Facebook said it selected members for the Facebook Live payment program based on a variety of different factors, choosing creators who can easily produce and test a variety of different formats and those who had some early success with Facebook Live. Soccer, in particular, figures prominently on Facebook’s list of contracts, demonstrating the company’s ambitions to give Facebook Live a global appeal. Facebook has signed contracts with nearly 140 media companies and celebrities to create video for Facebook Live, The Wall Street Journal reported last month. The Facebook Live contracts vary in length from a few months to a year. Barcelona drew in more than 500,000 views for a live video press conference with new player André Gomes and about 340,000 views for a recent training session.

Source: Wall Street Journal July 28, 2016 17:37 UTC