Sports Junkie captures All star weekend fun

PRWEB

SportsJunkie.tv
Inc., an unprecedented online producer of live sports “fancasts,”
announces the launch of an Internet channel at www.sportsjunkie.tv that will be
streaming video from the fan’s point-of-view as major sports events unfold,
starting with All-Star FanFest in

San
Francisco.

In a live
format made possible through a pilot program with MLB.com, the initial fancast,
entitled “Dr. Doug’s Big, Fat Baseball Adventure,” features Dr. Doug
Yarris, a life-long San Francisco Giants fan who is attending numerous events
surrounding the 2007 MLB All-Star Game in

San
Francisco from July 6-10. Events include FanFest,
All-Star Workout Day, the Home Run Derby, various celebrations, and the
Mid-Summer Classic itself.

Dr. Doug,
who will often be flanked by his 19-year-old son, Travis, is wearing a small
video camera and microphone on the bill of his cap. The equipment is connected
to a wireless broadband network through a small laptop sitting in a backpack,
allowing Dr. Doug to stream video and audio to viewers who visit the
MLB.com-licensed SportsJunkie.tv fancast.

The
camera, instead of focusing on Dr. Doug himself, points outward and captures
everything he sees and hears apart from any televised action (on the field).
This fancast gives fans who can’t be there in person a chance to live
vicariously through a fellow fan, supplementing what they ordinarily see on TV.
As part of SportsJunkie.tv’s partnership with MLB.com, Dr. Doug has unique
access, allowing him to generate video content from various locations in and
around the events.

“Not
only will this provide visitors to the site with hours of additional content
around a major sports event, it also represents a way to exhibit Major League
Baseball with an interactive and experimental twist,” said Dinn Mann,
Executive Vice President of Content at MLB.com. “It will be as if Dr. Doug
is taking fans wherever he goes. The truth is he’ll be auditioning something
that could catch on, boosting innovation and the trend of providing
behind-the-scenes content as a companion to traditional coverage.”

The
footage from this first-of-its-kind effort will be available live outside of
broadcast rightsholder windows, and the portions that are blacked out will be
available on-demand at both SportsJunkie.tv and MLB.com thereafter. Throughout
All-Star Week, Dr. Doug’s camera will keep rolling, and the resulting on-demand
content will be spruced up with highlights of on-field action and available for
viewing at MLB.com.

At the end
of each day, Dr. Doug will stream a talk show of sorts, called Dr. Doug’s Daily
Cleaning, in which he will turn the camera on himself, give his observations
from the day’s events, and conduct a live chat with viewers.

“I’ve
been going to baseball games my whole life, but I’ve never had an opportunity
like this,” Dr. Doug said. “One of my goals is definitely to catch a
ball during the Home Run Derby. Somebody let the kayakers in McCovey Cove know
that the dentist is on his way, and he’s got a glove.”

Dr. Doug was,
in fact, within a few feet of snaring the ball from Barry Bonds’ record-setting
73rd home run in 2001. Subsequently, there was a legal dispute over ownership
of that ball, and he became one of the key witnesses for the plaintiff in the
infamous court case.

“We
happened upon Doug when we were making ‘Up for Grabs,’ a documentary about the
absurd custody battle that erupted over the No. 73 ball,” said Mike
Wranovics, CEO of SportsJunkie.tv and director of the aforementioned film.
“Doug ended up being one of the best things in the movie. At screenings,
everyone always wanted to know about ‘that funny dentist.’ Now he’s about to
have an experience that most baseball fans could only dream about. And thanks
to the fancast, he’ll be able to share it with them.”

Technology
behind Dr. Doug’s Big, Fat Baseball Adventure is being provided by Justin.tv,
the

San Francisco
company that started the around-the-clock lifecasting phenomenon in March of
this year. The difference with SportsJunkie.tv content is that it will be
focused specifically on sports fans. And rather than presenting an individual’s
life 24 hours a day, it will focus on the fan’s experiences that relate to
his/her team’s season.

“We’re
excited to be partnering with the SportsJunkie.tv guys because their fancasts
will be adding an intriguing new angle to the lifecasting mix,” says
Justin.tv founder Justin Kan. “This is exactly the type of content that we
hoped would emerge in the space we launched.”

Wranovics
said additional sports fancasts are in the works.

“We
think this first one could be the online sports event of the year,” said
Wranovics. “But we plan to roll this concept out around multiple hotbeds
of fan interest. Over the next several months, we’ll be seeking effective
partnerships in order to deliver entertaining channels where sports meets real
life.”