BBC Sport Website Relaunches and puts Live Coverage at Heart of Output

This is the first major update of the site in almost a decade and reflects the changing needs of sports fans as more and more licence-fee payers go online to get up-to-the minute updates on the biggest sporting events, as they happen.

As such, live coverage sits at the heart of the new designs. Whether it’s text commentary on transfer deadline day, audio & video coverage of events, or highly visual and immersive, up-to-the- second tables and stats – this is a sports service custom built for modern sports fans.

The same in-depth coverage, easier to find

Audiences will also continue to enjoy full, in-depth, coverage of all the sports the BBC covers today, from the popular football gossip column, to the trusted sports journalism across a broad range of sports that has established the BBC site as the most popular online sports service in the UK, with more than 11.5 million users a week.

The new site also introduces the simpler, cleaner award-winning design already introduced on other BBC sites such as News, Weather and BBC iPlayer, together with a navigation system that will make it much easier for users to find the content they’re looking for.

Social functionality

As well as getting users quickly to the content that they want, visitors to the site will also benefit from enhanced social functions that will make sharing content easier than ever before; with community at the heart of the BBC’s editorial plans for 2012, features such as comment modules will be added in coming months.

Rich data visualisation

Using the latest web technologies, the BBC has created a service with rich, highly dynamic and interactive visualisations of all the sports data fans love: up to the minute league tables, athlete and player profiles, form guides and much more.

Year of innovation in online sports coverage

As more audiences connect with the BBC on four screens, (web, smart phones, tablets and connected TVs) the relaunch of BBC Sport is just the first step of a 2012 innovation story in the build up to the London Olympic Games. With further web innovations and products for connected TVs and smartphones planned for launch later this year - the BBC’s intention is to reach an increasingly connected audience, on whichever device they choose, in what will be an epic year for sport.

Barbara Slater, Director BBC Sport said: “The BBC has a proud tradition of leading the way in sports broadcasting, providing audiences with access to events as they happen and journalism of the highest quality. Audiences continue to turn to the BBC in the internet age, with BBC Sport firmly established as the UK's most popular sports site with 11 million visitors a week.

"This redesign, the first in a series of innovations planned for 2012, builds on our broadcasting heritage by putting live coverage at the heart of our online output in what is poised to be an unforgettable year in British sport.

“Whether it's up-to-the-second commentary, live video and audio, access to the latest stats, or sports journalism audiences can trust, we're responding to the changing needs of our online audience - utilising the latest technology to provide licence-fee payers with a cutting-edge sports service of the highest quality.”