Twitch Fan-Controlled Football League Turns Real Football Into Video Game
The latest Twitch initiative aims to allow Twitch viewers to influence real-world sporting events.
Twitch is a major player in the electronic entertainment industry. Not only can fans and viewers follow their favorite video games and players, in some cases viewers can even influence the outcome of a game through Twitch chat. The notion of social control over a game or event is frankly thrilling, and certainly one of the more interesting concepts to hit the service in recent years. Twitch itself knows this, which is likely why the company has announced a partnership with the new Fan-Controlled Football League, an effort to allow stream viewers to influence the events and outcome of real-world football matches.
If you're wondering how such an arrangement might work, you're certainly not alone. Fortunately, the Fan-Controlled Football League crew has released a new video featuring Patrick Dees, chief gaming officer and co-founder of the FCFL, wherein he explains some of the thoughts behind the new concept as well as some of the technical challenges of putting it into action.
Twitch and the Fan-Controlled Football League have entered into a multi-year exclusive broadcast deal wherein all FCFL games will be live streamed via Twitch. Players will be able to download a custom Twitch extension that, alongside the FCFL smartphone app, will allow players (or in this case viewers) to call all of the plays in real time, exerting their influence over the real-world players. Choices for play calls will be put to a general vote, and the winning vote will be relayed to the quarterback, who will execute the play on the field.
More than simply calling the shots, players will also be acting as General Managers, where they will be able to influence everything from team names to logos and even player rosters. Players will also be competing among themselves, as the winning team will be awarded a $1 million prize tha twill be split evenly between players, coaches, and fans.
The first FCFL matches are slated to run in 2019, and Twitch will remain the exclusive broadcaster of FCFL games through 2020. Players can learn more about the service by heading over to the official Fan-Controlled Football League website or by following FCFL over on Twitch or Twitter.
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