2010 World Cup Live Streaming

The 2010 World Cup will be held in South Africa from June 10 to July 11, and will be aired on television globally. In the event, 32 national football teams compete for the "World Champion" title. The initial group-stage of the event features eight groups of each four teams, who play a half-competition (three matches per team). The first two teams qualify for the knock-out phase, which will result in the finals on July 11.

Even though live streaming video is still relatively new, several traditional television broadcasters have already announced they will offer this option to their users. Because of legal issues, most streaming options are regionally bound to their country of origin. The BBC (UK), ESPN (U.S.) and Globo (Brazil) have offered online streaming during the 2006 World Cup tournament. FIFA Website fifa.com is expected to feature video highlights after the games.

Next to several free Live Streaming options, offered by national television broadcasters, there are also several Internet websites that offer Live Online Streaming for a subscription fee. Confirmed and expected online viewing options are:

• In Canada, National broadcaster CBC broadcasts all matched on its website: http://www.cbc.ca
• In the United States, ABC, ESPN and Univision (Spanish) will broadcast World Cup matches. ESPN has announced it will provide "extensive coverage on ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV". ESPN will feature live online simulcasts of the 54 ESPN and ESPN2 matches on ESPN360.comhttp://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2010/01/espn-inc-2010-fifa-world-cup-schedule/
• In Europe, all World Cup matches are streamed through http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/fifaworldcup/
• The BBC has announced they will have extensive coverage of the event both on TV and on their website, providing "over 100 hours of content on the BBC Sport website", and featuring live text commentaries, match reports, blogs, etc. Live streaming video has yet to be announced.http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/sporteditors/2010/03/world_cup_2010.html
  

The main BBC website for the Fifa World Cup is located at http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010, and includes news, video fragments, tweets, game results and predictions, and a Team Tracker, which allows visitors to follow their team of preference.

• For mobile phone owners, the BBC announced they will release a news App in April, which will cover the 2010 World Cup.http://blackberryrocks.com/2010/02/17/bbc-broadcast-2010-world-cup-live-smartphones-blackberry-app-coming-later-year-news/
• In Ireland, local TV broadcaster, RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann), will feature a World Cup 2010 dedicated website, including news, fixtures/results, expert analysis, blogs etc. The site will simulcast all televised games, and offer internet-only games when multiple games are played simultaneously.http://tvsales.rte.ie/downloads/World%20Cup%202010%20Portfolio.pdf
• In Portugal, RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal), SIC and SportTV plan to broadcast World Cup 2010 matches on the Internet through their respective websites.
• In Australia, SBS plans online broadcasting;
• In China, CCTV, the national TV station announced it will also broadcast the World Cup matches;
• In France, TF1 takes the honors of broadcasting the World Cup matches on the Internet.
• In Italy, both SKY (commercial) and RAI (national TV) will broadcast matches online. SKY will broadcast all matches, while RAI will broadcast one match a day.
• In South Asian Countries, ESPNSTAR will broadcast the matches online.
• In South Africa, the organizing country, both SABC and DStv will be broadcasting matches.
• In Spain, Cuatro and Digital+ (commercial) will broadcast matches on the Internet. Cuatro will webcast one match a day, while Digital+ will webcast all matches.
• In Sweden, three parties have announced plans to broadcast matches: SR, SVT and TV4.
• In Turkey, National TV station TRT will have a webcast of World Cup matches.
• In The Netherlands, National TV producer NOS will feature webcasts of the World Cup 2010 event.
• IN Australia, Optus is the #2 Australian telecommunications carrier and will be live streaming all 2010 World Cup matches for free to customers with compatible 3G mobile devices.
• A website called free-football.tv offers live streaming viewing, but despite its website name, this is a for-pay service. They offer a one-year service package, which includes many soccer matches, including champions league, many European national leagues, and the 2010 World Cup. Their service is part of Live Sport Network, and is based in London, United Kingdom. Please note we have not been able to validate the offer of this site on any independent resource yet.