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Stephens College is the first all-women's school with an eSports team
Last Thursday, Stephens College made history when it officially created the first varsity-level eSports team at an all-women's school. The program's 12-player squad will begin digitally competing in collegiate Overwatch leagues this fall.
University of Miami's sports VR app goes behind the scenes
The Olympics aren't the only sports-in-VR news this week -- college athletics will take the (virtual) field too. In conjunction with the University of Miami, EON Sports VR is starting a VR channel showcasing the school's sports teams. Previously, EON has brought VR to baseball and football training. Men's and women's scrimmages, practice footage and huddles will be accessible via a $30 Hurricane-branded headset, according to a prepared statement.
Twitter adds more college sports to its video streaming lineup
Twitter is adding new video streaming deals almost daily, and today it announced an agreement that pads its college sports lineup. Following last week's Pac-12 deal, the social network is teaming up with Campus Insiders to stream over 300 "live college events" from Mountain West Conference, Patriot League and West Coast Conference. Yes, that includes live games and competitions spanning football, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, baseball, volleyball, field hockey, water polo and swimming. If you're not familiar, Campus Insiders is like an all digital version of ESPN for college sports, offering news and live coverage for 3,000 live events thanks to partnerships with five conferences.
The Associated Press is automating college sports news, too
In an effort to bring the masses more sports news, the Associated Press plans to use automated tech for stories it wouldn't normally cover. The AP is working with the NCAA this spring to produce game reports across Division I baseball, Division I women's basketball and both Division II and III football. In the months to come, coverage will extend to Division II and III men's basketball -- probably just in time for next season. While the NCAA will provide the game stats, stories will leverage the tech that the AP already uses to automate thousands of earnings reports each quarter. "This will mean thousands of more stories on the AP wire, which will remain unmatched in the industry," said Barry Bedlan, the AP's deputy director of sports products. "Every college sports town will have some level of coverage." Local news outlets will certainly tap into the new feed, so hopefully small town beat reporters won't have to find a new niche. [Image credit: Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT via Getty Images]
Pac-12 Conference streams come to iPad, fuel that Big Game rivalry on the road
Cal and Stanford fans away from home no longer have to huddle around their laptops if they want to learn who's one-upping who. The Pac-12 Conference has just launched an iPad app for its authenticated Pac-12 Now service: as long as you're with a TV provider that carries the college sports division's games (sorry for now, DirecTV customers), you can tune into 850 live matches spread across a myriad of sports. As you'd hope, going the digital route allows for some on-demand viewing, a dedicated program guide and the social sharing you'll want to rope friends into watching. Only Bright House, Cox and Time Warner Cable subscribers can use the iPad viewer at first, although support should come to BendBroadband, Comcast, Frontier and Suddenlink this fall, right alongside Android- and iPhone-sized apps. Hopefully, they arrive in time for a little ego padding around the Big Game in October.
Final ESPN 3D NCAAF games announced with a Tostitos Fiesta Bowl surprise
Mad you missed ESPN's previous 3D college football broadcasts and worried it might not come back? Then get your DVRs and calendars at the ready, because the network has announced its remaining 3D college football broadcasts will follow the Boise State Broncos as they play the University of Hawaii on Saturday, November 6th at 3:30PM ET and Idaho on Friday, November 22th at 9PM ET. Combined with the first ESPN 3D NCAAF game, this means the heavily debated Broncos will at least temporarily hold the record for most 3D appearances in college football history. Sadly, it won't enhance their bid for the biggest 3D game of the season -- you know, the Tostitos BCS Championship on January 10th. But even if the blue turf's weak schedule woes keep them from the title, at least one of their records could still improve by returning to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl -- which ESPN also shared will be aired in 3D. Obviously waiting is no fun, but unless you jacked Adam Sandler's DVR from Click, reading our college football kickoff review can help pass the time until game day arrives.
Fresno State Bulldogs to see lots of HD play on KAIL-TV
Hopes are high for Fresno State, and with the expectation of greatness inevitably comes an HDTV deal. Okay, so maybe that's not a given per se, but the upcoming Bulldogs basketball / football seasons will indeed be aired to locals in high-definition. New for this year, MyNetworkTV affiliate KAIL-TV will serve as the flagship station for the institution and will broadcast every single game in its entirety. Better still, the tilts can be seen in HD on MD Digital 7.1 in and around Fresno, California. Congrats, Fresno State fans -- just don't gloat too much over there, cool?[Image courtesy of Bulldog Village]
Comcast to offer up NCAA March Madness, more films on HD VOD
Comcast isn't messing around with its HD VOD initiative, as just a under a month after it promised to deliver a slew of upcoming films to its on-demand library the same day they arrived on DVD, the cable company is hitting back with even more goodness for March. As expected, Comcast will be offering up NCAA March Madness Memories and Highlights via HD VOD, and if that wasn't enough, you can also catch sport-themed movie highlights this month as well. For those not exactly into hoops, you can check out Nancy Drew and August Rush at your convenience on March 11th, and your kids will certainly dig the exclusive HD replay of Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards on March 30th. For the full rundown on Comcast's March HD VOD plans, check out the release waiting after the jump.
Big Ten Network still courting Charter
Make no mistake, Big Ten Network has been quite successful in getting itself on a number of providers, but to this day, Charter subscribers in the eight-state Big Ten footprint are still missing out. According to a new report, the network is still anxious to get a deal done with Charter, as quite a chunk of Minnesota Gophers fans are currently cheering through Tubby Smith's inaugural season without the ability to view some 17 of the team's games. 'Course, we've no idea if Charter is even close to forking out the coinage required to land a carriage agreement, but at least one side isn't backing down, right?
Comcast, Big Ten duke it out over licensing fees
For the estimated 5.7-million Comcast subscribers residing in the Big Ten footprint, seeing your favorite games this coming Fall could end up costing you a bit more than expected. Apparently, the Big Ten conference and Comcast have yet to reach an agreement on carrying the Big Ten Network, as Comcast reportedly wants $1.10 per subscriber in order to host the content on a dedicated sports tier. The conference, however, suggests that watchful consumers shouldn't be forced to pay "undue costs" in order to watch local teams, and even points out that the Mountain West Sports Network is carried on Comcast's basic cable lineup in the Salt Lake City region. Of course, we all know there's more money to be made in the juggernaut that is the Big Ten, but if an agreement isn't reached by August 1st, the Big Ten Network "could go on the offensive and encourage millions of Big Ten alumni to switch to DirecTV."
