During Game 1 of the NLCS, Fox Sports 1 will air a special analytics-driven second screen experience. Titled “NLCS on Fox Sports 1 Powered by JABO“, the game will be looked at from a different angle on this telecast over on Fox Sports 1. Fox Sports 1 MLB studio host Kevin Burkhardt will host the show, and will be joined by Fox Sports 1 MLB analysts Gabe Kapler and C.J. Nitkowski, Fox Sports senior baseball editor (and the man behind Just A Bit Outside, Fox’s baseball portal) Rob Neyer, and Padres manager Bud Black.

In a blog post last week, Neyer explained what the broadcast would entail. Essentially, it will be a double box format featuring the game in one box and the studio in the other. There will also be a plethora of graphics (which we’ve explored in detail before) used to further points and inform viewers, something I think will actually work out pretty well in this format. The studio panel willbreak down every facet of the game in excruciating detail, something that the commentary trio of Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds, and Tom Verducci simply cannot do because of their responsibility of calling the game.

Second screen experiences have started sprouting up in recent years, with ESPN’s BCS Megacast receiving rave reviews this past January. The JABO telecast on Fox Sports 1 looks like it’s going to be resembling the Film Room part of the Megacast, which is definitely good thing – it was almost universally praised back in January.

Are second screen experiences going to become the new norm for major sporting events? I certainly hope so. ESPN certainly has enough channels to support multiple broadcasts of the same game, and NBC, Fox, Turner, and (sort of) CBS have alternate cable channels where they can let some less heralded talent shine and give viewers who aren’t fans of the traditional broadcast teams employed by these networks a new perspective on the games.

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.