Seen On Screen: ESPN Covers Finals Games of MLS Season; Xumo Adds Fox Sports Programming to Streaming Line-up

Seen on Screen provides a roundup of recent sports programming news, including new original programs and live-game schedule announcements. In this week’s edition ESPN provides unprecedented coverage of the closing games of the Major League Soccer season, ad-based OTT video aggregator Xumo adds Fox Sports programs to the platform, SI launches new NBA-focused website “The Crossover,” Dish Network provider moves Pac-12 networks to more popular broadcast tier, and more.

ESPN will be providing unprecedented coverage of the last two weekends of the Major League Soccer regular season, which are being dubbed the “Final Push to the Playoffs.” The coverage kicked off Sunday, Oct. 16, with back to back games featuring the reigning champion Portland Timber vs. Colorado Rapids and the Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC. The coverage will conclude Sunday. Oct. 23. with “Decision Day,” the final match day of the regular season and, as the name suggests, the deciding factor as to who will go to the playoffs and who will be watching the playoffs at home. ESPN will be televising one of the matches (TBD) live and ESPN2 will be airing highlights from MLS matches, excluding those shown on Univision and Fox Sports 1. Coverage will be shown on ESPN Deportes and streamed live on WatchESPN in addition to coverage on the ESPN main channel…

…OTT video aggregator Xumo has just added programs and shows from Fox Sports to its free platform. The ad-based aggregator can now stream The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, and Garbage Time with Katie Nolan, among others. In addition, the channel will now feature game highlights, clips from FS1 shows, and Fox Sports digital originals such as @TheBuzzer. Xumo is available on all Smart TV and mobile devices through iOS and Android apps…

…Sports Illustrated has launched “The Crossover,” a website focused purely on the NBA. Described as the basketball equivalent to the Peter King-led MMQB, The Crossover will include news, features, analysis, podcasts, and other multimedia content, in addition to basketball culture and lifestyle. The creation of The Crossover plays into SI’s ongoing strategy to create new content franchises and is sponsored in part by State Farm.

… Dish has moved its Pac-12 networks from a sports-centered broadcasting tier to a more nationally available tier. The move increases availability of the networks by exposing it to a more widely-subscribed broadcast tier.