World Footy News

ESPN have done a deal with Microsoft to provide its streaming ESPN3 service (which carries live AFL matches into the USA) to many Xbox 360 owners with Gold accounts in the USA. With the launch in November it will not give this viewing option until the 2011 season, and will only be available to customers whose ISPs also have a deal with ESPN to stream the service.

So it's not really a new service (but there will be some social and interactive features optimized for Xbox Live) because if you're a customer of one of those ISPs, you can already stream ESPN3 to your PC.

Although the arrangement might be attractive to Xbox owners who have their console hooked up to the giant plasma set, while the PC languishes in a home office, it won't bring ESPN3 content to the customers of Time Warner, Cablevision or many other major cable carriers. This weekend those who can view http://ESPN3.com in the US will see Round 13 AFL Matches Hawthorn v Essendon, Carlton v Fremantle and Brisbane v Richmond.
The full announcement can be seen below

ESPN today announced a collaboration with Microsoft, exclusive within the game console category, to introduce the ultimate interactive experience for sports fans. The deal will bring ESPN3.com’s live events, ESPN.com’s video-on-demand clips and sports highlights and other interactive features to the Xbox 360 console.

Beginning in November, Xbox LIVE Gold members who receive their Internet connection from an affiliated service provider will have access to more than 3,500 live, global events every year via http://ESPN3.com – ESPN’s 24/7 broadband sports network – including college basketball, college football and bowl games, MLB, NBA, international soccer, tennis including all four Grand Slam tournaments, golf majors and more. Fans will also be able to replay sports and events with full DVR control, pull up current scores on-demand while watching the game and easily switch between events and see what the most popular games are in the Xbox LIVE community in real time.

ESPN content and features available to all Xbox LIVE Gold members include:
• Daily Highlights: Access to http://ESPN.com video clips and daily sports highlights streamed on-demand;
• Kinect for Xbox 360 Integration: Microsoft’s new technology allows fans to control the content they watch with just their voice or wave of the hand;
• Team Affiliation: Declare favorite teams and see how many other people in the Xbox LIVE community are also fans;
• Social Activities: Connect to the Xbox LIVE community with in-game social activities like polls, trivia and prediction questions and more.

http://ESPN3.com is available in more than 50 million households nationwide – two-thirds of U.S. broadband homes – via dozens of affiliated Internet service providers including Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Cox, Charter, Windstream, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and many more. It is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.