Disney is reportedly investing $250 million in DraftKings Inc., a Boston-based online fantasy sports startup. DraftKings enables fans to play fantasy sports on a per-game basis with real money. As part of the deal, DraftKings has committed to spending more than $500 million in future advertising on ESPN’s platforms. While sports fans have enjoyed a variety of options for fantasy leagues from CBS, ESPN, Yahoo and others, the model involved tracking performances across an entire season — and did not involve playing for cash payouts. Continue reading DraftKings: Disney Investing in Online Fantasy Sports Business

Under its deal with the NCAA, Turner Sports will manage a March Madness channel on YouTube for the tournament that kicks off March 17. This marks the first official YouTube channel dedicated solely to providing updates of the NCAA basketball tournament. The channel will feature highlights and recaps from all 67 games in addition to news, analysis and press conferences from CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV. However, sports fans that want to watch entire games from the tournament online will require a pay TV subscription. Continue reading NCAA March Madness Gets First Dedicated YouTube Channel

Turner Sports announced that NCAA March Madness Live set a new record with 69.7 million live video streams collectively across platforms. The 2014 tournament’s live video streams were up 42 percent compared to the previous year. NCAA March Madness Live — in partnership between the NCAA, Turner Sports and CBS Sports — netted 15 million hours of live video consumed, which is also a new all-time record. Live streams via tablets and smartphones were up 71 percent this year. Continue reading NCAA Tournament Marks New Record for Live Video Streaming

Twitter rolled out a new platform this week for hosting video that provides iPhone and Android smartphone users with image previews of video clips in their feeds. “In-line video” allows users to play the clips with a simple click. The company has been working with TV networks and video producers over the past year to make watching video clips — such as sports highlights and show previews — easier for Twitter users. The new feature marks the biggest change to tweets since the automatic preview of photos was introduced. Continue reading Twitter Introduces In-Line Video to Make Watching Clips Easier

The possibility of 360-degree sports coverage using Google Glass is expected to be a hot topic this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. As sales of wearable technology have skyrocketed in just the past couple of years — almost 300 percent in 2012 alone — such technology’s potential is being tapped by developers and sports fans alike. The latest idea is to be able to broadcast dozens of perspectives of Google Glass wearers during the same event. Continue reading Google Glass Views Could Join Sports Broadcasting Efforts

Tomorrow morning, the Speed and Fuel networks will be transformed into the much-hyped Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 channels, in a move intended to compete with ESPN. Fox has landed deals with college conferences Pac-12 and Big 12 football and basketball, Big East basketball, NASCAR, the UFC, Major League Baseball, World Cup soccer and, most recently, the U.S. Open golf championship. The TV everywhere companion app Fox Sports Go will not launch concurrently, as it continues its testing phase. Continue reading Fox Takes On ESPN Saturday with Launch of Sports Channels

With March Madness underway, many sports fans will be using social media to read and share updates about their favorite college basketball teams. To enhance the social and second screen experience this year, Twitter has joined forces with Turner Broadcasting and startup SnappyTV to provide instant 15-second replay videos of popular game highlights through Twitter’s news feed. The move will also create new opportunities for advertising revenue. Continue reading Twitter Offers Video Highlight Clips During March Madness

According to a press release from Turner Sports, CBS Sports and the NCAA, this year’s 68-team NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tournament will feature newly enhanced March Madness on Demand (MMOD) live products. The services (produced by Turner Sports Interactive) will be available across multiple platforms, including online, and as an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and for the first time, the iPad. Features available over Wi-Fi and 3G include live viewing with larger format streams, a personalized channel lineup, live in-game stats, social companion views, and more.

Live streaming of every game broadcast by CBS Sports and Turner Sports will start with the First Four on March 15, and run through the Men’s Final Four semifinals and national championship game on April 2 and April 4.

Beginning March 10, free mobile apps will be available for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad from the iTunes Apps store.

For a complete list of features, check out the press release included in the Engadget post.