Facebook is tackling the sports arena with a new platform called Facebook
Sports Stadium, which the social media site said will provide real-time
updates on games, popular posts from fans, statistics and commentary
from experts.
“With 650 million sports fans, Facebook is the world’s largest stadium,” it wrote in a post Wednesday announcing the feature.
Facebook, which said it had an average 1.01 billion active daily users as of September, reports its fourth-quarter earnings on 27 January.
The new service appears to be an effort to encroach on Twitter’s territory. The micro-blogging site has long been a popular destination for so-called “live-tweeting” games.
MichaelAaron Flicker, president of XenoPsi, a New York City-based marketing firm, said the new product is Facebook’s attempt at capturing “in the moment” engagement.
“They don’t have that piece of the puzzle,” Flicker said. “The challenge for Facebook is there are already a lot of communities (like Facebook Sports Stadium). This is not a unique offering.”
Facebook Sports Stadium currently covers only American football games and comes ahead of next month’s Super Bowl, on 7 February. But it will support other sports, including basketball and soccer, in the future, Facebook said.
The service can be accessed by searching for an individual game. The company announced Facebook Sports Stadium late Wednesday night, a section of Facebook where users can go and follow major sporting events with things like player stats and videos and Facebook content from other people following along.
The feature looks a lot like what you’d find inside of ESPN’s or CBS’s mobile app, although the Stadium feature relies almost entirely on Facebook content. One tab has things your Facebook friends are saying about the game; a separate tab is for things that “experts” (verified Facebook users) are saying.
The company doesn’t have a content partner for this launch, but it is licensing game data from a company called Sportradar.
“With 650 million sports fans, Facebook is the world’s largest stadium,” it wrote in a post Wednesday announcing the feature.
Facebook, which said it had an average 1.01 billion active daily users as of September, reports its fourth-quarter earnings on 27 January.
The new service appears to be an effort to encroach on Twitter’s territory. The micro-blogging site has long been a popular destination for so-called “live-tweeting” games.
MichaelAaron Flicker, president of XenoPsi, a New York City-based marketing firm, said the new product is Facebook’s attempt at capturing “in the moment” engagement.
“They don’t have that piece of the puzzle,” Flicker said. “The challenge for Facebook is there are already a lot of communities (like Facebook Sports Stadium). This is not a unique offering.”
Facebook Sports Stadium currently covers only American football games and comes ahead of next month’s Super Bowl, on 7 February. But it will support other sports, including basketball and soccer, in the future, Facebook said.
The service can be accessed by searching for an individual game. The company announced Facebook Sports Stadium late Wednesday night, a section of Facebook where users can go and follow major sporting events with things like player stats and videos and Facebook content from other people following along.
The feature looks a lot like what you’d find inside of ESPN’s or CBS’s mobile app, although the Stadium feature relies almost entirely on Facebook content. One tab has things your Facebook friends are saying about the game; a separate tab is for things that “experts” (verified Facebook users) are saying.
The company doesn’t have a content partner for this launch, but it is licensing game data from a company called Sportradar.
Source: Red Code
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