Fox Sports will be streaming Super Bowl XLVIII live through FoxSportsGo.com and its Fox Sports Go mobile application, marking the first time the game has been available through an app. Fox Sports will remove the authentication for Fox Sports Go for a 27-hour period from midnight on Feb. 2 until 3:00am ET the following day, covering the time of the game. The game will also be available in a Spanish-language feed, a first for the digital deployment of the Super Bowl in the U.S. “We are conducting a special preview and are using this as a means to showcase the app and what it can do,” said Fox Sports Digital Senior VP Pete Vlastelica. Like prior Super Bowl streaming efforts by NBC and CBS, Fox will run separate commercials during the live game stream while also offering digital replays of the televised ads. Network officials declined to specify ad rates for the digital ads. However, Fox has sold spots to 25 companies, up from the 15 that purchased online inventory during last year’s Super Bowl, and is still in the market. Fox Sports Go is only available to six pay-TV providers -- Comcast, AT&T U-Verse, Cablevision, Suddenlink, WOW and MidContinent -- and previously limited its streaming of the NFC Divisional and NFC Championship games to subscribers of those companies. Vlastelica said technical issues present with the streaming during the Divisional round have been resolved, and Fox is working with Akamai Technologies to aid with the Super Bowl effort. The live stream will also include the Bruno Mars/Red Hot Chili Peppers halftime show. The live stream of Super Bowl XLVII last year generated 3 million unique users, the largest audience for any sports event online ever. Fox will not be streaming the Super Bowl to smartphones, as rights in that category are covered by the NFL’s deal with Verizon.
