In early March, Major League Soccer and Univision Deportes announced that alongside it’s traditional TV Broadcast, they would also stream it’s full slate of regular season matches on Facebook Live. This weekend, Orlando City will have their first match in the social spotlight.
The move was a groundbreaking one for Major League Soccer and has seen incredible success early in the season. Atlanta vs. Chicago during week two pulled in 469,000 viewers. New York Red Bulls vs. Real Salt Lake this past weekend drew 280,000.
While you may have seen other leagues mirror their traditional broadcast onto social networks, Univision has created an entirely different feel for their Facebook Live stream. Mark Rogondino and former MLS player Heath Pearce (Orlando City still holds his rights, by the way) head up the specialty broadcast and tie in social media throughout the entire match. The two pose questions to the viewers and even read fan commentary live on air. It has created a dynamic not often seen in professional sports.
While the stream will be a first for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride became the first professional team to stream a full regular season match on Facebook Live in 2016. The fans responded with 400,000 tuning in for the stream.
You can tune in on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on Univision Deportes’ Facebook page. You can also watch via traditional means on your television. The match will be available in English on Univision Deportes via the SAP feature.
