BBC Sport updates live sport coverage plans
March 20, 2018
By Colin Mann
Following the November 2017 announcement by the BBC that it was reinventing its free-to-air coverage of live sports, the corporation is to increase its coverage of tennis, women’s football, swimming and basketball, as well as broadcasting coverage from more than 30 additional sports or sporting events every year, revealing further details of its plan to stream 1,000 extra hours of live sport a year.
More than 26 additional sports and sporting events – including Women’s Super League football, British Basketball League, wheelchair rugby and the early rounds of the FA Cup – have already been streamed via BBC Sport online and the iPlayer.
The initiative includes a collaboration with UK Sport, which will enable more major Olympic and Paralympic sporting events to be live streamed to the public.
All of the BBC’s sports coverage is available to stream through connected devices, TV, tablet and mobile.
The BBC Sport connected TV app will be relaunched later this year.
“We’re giving people more of what they love by working in partnership with the sports industry and making the most of digital technology,” commented BBC director general Tony Hall. “This shows how we’re reinventing the BBC for a new generation.”
Viewers will be able to personalise the service, which the BBC says will “deliver more sport to more people”.
“We’ve seen the nation get behind by a whole host of sports in recent years, especially at major events,” noted Barbara Slater, head of BBC Sport. “We want to use BBC Sport’s live streaming service to showcase more of those moments that inspire people to take part.”