BBC Sport relaunches website "with live coverage at the heart"
Broadcaster makes first major update to popular site in almost a decade ahead of "an unforgettable year of sport"
The BBC Sport website has relaunched this morning with a new focus on live coverage of sporting events.
Ahead of the London 2012 Olympics, an event for which the BBC will act as host broadcaster, the corporation says the site's major revamp - the first in nearly a decade - "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."
A "sports service custom built for modern sports fans", the website offers live coverage at the heart of its design - "whether it’s text commentary on transfer deadline day, audio and video coverage of events, or highly visual and immersive, up-to-the-second tables and stats".
The most popular sports website in the UK, BBC Sport enjoys more than 11.5 million users a week. The new design brings the site into line with recent revamps to the BBC's news, weather and iPlayer services, which all now have picture- and video-led modern navigation.
The BBC promises further cross-platform innovations before the Olympics in mobile, web, TV and on tablets.
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.”
