The partnership will launch at the mixed martial arts promotion’s landmark UFC 200 event on 9 July and builds on Snapchat's growing list of influential brand and media partnerships which include the likes of Coca-Cola, Burberry and the Wall Street Journal.
Fans at the Las Vegas event will be able to contribute their unique experiences of the action to Snapchat’s burgeoning curated service, which is proving increasingly popular with brands looking to amplify attention around live events.
Live Stories gives users in the area of an event the option to contribute their snaps to the crowdsourced stream, which will be pinned to the top of all Snapchat users’ feeds.
The UFC’s executive vice president of global marketing partnerships, Michael Mossholder, said the partnership presented a “great opportunity to align our partners with exciting live content that was previously not accessible to our fans”.
Marshall Zelaznik, chief content officer at the UFC, added: “We’re dedicated to supplying access to our content through the platforms that are relevant to our lives and producing global Live Stories is another way we’re consistently engaging with our fans."
“By partnering with UFC, we’re able to bring Snapchatters closer to some of the world’s biggest sporting events,” said Ben Schwerin, director of partnerships at Snapchat.
“Live Stories throw our community into these experiences and, with the help of UFC, we’re able to show them all angles – from behind-the-scenes prep moments to inside the Octagon.”
The ad format of content creation outsourced to users has proven hugely popular for Snapchat, which is now increasing its focus on live sports having inked a major deal with the NFL deal to produce weekly Live Stories featuring behind-the-scenes experiences and game highlights.
While the social media platform's growth is predicted to overtake Twitter and Pinterest in the US for the first time this year brand's and advertisers continue to assess Snapchat's potential on a brand-by-brand basis.