives, than ever before.”
As is usually the case for official sports and entertainment content on Snapchat, advertising will also play a part in the deal, with Snickers acting as WWE’s first-ever Snapchat Live Story brand partner. The company is also the official presenting partner of WrestleMania itself.
“By partnering with WWE for our coverage of WrestleMania and future events, we are able to bring Snapchatters and WWE fans new and old even closer to the action and behind-the-scenes of some of the biggest events in sports and entertainment,” said Ben Schwerin, director of partnerships at Snapchat.
WrestleMania 32 is predicted to break attendance records of WWE’s annual wrestling extravaganza, with 100,000 fans expected to cram into AT&T Stadium, according to Vox. The main attraction will likely be Triple H’s defense of his world heavyweight title against challenger Roman Reigns. Recent viewership figures have seen 1.5 million to 2 million people tune into the event live on pay-per-view and via the organizer’s streaming platform, the WWE Network. The wrestling entertainment giant will be hoping it can add to those numbers by attracting Snapchat’s global audience of around 100 million daily active users.