May 22 (Reuters) - Alphabet's YouTube has

hired long-time Walt Disney ( DIS ) executive Justin Connolly to

serve as its global head of media and sports, the company said

on Thursday, as the video service pushes further into sports and

traditional media.

Connolly will manage the platform's relationships with major

media companies as well as take charge of the company's growing

live-sports portfolio, according to a source familiar with the

matter.

The popular video sharing platform has been aggressively

pursuing live sports for the past few years, alongside

competitors such as Netflix and Amazon, in a bid to take

advantage of its massive user base and large sports audience.

YouTube inked a $14 billion NFL streaming deal in 2022,

which enables it to stream big football matches, while Amazon

and other media firms also rushed to secure big sports streaming

deals.

The platform has also expanded beyond traditional video

sharing and into live TV, music and podcasts, and generates

billions in advertising revenue from its vast content reserves.

Connolly spent over two decades at ESPN ( DIS ) and Disney and

exited his role as head of platform distribution earlier this

week as Disney gears up to launch its ESPN ( DIS ) sports streaming

platform.