Look out, ESPN. There's a new game in town and it brings with it more than 1.5 billion loyal subjects. I'm of course talking about Facebook and its new feature, Sports Stadium.
Facebook Sports Stadium is quite simply a hub for all things sports on the social network. In it, you'll be able to see live scores, stats and play-by-play details as well as posts from your friends and their comments on the action. What's more, users can find posts and commentary from teams, leagues and journalists.
The one thing Facebook Sports Stadium won't have is the game itself as they're only licensing game data, not live broadcasts.
Dan Reed, head of global sports partnerships at Facebook, told Re/code that Sports Stadium is designed to complement the television and in-game experience. Reed added that it provides the vital conversation and interaction around the game that they think is really critical to consuming live sports.
Or in other words, it's a second screen experience.
Facebook Product Manager Steve Kafka said they'll be rolling the new feature out today for American football games (just in time for one of the biggest sporting events of the year, the Super Bowl). The social network plans to support other sports including basketball and soccer in the near future.
Sports Stadium is launching first on iPhone and will expand to other platforms in the coming weeks, we're told.