stayinginbounds:

For sports fans in the digital age, one screen just isn’t enough.

As the ever-evolving phenomenon known as “social TV” continues to explode, progressive teams, leagues, networks and sponsors are leveraging the use of fans’ second, third and fourth screens to enhance the viewing experience and…

(via stayinginbounds-deactivated2013)

Big and bold move by ESPN… will be interesting to see how this experiment goes.  I agree with their VP’s quote, “We see this as a big opportunity. You fish where the fish are.” 

In a first for the sports network, ESPN will stream live NCAA basketball games on Facebook. It’s an extension of ESPN3′s distribution, so that means users will have to be qualified (via an affiliated internet provider) to watch ESPN3 in the first place. And ESPN3 won’t stream the tournament — just the 225 men’s and women’s Championship Week games, which get underway on Thursday. Still, it’s a big move to bring live, valuable video to Facebook.

Beyond ESPN’s own Facebook pages, the ESPN3 player will also appear on team and conference Facebook pages, greatly increasing distribution. “(It’s) another front door to our content,” explains ESPN3 vice president Damon Phillips in an interview with USA Today. “We see this as a big opportunity. You fish where the fish are.”  

TV brands have been reticent to offer their core content to Facebook. Undoubtedly, this is a bit of an experiment for ESPN, and it wouldn’t be a surprised if see more ESPN3 content there in the future.

Although this clip is belated and the race was rain delayed, there are still good take aways about innovative social media plans and efforts by the network televising the D500.

When most people think of tech-savvy social media users, they probably don’t picture fans of NASCAR. At this weekend’s Daytona 500, though, social media will play a central role in television coverage of the event. Speed TV, which carries much of the Daytona 500 coverage and will broadcast Sa…