Facebook to broadcast more sport through Perform deal

Thousands of live sports matches and on-demand content will be available to view through an integration with Perform's online sport content platform, LiveSport.TV.

This will include coverage from sports including rugby league, rugby union, the European and South American football leagues, world snooker and Australian Rules football.

Facebook's 900 million users will be able to watch content through an application on the social network, while Livesport.TV will become integrated with Facebook's API, meaning viewers can log on using their Facebook details.

The on-demand content will be available free and will be ad-funded using instream ads. Live sports matches will be available to subscribers only, at £2.99 a month.

Oliver Slipper, joint chief executive at Perform, said he believed the integration would be a "great opportunity" for Livesport.TV, which launched just over a year ago, to build its subscriber bases and increase VOD audience.

He said: "Our focus with Facebook will be to use the targeted advertising to communicate with niche fans around the world, looking for special interest live sports content, and use the in-built virality of the platform to target the hundreds of millions of sports fans on Facebook to share our VoD sports content, and drive video views globally."

Last year, Facebook streamed an FA Cup match on the social network, with sponsorship from Budweiser. Facebook plans to broadcast more FA Cup matches next season.

The latest move marks a wider trend on Facebook, as it moves to become an entertainment channel, showing content from BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and Warner Bros.

Follow Sarah Shearman on Twitter @Shearmans

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk