The hugely popular league will be able to publish live video clips to social media much faster than before

Blackbird and NRL_May 2019

Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) has moved over to cloud video platform Blackbird for live video clipping, editing and publishing of match highlights.

The NRL’s digital team, which is based in Sydney, will now use Blackbird to create short highlights during live matches and speed up publishing to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and NRL.com.

The NRL describes itself as the most viewed and attended rugby league club competition in the world, and includes teams such as the New Zealand Warriors, the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos. It was Australia’s most watched sport last year.

Its contract with Blackbird is for an initial two years. NRL head of digital operations Quanah McBride, said: “NRL Digital are looking forward to working with the Blackbird team and technology to optimise our live editing workflows and expedite publishing timelines.”

Ian McDonough, CEO of Blackbird, added: “The Blackbird platform will offer the NRL the speed and agility needed to clip, edit and publish highlights for fans in real-time, as the games are being aired live. The confidence of the NRL in our platform confirms Blackbird’s growing strength in the global sports industry.”