With games airing live on cell phones and computers, the World Cup will get more online coverage than any major sporting event yet. Watching highlights the next day on TV or YouTube will suddenly seem a downright ancient way to keep up with the action.
When the soccer tournament begins Friday, footy fans can follow the action from an array of mobile and Web applications and share in triumph and heartbreak across social media.
Walt Disney Co. networks ESPN and ABC, which are broadcasting the games in the U.S., will stream 54 games live on the newly launched ESPN3.com, formerly ESPN360. The games are free to those in the U.S. who get their Internet from a service provider affiliated with ESPN, including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and many others. The 10 games that will air live on ABC won’t be available on ESPN3.com, but all 64 matches in the Cup will be available live on mobile devices to customers whose plans include TV on their phones.
Univision Communications has the Spanish-language broadcasting rights in the U.S., and it, too, will have games available on Univision.com and Univision Movil.
The digital coverage will be an especially important component for the World Cup because U.S. audiences will be watching many of the games — all being played in South Africa — during the day, possibly on their computers at work.
Comparing the digital experiences of the 2010 World Cup to the 2006 World Cup, John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager of ESPN Digital Media, said, “Things have changed utterly.”
“This is going to be the biggest and most powerful demonstration of this, and it’s just the start,” Kosner said. “It’s the play book, it’s the blueprint for what’s coming.”
NBC’s online coverage of the last Winter Olympics — also an international, daytime event — was extensive, drawing 45…