For the largest global sporting event, ESPN created arguably the largest global content offering yet. Thirty two countries from around the globe will vie for the most prestigious sporting award, the FIFA World Cup — and ESPN is there to give fans of every stripe, the most up-to-date coverage, analysis and ways to interact with FIFA and its global audience. Certainly, ESPN is setting an almost impossibly high bar on how network event coverage will be measured in the future.
The international sports network provides rich and engaging content on nearly all mainstream platforms — giving users almost unlimited access on platforms they're already using. ESPN's complete coverage ensures all fans can full immerse themselves in FIFA, anytime, anywhere. If you're away from your computer and want to get live stat updates, check out ESPN's iPhone app, or if you're at your computer and want to see what your friends are saying about the game or want to paint your face in your team colors, check out ESPN's Facebook page, or, watch live coverage and add your own commentary at ESPN3.com. Regardless of where you get our FIFA fix, ESPN has you covered.
Mobile: Anytime, Anywhere
World Cup match times can be inconvenient for those not in the African timezone. That's where mobile comes in. On your way to work, in a meeting, at lunch, or any other time you might be away from your computer or TV screen, ESPN has you covered. In fact, ESPN's mobile app is incredibly comprehensive and offers premium features for die-hard footballers.
In the iPhone app store, the ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup app offers live streaming (on select phones and providers), live scores, tournament stats and tables, news and analysis from ESPN and ESPN soccernet, profiles of all 32 teams with map-enabled features, FIFA's team rankings, group news and profiles and a fantasy bracket predictor where users can test and choose next year's World Cup champions. And that's all for free.
Within the app, users can purchase premium features for $7.99. Premium content includes live ESPN radio streams of all 64 matches, near real-time video with analysis, customizable news alerts, live play-by-play analysis, detailed stats and field visualizations of every game. For die-hard footballers, the enhanced features are well worth the $7.99.
Social Networking: Setting an Impossibly High Bar on Facebook
ESPN's content-rich Facebook apps are a confluence of news, information, friend and fan networks, multimedia games and personalized FIFA badges. ESPN's Facebook page illustrates best-practices on how brands communicate, engage and entertain Facebook users. The page has an astounding 360,000 fans with approximately three hundred comments per update and an upwards of 1,300 "likes." The wall is only the first quarter of the game. The GameFace, Team Selector and Matches apps enable passionate fans to immerse themselves in ESPN's World Cup culture: