Slacker Radio starts streaming live sports games

Hey, sports fans: Can’t catch the big game on the boob tube? No problem. Now you can turn to Slacker Radio for a live audio broadcast.

The music-streaming company has expanded its relationship with ESPN to include live streaming of ESPN Audio shows and sporting events. Slacker will kick-off its new content offering by broadcasting tonight’s BCS Championship game (college football’s biggest game) between LSU and Alabama.

Five year-old Slacker Radio, which makes web and mobile on-demand music and news streaming applications, has been overshadowed in the media by talk of Spotify’s U.S. launch and Pandora’s IPO, but it’s planning several announcements at CES to remind folks that it’s a formidable challenger with a unique offering. In September, the company announced a partnership with ESPN, and traffic to its web service appears to have grown exponentially as a result.

“Since offering customizable ESPN Audio content, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, but many listeners have requested live sports,” Jonathan Sasse, senior vice president of marketing at Slacker, said in a statement. “This new feature is yet another example of how Slacker is combining the best elements of traditional radio with our listeners’ demand for personalization of music, news, sports and more.”

But before you get too pumped up about live sports games, keep in mind that the broadcasts are limited to ESPN’s offerings and are web-only for the time being — meaning you can’t catch the BCS game via your Slacker mobile app. We’re told, though, that mobile integration is on the way and can be expected in a month or so.

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Football image via Shutterstock