*By Conor White*
Now that Portugal has been eliminated from the FIFA World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo needs a new job, and Facebook could be stepping in.
The company is reportedly in talks with the soccer superstar for a 13-episode reality show on its 'Watch' platform, but not everyone thinks it will work.
"It's amazing to me that Facebook is willing to drop so much money on original programming," said Taylor Lorenz, staff writer at The Atlantic. "I think they're spending like $10 million reportedly on this. I don't think it'll bring people in."
In an interview Friday on Cheddar, Lorenz noted that even if this series happens, Facebook needs to reassess its approach to 'Watch'.
"To me, they're still trying to force this behavior of going there and treating it as a TV experience down users' throats."
With over 120 million fans on the platform, Ronaldo is the single most followed athlete on Facebook, so it's safe to assume a show starring him would at least attract international viewers, but they may not have the capability to properly watch it.
"One of the problems with international markets is they don't have the data streaming speed to watch these long shows," explained Lorenz. "Even my phone on my New York City WiFi can be buffering sometimes, I can't get through the whole show. So I think as they move into long form content, they really need to focus on the usability of it and making it work."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/welcome-to-local-twitter)
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry has added a fourth title to his resume: NBA player, investor, entrepreneur ー and now executive producer. Curry's first feature film, "Breakthrough," is slated for release on April 12, 2019. "I know people will love it," the three-time NBA champion told Cheddar in an exclusive interview on Friday.
Brad Twohig, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, said that Fortnite has built itself into a kind of social network and that the community its developed will likely help the game maintain its popularity for some time to come.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
At TwitchCon 2018, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear sat down with Cheddar CEO Jon Steinberg to discuss the streaming platform's explosive growth, the rise of Fortnite, and Twitch's relationship with parent company Amazon.
The formula of success for Twitch is its ability to ride the wave of hit games like "Fortnite" and "Overwatch." Twitch CEO Emmett Shear told Cheddar what the streaming platform's top priorities are going into 2019.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
The Baltimore Ravens are rolling the dice on a new partnership with Horseshoe Casino. The agreement will allow Horseshoe to use team trademarks and logos; the casino plans to eventually build a new Ravens-themed bar on site. The real opportunity, however, will present itself if the state of Maryland decides to legalize sports betting, the NFL team's Senior VP of corporate sales, Kevin Rochlitz, said Wednesday in an interview with Cheddar.
