ESPN has partnered with AOL to make its short-form video content accessible through AOL Video and AOL Sports.
It’s the first time that ESPN has made its video content available through an Internet portal. ESPN will provide highlights from games and sporting events along with video clips via an embedded ESPN video player.
ESPN on AOL Video
(Photo Credit: Aol Video)
ESPN says the deal with AOL will expand its online reach leading to increased ad revenue. “Our advertisers benefit from a larger online video audience,” said Matt Murphy, senior vice president, digital video distribution at ESPN. “The potential is tremendous.”
Content available on AOL from ESPN will include “SportsCenter Right Now,” a twice daily recap of sports stories, highlights and breaking news; clips from ESPN programs including “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” “Pardon the Interruption” and “Around the Horn.” The video player will also have links to ESPN.com content related to the video topics.
Users will be able to access the ESPN content through AOL Video’s channel tab located on the homepage. ESPN videos can also be found through AOL’s video search, which is powered by its video search engine, Truveo.
In 2007, sports fans viewed ESPN.com videos more than 1.2 billion times, a 54 percent increase over 2006. On average fans viewed more than 105 million videos per month for the year (growing to an average of more than 127 million for Sept.-Dec).
