March Madness technically doesn’t begin until the NCAA Tourney tips off March 13th (play-in game) or March 15th (the real games), but to me, March Madness definitely encompasses the conference tournaments that play such a big role in who gets in the big dance and who gets left out.
And now, you’ll be able to watch all the action while browsing your news feed.
Starting this Thursday (March 1st), ESPN will stream the conference tournaments on their Facebook page. According to the LA Times, the coverage will include over 200 games.
“Our goal is to make our content available to fans where they want it,” said Matt Murphy, senior vice president of digital video distribution for ESPN. “The timing made sense as well. Fans already spend time catching up with friends on Facebook — and now they can watch games without leaving that environment. It’s a great way for us to reach our fans and increase awareness and usage of ESPN3.”
The Facebook streaming will run through ESPN3, which means that your internet service provider will have to be on the list.
There’s no word on any bonus social aspects of the Facebook streaming, but you have to believe that Facebook would be a fun place to watch a basketball game – it could be like a giant online sports bar where you can chat with millions of fans while you watch.
When we finally get to NCAA Tourney time, you’ll have to switch over to CBS. Earlier this month we learned that those March Madness games will be available online and via mobile, but will be hidden behind a $3.99 paywall.
It looks like ESPN got their pretty new timeline page (seen above) just in time, as Facebook began to roll those out to brands earlier today.