ESPN and Microsoft Team Up to Bring Sporting Events to Xbox Live

ESPN and Microsoft have announced an agreement to bring different sports-related programming to the Xbox Live Marketplace. Starting immediately, XBL subscribers can download high and standard-definition videos of full-length NCAA college football and basketball games, Summer X Games 13, “World Series of Poker,” “The Contender,” “Madden Nation,” and much more.

“This is a natural fit for us, as so many Xbox 360 owners are huge sports fans,” said Ross Honey, senior director of the media and entertainment group at Microsoft. “We are dedicated to providing our diverse community of Xbox LIVE users the premium entertainment content they want, and partnering with ESPN is a great example of our continued dedication in the video-on-demand space, especially in high definition.”

Not a big sports guy myself, but I considering how many intense, sports-related conversations I stumble into on Xbox Live, I’m surprised a deal like this wasn’t made sooner.

UPDATE: Sports enthusiast can purchase commercial-free versions of certain NCAA games for $3 in standard definition and $4.50 in high definition. The drawback to this is they might not be available until 48 hours after the game ends. All other ESPN TV shows will cost $2 for standard-def and $3 for high-def, much like the other TV content on Xbox Live.

Via Press Release (pricing via Yahoo)