At Snapchat NewFront, Firm Unveils Pact With Issa Rae’s Ensemble To Expand Support For Diverse Creators, Plus New In-App Sports Channel, Live Nation Music Deal & More

Snapchat parent Snap Inc. made a flurry of announcements during its NewFronts presentation to advertisers, including team-ups with Issa Rae and Live Nation as well as the launch of an in-app sports channel.

At the event Wednesday night in New York, the company said it has also renewed its agreements with the NBA and WNBA and reached a deal with longtime partner NBCUniversal centered on the Paris Olympics. As part of the NBCU pact, Snap Stars like Livvy Dunne, Harry Jowsey, Kai Cenat, Duke Dennis and Enisa will be in Paris to offer their takes on the Games to Snapchat users.

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Rae’s Ensemble, which launched recently with a focus on brands and the creator economy through a multicultural lens, is connecting with Snap’s 523 Program. The two will work on expanding Snap’s 523 creator accelerator program and making it available to creators from all minority ethnic groups as well as the LGBTQ+ community. Ensemble will help brands and 523 creators produce content and receive mentorship.

“Ensemble shares our mission to amplify the stories of creators from underrepresented communities,” the company said. “Together, we’ll empower this year’s 523 class of storytellers while providing brands with opportunities to collaborate directly with them.” Applications for the 2024 creator cohort are open from May 1 to June 1.

With sports increasingly over-indexing across social media, Snap’s new in-app sports channel is designed to capture the passions of many of the platform’s 422 daily active users. Similarly, with music a key area of interest, the partnership with Live Nation is aimed as providign users with unique access to music experiences via Live Nation, a leading events promoter and venue operator.

Snap’s presentation also covered plans for new augmented reality tools to enhance the ad experience for users as well as AR and machine learning tools designed to increase consumer engagement with ad content.

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