ESPN Teams Up with foursquare to Provide Sports News and Information at the Game

Sporting events check-ins on foursquare's new Events platform to include game time, teams, venue, location information and more powered by ESPN

ESPN today announced an agreement to supply sports venue data on foursquare’s newly launched Events platform, enhancing the check-in experience at sporting events with game time, teams, venue, location information and more. With the new feature, fans will not only be able to share their check-ins at the venue, but also access all the news and information from ESPN about the game.

“Having ESPN integrated into foursquare’s check-in functionality is a great way to serve highly engaged fans at the game,” said John Kosner, Senior Vice President, Digital and Print Media at ESPN. “Teaming up with the talented team at foursquare is in line with our goal to deliver our content wherever fans are, and foursquare's growing audience of 10 million users is an important place for us to be.”

"Through our new Events platform, users can easily tell their friends not just where they are, but also what they're doing, while unlocking valuable information about the events they're attending," said Jonathan Crowley, Director of Business Development for foursquare. "We're thrilled to work with ESPN to provide our more than 10 million users with the most up-to-date information on the sporting events they're checking in to."

ESPN will provide facts, stats, and other up-to-the-minute news on ESPN-branded venue detail pages for major sporting events including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college football and basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, racing and more. In addition, ESPN has launched a foursquare brand page at https://foursquare.com/espn that features Tips left at sports venues around the world along with links to relevant ESPN apps and pages. Some examples of Tips at the ballpark include:

• Miller Park (Milwaukee): Brett Wurst. Stosh. Guido. Frankie Furter. Cinco. Sausage Race. Bottom of the 6th. Be there.
• Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia): Be sure to find the McNally's stand out in left field, home of Mike Schmidt’s namesake (in sandwich form): The Schmitter. This beast features sliced steak topped with tomatoes, fried onions, 3 layers of cheese, special sauce... and grilled salami.
• Safeco Field (Seattle): Sushi at the ballpark? Why not! Go to Rice-N-Roll in Section 137, and grab yourself an Ichi-Roll. And if you want the full experience, eat 51 of ‘em.
• Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay): Peer out to right field. In a sea of teal, you’ll see a lone yellow seat in section 144. That’s where Wade Boggs’ 3,000th hit (a home run) landed back on August 7, 1999.
• Ballpark in Arlington (Texas): True story: distance-wise, Arlington’s upper deck is the farthest away from the diamond in MLB history. Talk about nosebleeds…

At the conclusion of a game, users will see an ESPN link in their foursquare check-in history, pointing them to a mobile site where they will be able to view more information about the event. Users who follow ESPN on foursquare and check in at sporting events and venues where ESPN has left Tips will unlock a branded “ESPN Foam Finger” badge as well.

Foursquare is one of the first collaborators to leverage elements of ESPN’s new and developing API program. ESPN is planning to release a set of APIs more broadly later this year.