Living outside of your teams coverage area can be a challenging aspect of being a sports fan. In the last few years ESPN has drastically increased the number of games available on national broadcast and MLB has made great strides with its At Bat app to make your favorite team available anywhere you may be with an internet connection.
This has not been the case for fans of Pacific 12 universities during the tumultuous start to the conference’s new national network. While the network debuted in August 2012, it still doesn’t have a contract with DIRECTV, the nation’s largest provider for sports. It also, until recently, didn’t have a contract with AT&T Uverse and has slowly entered the nationwide audience with Comcast. This has become problematic for fans outside of the conference footprint as they often are unable to watch games that are shown on the Pac-12 network at home or at a local establishment.
This is where TuneIn is trying to give fans an alternative, even though it isn’t providing the games live on television.
TuneIn has become the world’s leading service for listening to live, online radio, and last week announced it will offer all Pac-12 football games through online digital radio free of charge to anyone that logs in through their app. Through collaborations with IMG College, Learfield Sports, ESPN Radio and Spartan Sports Network, TuneIn will provide free access to hundreds of college football games spanning every conference. This particular offering from TuneIn will also include live broadcasts of every Pac-12 game.
“TuneIn connects people with the places and things that mean the most to them,” said TuneIn CEO John Donham. “By giving college football fans a way to listen to hundreds of live games, TuneIn is bringing the passion of live sporting events to the world in a way that has not been done before.”
“Until now, it has been difficult for fans to catch a free, live game outside of the school’s network area,” said Chad Cleveland, Assistant Vice President, Digital Content and Strategic Partnerships, IMG College. “This collaborative effort among our partner schools and TuneIn is a great compliment to our terrestrial radio affiliates in bringing fans free audio broadcasts on a variety of platforms. Fans can enjoy their favorite team’s home radio call from anywhere in the world – on their computer, in the car, or on their smart phone.”
As mentioned before, despite football’s immense popularity there is still a large population of displaced sports fans who cannot easily access live content. TuneIn now will offer hundreds of live games from every conference, allowing the Pac-12, SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, AAC, ACC, MAC and WAC to be accessed for free through TuneIn on more than 200 platforms, including smartphones, tablets, vehicles and gaming consoles, across more than 230 countries and territories.
The addition of college football bolsters the already extensive list of live international events on TuneIn, which today includes a mix of live sports, music festivals, speaking events, concerts and more.
These games can be found by searching “college football” on the free TuneIn Radio app or visit here to hear live games, and team-related programming and updates. Fans using the TuneIn Radio app on iPhone, iPad or Android devices can add upcoming live games to a digital calendar.
SportTechie was able to speak with Ryan Polivka, Director of Marketing for TuneIn for some additional thoughts on the app’s new partnership with the Pac-12.
SportTechie: Describe TuneIn and how it got started as well as some key points about how it works.
Ryan Polivka: TuneIn is the world’s most popular service for listening to live, online radio. Each month, over 40 million people use TuneIn to listen to music, sports, news and talk, across more than 70,000 AM, FM and Internet radio stations. TuneIn is available on more than 200 platforms to listeners in 230 countries and territories, and on the web, iOS and Android platforms. Listening to TuneIn is completely free, and there’s no limitation on your listening hours.
When it comes to college football, fans should know that TuneIn’s live service is free, available anywhere in the world (wherever you have Internet service or mobile data reception) and extremely organized in the sense that you can search for a team and set a calendar reminder to listen.
SportTechie: The Pac-12 has had a tumultuous start getting set up on a number of providers and still isn’t on DIRECTV in Year 2. How did this partnership come about?
RP: Live radio provides an alternative distribution channel for sports content and streaming solutions, and in some cases, is the only way fans can connect with the teams they care about if the game is not on TV. TuneIn helps break down barriers of access so fans never have to miss a play. Also, there is no comparison to the rush of a live game. By giving college football fans a way to listen to hundreds of live games, TuneIn is bringing the passion of live sporting events to the world in a way that has not been done before.
SportTechie: On any given game can fans access home or away radio broadcasts, or is the only home team’s broadcast available?
RP: TuneIn carries the home and away broadcasts for all Pac-12 games. If the game is being carried by ESPN Radio, TuneIn will carry that national broadcast.
SportTechie: What has been the feedback from conferences you already had existing relationships with?
RP: Organizations are excited about what we’re doing with the Pac-12, as TuneIn is offering a way for displaced sports fans to connect with their teams – for free and from wherever they are – for the first time ever.
SportTechie: What other announcements does TuneIn have planned going forward?
We’re always looking for new ways to connect people with what they are passionate about. We’re constantly growing our network and will have a number of exciting announcements in the coming months.
SportTechie: Does TuneIn plan to expand to college basketball in the future?
RP: Last year TuneIn provided Dial Global’s coverage of March Madness in its entirety, for free. We don’t have anything else to announce at this time.