Eleven Sports is seeking to elevate the social element of its sports broadcasting platform, with the arrival of an innovative new feature that enables fans to watch live action together with friends and family in the same online space at the same time.
The broadcaster plans to roll out its ‘Watch Together’ feature in its international OTT (over-the-top) markets, with a trial period expected to launch in the coming weeks.
The new product, designed by tech start-up Reactoo, has been created to drive engagement and make watching sport a fun and social experience for fans – even when miles apart. As part of the new feature, subscribers will be able to create a ‘room’ and invite up to four fans to share the emotion of watching a live sports event.
Those in the room will be able to see, hear and chat while watching the live action, enabling them to debate the talking points and celebrate every goal as if they were all together.
Tom Middleditch, Global Head of Digital, Eleven Sports detailed: “Live sport is special because of the raw emotions that are attached to it. Watch Together enables fans to share these emotions and debate every decision, kick, tackle or punch, wherever they are. This is an exciting first for ELEVEN.
“Watch Together will help to drive engagement in the live event by encouraging active, as opposed to passive viewing habits. Currently fans debate talking points on text or social media while watching a match or fight passively, but our inventive new product will enable in-person interaction while remaining fully immersed in the action.
“Together with our partners Reactoo, we have created an easy-to-use viewing experience. We are delighted to be the first to bring it to the sports market globally, harnessing the versatility of online streaming and fulfilling our commitment to introduce innovative ways for fans to watch, engage in and enjoy live sport.”
Reactoo CEO, Marc Williams also spoke on the collaboration: “We’re on a mission to make watching sports more fun and engaging by enabling fans to watch with each other from anywhere.
“Using the latest technology, we are making it easier for all sports fans to share those special moments and we are proud to be the first watch together tech platform to introduce this transformative product to the global sports market.
“We are excited to work with ELEVEN SPORTS to launch Watch Together across its international markets and grow the use of our technology to a worldwide audience.”
