ESPN and Xbox 360 are delivering a new and unique interactive experience for college football bowl season.  In a new software update to ESPN on Xbox LIVE available today, sports fans will be able to engage in this year’s bowl games – available live on ESPN3.com – by playing the College Bowl Showdown pick ‘em against other friends on the Xbox 360 console.  Users predict who will win each game, earn a score for predictions and compete against friends to determine a winner.

Additionally, users can now “play all” when viewing ESPN.com video clips and highlights, allowing them to watch featured highlights in one seamless video, or even watch a continuous reel of highlights based on the sports and leagues they select via “My Sports.”

Xbox LIVE Gold members who are customers of an affiliated service provider will have access to 32 bowl games live this season on Xbox 360 via ESPN3.com – ESPN’s 24/7 broadband sports network – including all five BCS bowl games highlighted by the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game, #1 Auburn vs. #2 Oregon. For a full schedule of 2010-11 bowl games live on ESPN3.com, click HERE.

ESPN on Xbox LIVE is free for Xbox LIVE Gold members in the U.S., allowing users to watch live sports and events with full DVR control, pull up current scores while watching the game, easily switch between events and more:

  • Video Streaming: Access thousands of live and on-demand global sporting events from ESPN3.com a year, many available in HD-quality, plus  ESPN.com video clips and daily sports highlights streamed on-demand;
  • Predict the Winner: Predict which team you think you’ll win and see the percentage of other people in the Xbox LIVE community who are rooting for the same team;
  • My Sports: Follow your favorite leagues for the season;
  • Kinect for Xbox 360 Integration: Fans can control the content they watch with just their voice or wave of their hand.
  • Games at a Glance: Pull up real-time score information from the world of sports without leaving the game you’re watching, and easily switch between events;
  • Out-of-Market Programming: Catch out-of-market games happening around the world and exclusive games you can’t watch anywhere else;

ESPN3.com is available in approximately 65 million households nationwide via dozens of affiliated service providers including Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Cox, Charter, Windstream, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and many more.  It is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.

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For more information about "College Bowl Showdown," visit: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Community/promotions/CollegeBowlShowdownSweepstakes/home

For assets, visit: http://edelmanadmin.psni.com/public/Xbox%20LIVE%20Update/

For more information, press only:

Jessie DiMariano, (206) 268-2211, jessie.dimariano@edelman.com

Yelena Podkolzina, (206) 505-6552, yelena.podkolzina@edelman.com