A Second Screen Journey to the Cup: Twitter Dynamics During the Stanley Cup Playoffs

With Twitter and other microblogging services, users can easily express their opinion and ideas in short text messages. A recent trend is that users use the real-time property of these services to share their opinions and thoughts as events unfold on TV or in the real world. In the context of TV broadcasts, Twitter (over a mobile device, for example) is referred to as a second screen. This paper presents the first characterization of the second screen usage over the playoffs of a major sports league. We present both temporal and spatial analysis of the Twitter usage during the end of the National Hockey League (NHL) regular season and the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. Our analysis provides insights into the usage patterns over the full 72-day period and with regards to in-game events such as goals, but also with regards to geographic biases. Quantifying these biases and the significance of specific events, we then discuss and provide insights into how the playoff dynamics may impact advertisers and third-party developers that try to provide increased personalization.