As the world of streaming becomes increasingly fragmented and content is distributed to more and more streaming services, sports fans are finding it increasingly difficult to follow their favorite teams.
According to a recent survey by smart TV platform Roku, 61% of respondents would like a central location where they can watch sports content, while 63% want a smart platform with features that allow them to browse content specifically related to their favorite teams and connections.
Roku has duly answered this wish list of sports fans with a new sports experience that combines live and upcoming sports from its massively content-rich platform into one central location, accessible directly from the Roku home screen menu.
Roku-using sports fans wanting to access the new Sports experience need to do the following:
- Scroll down to the Sports access icon on the Home Screen Menu, or search for ‘sports’ or associated words such as a specific team or league name using Roku Search or Roku Voice.
- Within the new Sports experience, users will see live and upcoming games for an initial roster of leagues, conferences and more.
- If you then click on the access tile for a game you’re interested in, you’ll be presented with all the options for watching that game on every supported channel.
- Sports fans can additionally choose to select various ‘Zones’ specific to individual sports or leagues, providing distilled access to live and upcoming events, other supplemental content specific to users’ favourite leagues, and content ‘shelves’ dedicated to free content.
For individual sports or leagues, offering distilled access to live streams and upcoming events, other additional content related to users’ favorite leagues, and content “shelves” dedicated to free content.
Meanwhile, as a sign of the commercial potential of its new sports experience, Roku notes that GNC already sponsored a college football-only Sports Zone back in November.
“We know that the following of sports streaming sites has only fragmented in recent years,” said Alex Hill, Roku’s director of life and sports. “Following your favorite teams should be easy, which is why we felt it was important to develop a smoother and more simplified way to find and watch sports on our platform.” Sports is an important part of the streaming experience, and we continue to improve it, for example by adding supported providers and finding new ways for our users to follow their favorite teams.
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