US sports broadcaster ESPN announced a partnership with Facebook that will allow a syndicated video player from the ESPN3 internet service to be carried on the social networking website.
For 10 days from today, March 1, college basketball fans in the US will be able to watch live coverage of 225 men’s and women’s matches directly through Facebook.
Teams and conferences will also be able to display the ESPN3 player on their official Facebook pages.
It is the first time that live, streamed sports action from an ESPN network will be available through Facebook.
ESPN3 vice-president Damon Phillips told USA Today that the initiative aimed to provide ESPN’s broadband service with another outlet. “We see this as a big opportunity,” he said. “You fish where the fish are.”
Facebook users will be able to access the ESPN3 player through one of ESPN’s Facebook pages but they must already have access to ESPN3 through an affiliated internet provider or the Time Warner Cable pay-television operator.
ESPN3 is available in 72 million US homes at no additional cost to those who receive their internet connection or subscription from an affiliated service provider. The network is also available at no cost to about 21 million US college students and US-based military personnel via computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.
ESPN3 streams more than 4,000 live events per year.