It seems this social network is venturing into some new territory. Announced yesterday, Facebook Sports Stadium is a platform (within the preexisting Facebook framework) for following and engaging in – you guessed it – sports! At the moment it’s football-focused, but Facebook has plans to expand into the realms of soccer, basketball, and more. Why is Facebook paying so much attention to athletics?
- As it stands, many social media users (even those who prefer Facebook) prefer to follow the game on Twitter – after all, the second-by-second nature of tweeting lends itself rather perfectly to keeping score and tracking tackles. You can bet that Facebook is hoping to edge out the competition with this new addition.
- It’ll cut back on the back-and-forth. No more switching to Twitter to check the score and back to Facebook to chat with your friends. By providing organized access to reactions from friends, live scores, comments from experts, and where to watch the game, Facebook Sports Stadium will truly be a one-stop shop.
- Facebook Product Manager Steve Kafka put it into perspective when he said, “With 650 million sports fans, Facebook is the world’s largest stadium.” People already use Facebook to like sports and teams – discussing those likes with peers is an obvious next step, and Stadium is providing its users with a dedicated space in which to do that.
Let the games begin!