ESPN: the excitement of sports in 3D from June 11

If ESPN played a fundamental role in the generalization of high definition in the United States, now it is the turn of 3D. The popular sports channel will launch a stereoscopic version coinciding with the start of the World Cup in South Africa.

Much of the rapid penetration of high definition in the US was due to the American sports channel ESPN (owned by Disney). Their viewers, once they saw an American football game in HD and 5.1 for the first time, did not want to see a game in SD again. Now, a similar phenomenon could happen with 3D since ESPN has just announced that it will launch a stereographic cable channel on June 11, coinciding with the opening match of the World Cup in South Africa.

At the moment, ESPN 3D plans to broadcast in its first year of life a minimum of 85 sporting events in 3D, among which 25 World Cup matches and some notable NBA matches would stand out.

“ESPN's commitment to 3D is a win for fans and for our business partners,” said George Bodenheimer, an executive at Disney, the company that owns ESPN, a company that has been testing this new technology for the last two years.

Discovery 3D

ESPN's announcement comes shortly after the decision by Sony, IMAX and Discovery Communication to join forces to launch a three-dimensional channel that would broadcast 3D content 24 hours a day.