Euro 2004 goals live on your mobile
Well almost. In a major leap forward for sport on mobile phones T-Mobile has today announced that it is to offer near live footage of the goals scored at Euro 2004, the year’s major footy fest which begins in Portugal in June.
Subscribers will be sent a video clip of their team’s goals within ten minutes of them being scored. They will also be able to watch a series of highlights of each game and check out controversial incidents such as penalty appeals and red/yellow card fouls.
In what sounds great value too the videos will cost just £5 per team for the whole tournament with the fee not depending at all on how far the team progress.
It marks the first time that phone owners are able to see video clips of highlights while the game is still playing. 3G network Three currently offers video clips of Premiership games, but these are not available until several hours after the game has finished.
Users without video phones can receive a series of pictures from each game for £4.
According to T-Mobile once the video/photo has been sent to person’s phone it is up to them what they do with it. Users can send the clips on to their friends for just a few pence.
The video/photo innovation is just one part of a series of features T-Mobile, one of Euro 2004’s key sponsors, is offering European footy fans. Another innovation is the option of turning a phone into a news desk ticker with the latest news and scores pushed directly to a phone (which must have Java) as they happen. This will cost users £4.50 for the tournament.
T-Mobile is also offering SMS alerts ringtones (including New Order’s Legendary World in Motion), video downloads of classic Euro goals and Java games.
It all kicks off in the middle of May.
There’s an in-depth feature on football on a mobile in next week’s Guardian.
