Twitter huddles with NFL to tackle audience challenge

Twitter is huddling with the National Football League as it tackles the challenge of attracting a broader audience to its short messaging service.

A two-year content and advertising deal announced Monday expands upon similar partnerships that Twitter forged with the NFL in 2013 and 2014.

The NFL plans to funnel nearly three times more content into Twitter than last year, a commitment that will include more video highlights and pictures from games in progress. Twitter will use an automated formula to prominently display NFL tweets and related ads in the streams of accountholders likely to enjoy the information.

The NFL's Twitter blitz starts with Thursday's preseason games. Financial terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.

The NFL's show of faith comes as Twitter tries to reverse a slowdown in user growth.