Digitaltveurope.com

Eleven Sports has unveiled a new feature that lets viewers tune in together with friends and family in a shared online space.

The sports broadcaster plans to roll out Watch Together in its international over-the-top markets, with a trial period expected to launch in the coming weeks.

Eleven Sports subscribers will be able to create a ‘room’ and invite up to four people to watch a live sports event. Invites can be sent via a link and participants will be able to see and speak to each other while watching the match.

The new feature was created by tech start-up Reactoo and Eleven said it was designed to drive engagement and make watching sport a “fun and social experience for fans”.

“Watch Together will help to drive engagement in the live event by encouraging active, as opposed to passive viewing habits,” said Tom Middleditch, global head of digital, Eleven Sports.

“Currently fans debate talking points on text or social media while watching a match or fight passively, but our inventive new product will enable in-person interaction while remaining fully immersed in the action.”

Reactoo CEO, Marc Williams, said: “We’re on a mission to make watching sports more fun and engaging by enabling fans to watch with each other from anywhere.”

“Using the latest technology, we are making it easier for all sports fans to share those special moments and we are proud to be the first watch together tech platform to introduce this transformative product to the global sports market.”

The news comes after Facebook began testing a new video experience called Watch Parties earlier this year, which is also designed to let groups of people watch videos together at the same time.