Watching sports on Twitch? A study of factors influencing continuance intentions to watch Thursday Night Football co-streaming

An emerging form of social media service - livestreaming - has been increasingly adopted by sports organizations to foster fan engagement. The National Football League (NFL) is no exception to this trend as it collaborates with Twitch, one of the most popular livestreaming platforms, to broadcast Thursday Night Football (TNF). By leveraging Twitch's video game personalities (streamers), the new format of sports livestreaming, also known as co-streaming, allows the co-creation of TNF experience characterized by personalized commentary and ample socialization opportunities. Given the novel partnership, the current study drew from service-dominant logic (S-D logic) to examine the relationships among co-streamer expertise, co-streamer identification, co-streaming fit, virtual interactions, and continuous watching intentions. Results obtained from an empirical study on 2019 TNF co-streaming showed that both co-streaming fit and virtual interactions positively impacted continuous watching intentions. More importantly, co-streaming fit mediated the effects of co-streamer expertise and viewer identification on behavioral proclivities. Among highly identified viewers, co-streamer expertise had a greater impact on co-streaming fit. Findings gleaned from this study broadened the applicability of S-D logic and advanced the understanding of value co-creation in sports livestreaming.

Automated summary

Livestreaming is increasingly used by sports organizations to engage fans, with the NFL collaborating with Twitch to broadcast TNF. Co-streaming allows personalized commentary and socialization opportunities, enhancing the TNF experience. Results from a 2019 study show that co-streaming fit and virtual interactions positively impact continuous watching intentions, with co-streaming fit mediating the effects of co-streamer expertise and viewer identification on behavioral proclivities.