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Facebook now offers fantasy sports and pop culture games
Facebook has launched fantasy games that let you predict the outcomes of TV shows and sports matches, including baseball and soccer.
Premier League wants video referees starting next season
The wheels are in motion for the Premier League to roll out the video assistant referee (VAR) system starting in 2019-2020. Teams have agreed in principle to the plan, and the league will formally request approval from FIFA and the International Football Association Board.
Spanish soccer league app spied on fans to catch pirate broadcasts
Is your phone listening to you? After all, there has to be a reason why so many apps ask to access your device's microphone. App makers and websites have long dismissed creepily relevant adverts as merely "targeted advertising", but now one app has revealed the unnerving potential of this permission. Spanish soccer league app, La Liga, has admitted to spying on users, and in doing so it's turning sports fans into unknowing snitches.
How La Liga is making Barcelona and Real Madrid games high tech
La Liga, Spain's professional football (soccer) league, is home to two of the biggest clubs in the world: Barcelona and Real Madrid. And those teams are each anchored by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, respectively, who are the two biggest players in the sport. While that alone is a reason to keep up with La Liga every season, the league isn't resting on its laurels and is working hard to make the game experience for fans more interactive -- particularly those watching at home. Through a partnership with Intel, La Liga is now letting TV viewers have access to 360-degree replays, thanks to the same True View tech that was recently implemented in the NBA and NFL.
Sky is shaking up the way you pay for and watch sport
Televised sport is big business -- just ask Sky and BT Sport. Between them, the two companies have spent billions in order to secure access to the world's biggest sporting leagues and major events, resulting in a significant markup for consumers. The rising cost of Sky Sports, for example, has led many to cut the package altogether or seek more dubious alternatives like the so-called Kodi box (although it's the add-ons, not the software facilitating illegal streams). Sky is keenly aware of this, so today it announced a new plan to make its sports coverage more accessible. It's expanding the number of Sky Sports channels to 10, which will cater for individual sports and allow customers to subscribe to each one on their own.
Valencia CF is the next big soccer club to start an eSports team
At this rate, soccer (aka football) clubs signing eSports teams is quickly becoming an everyday occurrence: Valencia CF has become the first club in Spain's La Liga to have its own eSports team. It's not certain just how many games the new outfit will play (Hearthstone and Rocket League are in the mix), but it's counting Twitch as an official partner. The first virtual match takes place roughly three weeks from now, in Madrid.
Facebook Live will broadcast a Spanish soccer game
Facebook's ability to broadcast live video makes it great for breaking news, but perhaps its eventual aim is to become an entertainment destination in its own right. The Spanish football league has announced that it'll use the service to broadcast a European football soccer game for the first time. The game will be streamed by Grabyo, an online video company backed by luminaries of the game Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas. If you want to watch the title tussle between Atletico Madrid Feminas vs. Athletic Club in the Women's league, then head to the Facebook on Saturday at 11:45 CET.
Sky Sports will show 100 extra La Liga matches this season
To make up for its lack of Champions League and Europa League football, Sky is doubling down on La Liga. The broadcaster will be showing over 300 matches from the Spanish division this season -- up from its usual tally of roughly 200. British interest in the league has always been high, given the quality of teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. With the extra games, however, Sky Sports customers will get to see more of football superstars Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez and Bale on their TVs. Are the fixtures enough to counterbalance the loss of the Champions League? No, but it's better than nothing. BT Sport is steadily growing its stockpile of live TV rights, so it's in Sky's interest to do the same. The company still has the lion's share of Premier League rights, but expanding its La Liga offering could stop a few unhappy subscribers from jumping ship.
beIN Sport USA soccer channel comes to Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network
While most of us have spent the last few weeks preparing for the return of North American-style football (get our NFL Pick 'Em league info here), soccer fans in the US and France have been tracking the sudden rise of international TV network beIN Sport. Operated out of Qatar by Al Jazeera, beIN Sport USA has snagged the exclusive broadcast rights to Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, France's Ligue 1, South American World Cup Qualifiers and Copa America 2015, plus the away games for the US national men's team in their qualifying rounds. The bad news for those interested in viewing the games is that until just recently, there were no carriers for the channel, although DirecTV (which also recently added BBC America HD for Doctor Who fans) and Dish have subsequently added it to a few tiers. Most recently, Comcast announced the channel's availability on its Spanish MultiLatino package and for English viewers on the Xfinity TV Sports Entertainment lineup, with access also available via internet streaming. It appears Fox and ESPN have a new challenger at least for broadcast rights to soccer, and beIN Sport has expressed interest into other arenas as well, which could see it become a newer version of the now-defunct Worldsport HD channel for fans of sports that are more popular outside the US.
DirecTV launches Fox Soccer Channel HD tomorrow
Having already added Gol TV HD last week, DirecTV is making fans of the other football even happier now that it's launching Fox Soccer Channel HD tomorrow. Between those two and Fox Soccer Plus matches in HD the satellite broadcaster is claiming over 320 live matches on deck for this season. From UEFA Champions league coverage later this month to La Liga and UEFA Europa League it's all there, along with a Soccer Mix channel to tune into up to 8 games in SD & HD simultaneously. FSC HD goes live on channel 619 tomorrow, while DirecTV's exclusive feeds of some tournament action will be on channels 480-489
