What: Major League Soccer agrees to use Facebook’s live streaming.
Why it matters: Thanks to an agreement with Univision Deportes, MLS’s official Spanish broadcaster, the league’s matches will be broadcast live through the popular social network. In addition, viewers will be able to access comments in English from the Spanish broadcaster’s FB page. The bet is an interesting one, because it targets users of mobile devices.
Major League Soccer is the latest sports league to broadcast its matches live via Facebook, thanks to an agreement with Univision Deportes, the official partner of MLS’s Spanish broadcasts.
This year, at least 22 regular season games can be enjoyed through Facebook Live streaming, including access to comments in English on Univision Deportes’s FB page.
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This is a product intended for the mobile device market, so the specific comment stream for Facebook will be important, as will interactive graphics and surveys for fans, and previous information on matches.
The first match to be broadcast via FB live streaming will be Chicago Fire vs. Atlanta United, on March 18, according to the MLS announcement.
“We are committed to serving our passionate fans,” said Gary Stevenson, president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures. “We’re working with all of our partners to make sure our games and additional content reach our fans anytime, anywhere, and on any device.”
Univision thus doubles its soccer broadcasts through Facebook Live, just weeks after it announced its agreement to broadcast Liga MX games.
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