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Wrestling fans, have we got a body-slam of an announcement for you. Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that will bring full-length episodes of Friday Night Smackdown, WWE NXT, WWE Superstars and ECW to YouTube users in the U.S. on the WWE YouTube channel. In case that's not enough pile-driving goodness for you, there will be even more clips from Monday Night Raw, footage from classic WWE matches, and videos from WWE Superstars and Divas like John Cena, Chris Jericho and Alicia Fox.



Whether you cut your teeth on old Wrestlemania matches, came of age under the reign of Austin 3:16, or are just a casual observer interested in the world of sports entertainment, the WWE channel on YouTube is your destination for fresh content from WWE Superstars. Remember to subscribe to stay on top of the latest shows, news and announcements.

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing, recently watched “Raw: Big Show & Mark Feuerstein vs. Ted DiBiase & Virgil.”

Teams representing 32 nations have gathered in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World CupTM, the quadrennial football (aka soccer) tournament celebrating the world’s most popular game, which begins Friday, June 11, and concludes in a month, with the championship match on Sunday, July 11.

This World Cup has special significance as it will be the first time the event has been held in Africa, where the game has been growing by leaps and bounds – besides host nation South Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria will each be competing.

According to FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the sport’s governing body, the World Cup is the most-widely viewed sporting event in the world, with fans everywhere following their teams with rapt attention.

On YouTube, there will be many ways to feel World Cup fever. Here are some channels to subscribe to:

- ESPN will have extensive coverage of the event, including match highlights, and have put together a set of 32 videos profiling each of the national teams:



- Univision will be uploading Spanish-language video around the event, with special coverage of the Mexican national team.

- The U.S. team will face England in one of the Cup’s most-anticipated matches on Saturday, June 12. Get behind-the-scenes footage of each team on their respective channels: U.S.A., England.

- Coca-Cola is celebrating the tradition of the post-goal dance, giving people a chance to submit their original moves to the “Longest Celebration.” Submit here.

- Visa is creating an epic video of fans around the world screaming “GOOOAAALLL!” in the style of the iconic soccer announcer Andrés Cantor. Submit your video here.

- Last but certainly not least, Portugal striker extraordinaire (and international heartthrob) Cristiano Ronaldo has joined the YouTube community, with videos like this:



Olé olé olé!

Andrew Bangs, Sports Manager, recently watched "My 2010 World Cup Predictions."

Five years ago, Dutch professional footballer Edgar Davids gathered a talented group of Dutch street soccer players and travelled across Europe, the United States and Latin America to take on the best local teams, on their own streets. After numerous matches in five countries, Edgar and his boys were victorious over their many challengers and claimed the title "The Street Legends." That journey became known as "The Legends Tour."

This year, Edgar Davids and his Street Legends are hitting the road again to see if they’re still worthy of the title...and this time you can watch their journey on YouTube. The team started in Amsterdam before heading on to London and Paris. They've hit Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, and will finally end up in the bustling townships of Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, where the World Cup festivities will start next week. Along the way, the best local street players from their respective countries will attempt to de-throne Davids and The Street Legends. As they traverse the globe, Edgar will also encounter some of his famous football friends, like Ryan Babel, Michael Essien and Marcel Desailly, all of whom will be showing off their footwork to locals.

In Africa, The Street Legends and Edgar are also embarking on a personal voyage of discovery to understand how street soccer influences people and how it thrives across Europe and Africa every day. Edgar will be visiting grassroots projects providing healthcare, education and hope to thousands of people. Check out some inspiring moments from their visits to Senegal and Kenya:






Subscribe to www.youtube.com/streetsoccertour to see how their exciting journey wraps up!

Anat S. Amir, Head of Marketing, Google Africa, recently watched "#12 Ghana Freestyle."

Today a new territory is added to the list of YouTube locations: South Africa. This is the first domain launch on the African continent. For a closer look, head to the bottom of the page, click on the ‘Location’ tab, and select South Africa from the menu:

We’ve been particularly surprised by the number of cricket fans tuning in from the U.S. Total views from the U.S. for the IPL channel are second only to India. And fans in the U.S. are active, too: they're second only to those in India in terms of subscribing to the IPL channel and rating, commenting and favoriting videos.

With so much enthusiasm coming from U.S., we’re excited to make the semi-final and final matches available on YouTube as they happen. Previously, matches were time-delayed and available 15 minutes after the game ended. Now fans in the U.S. can catch the action as it unfolds in real time as the four top ranking teams progress to the knockout stage of the semi finals.

When the first ball of this year’s Indian Premier League cricket season is bowled, fans across the planet will have a front row seat in the world’s biggest online sports stadium. Tonight the Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders will face off in Mumbai at 8 p.m. IST, and the YouTube global community will be able to tune in to the IPL’s YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/ipl) for streaming and on-demand access to witness the start of what promises to be one of the most widely-distributed sporting events in history. Fans can watch matches, highlight videos, player interviews and much more all on the IPL’s YouTube Channel.


Named by Forbes as the "hottest sports league in the world" with revenues comparable to the world’s most popular leagues, the IPL season is a 60-match, 43-day tournament that features some of the best talent in cricket today. You can come to YouTube and keep up with the action any time, anywhere, and connect with fans across the globe. Watch as the match happens, or if you missed a match, tune in later to see what happened. The entire season will be streamed around the world on YouTube, except in the U.S., where matches will be time-delayed and made available 15 minutes after the match ends.

On the IPL Channel, you’ll see three tabs:

• Today’s Matches: This is where you can watch streamed matches as they happen. (Note that the stream will be delayed by a few minutes.) Click through at any time to see the match scorecard.
• Recent Matches: Catch up any time on the full action of matches that have already happened. Watch Sachin cream the ball through the covers, Warney taking his latest wicket and more.
• Highlights: If you’re short on time, check in here for short videos of player interviews, match highlights, greatest plays, and more.

And for all of you who want to cheer or commiserate with others, check out our Twitter gadget on the channel page to be part of the conversation. You can keep up with the discussion on Twitter with the YouTube IPL hashtag (#youtube_ipl). Share, rate and comment on videos throughout the channel, or upload your own video responses to the action. There's also a link so you can join the Official DLF IPL community on Orkut (www.orkut.com/ipl).

We'll be watching the donkey drops, the five-fers, the flippers and floaters, the half-yorkers and slow sweeps — and cheering alongside you!

Amit Agrawal, Strategic Partner Development Manager

* A googly is a kind of pitch similar to a baseball pitch or a bowling throw in the game cricket; a wicked googly would be a really good pitch.

Tiger Woods will emerge from his silence tomorrow morning, speaking publicly for the first time since December 2009, when he admitted to marital infidelity -- a scandal that tarnished his squeaky clean image and stymied his golf career.

Many sports fans are eager to hear if and when he'll return to competition. Woods should address this tomorrow at a small press conference in Florida, which we'll be live streaming on youtube.com/citizentube beginning at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET. (You'll also be able to access the press conference via our homepage spotlight at www.youtube.com.) Be sure to tune in immediately because the conference isn't likely to last that long.

Here's a peek of what to expect, from the Associated Press:



The YouTube Team

Tiger Woods will emerge from his silence tomorrow morning, speaking publicly for the first time since December 2009, when he admitted to marital infidelity -- a scandal that tarnished his squeaky clean image and stymied his golf career.

Many sports fans are eager to hear if and when he'll return to competition. Woods should address this tomorrow at a small press conference in Florida, which we'll be live streaming on youtube.com/citizentube beginning at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET. (You'll also be able to access the press conference via our homepage spotlight at www.youtube.com.) Be sure to tune in immediately because the conference isn't likely to last that long.

Here's a peek of what to expect, from the Associated Press:



The YouTube Team

Super Bowl XLIV. Of all the events on the American sports landscape, this is the most important game of the year.

Kickoff is at 6:25pm ET in Miami, where the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts will meet the NFC Champion New Orleans Saints to decide the NFL Champion. Football fans are anticipating a great game, featuring the cerebral control of Colts quarterback and regular season MVP Peyton Manning against the creative style of Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Off the field and on screens everywhere, Madison Avenue heavyweights will be competing, as well. Advertisers are reportedly paying as much as $3 million for 30 seconds of your time in what promises to be an epic contest of brands, products and celebrity endorsers.

To whet your appetite for both competitions, our Ad Blitz channel, with pre-game videos sponsored by Kia Motors, is a one-stop shop for everything Super Bowl-related. YouTube partners have been busy making predictions, cooking up party recipes and generally dishing on all things related the big game:



During the game, we'll be adding all the 2010 Super Bowl commercials to a video wall on the Ad Blitz channel immediately after they air on TV. Come to the channel to watch and give each ad a thumbs up or down. Voting ends Monday, February 15, with the winner gracing our homepage on Thursday, February 18.

May the best team – and ad – win!

Andrew Bangs, Sports Manager, recently watched "If Filmmakers Directed the Super Bowl."

UPDATE: We’ve seen a fair amount of speculation online regarding a few Super Bowl ads that are currently missing from YouTube’s Ad Blitz. To be clear, each video uploaded to the Ad Blitz was authorized in advance at the advertiser’s request. (Not all Super Bowl advertisers gave us permission to include their ad.) Still, any advertiser airing an ad during the game can send us their ad and enter the Ad Blitz at any time before the end of the voting period, which closes at 11:59:59 PM (ET) on February 15, 2010. We expect to add additional videos to the Ad Blitz in the coming days.

And congratulations Saints!

Colts defeat Jets

In spite of every ESPN talking head out there playing this one up as a possible close game or even Jets win, it's no surprise that the Colts not only won, but dominated. the Colts had twice as many first downs, more total yardage, more rushing yards and more passing yards. Take away a gadget play touchdown and the margin of victory is nearly 3 touchdowns. The Jets were dominated.

Even down 17-6 just before the half, it never really felt like they were in trouble. I had a one moment where I thought maybe destiny was guiding the Jets and then Manning does his thing gets them a TD just before half time. At that point, I knew the game was over.

Games like these bug me the week before they are played. I understand ESPN has to fill programming 24/7 and needs to have the tension of opposing views, but it's just annoying when you know that one team is so much better than the other. I'd hate to be those ESPN guys who had to take one for the team and act like the Jets were something to worry about.

Saints in First Super Bowl Ever!

I'm very happy for the Saints. The city of New Orleans really deserves this. It's been a tough few years for them and this is a celebration I know they enjoyed. Add to it the fact they've never been to the dance and they're leader, Drew Brees, is as good a human being as he is quarterback, it's hard not to be happy for them.

That said, if the Colts roll up 500 yards of offense on them like the Vikes did, it will not be pretty. If the Vikings hold on to the ball, they get blown out. So, there is lots of work for Payton and crew if this is to be a competitive Super Bowl. Anything short of a Peyton Manning voodoo doll probably will not be enough.

Bret Favre

I hated to see him go out like this. Especially in a game where he was beaten and battered and kept getting up and coming back out to play. Say what you want about Favre, but he is one of the players that comes closest to earning every penny of the ridiculous paychecks these guys get. He's 40 years old, plays every play, and plays every one of them hard. I respect that. You can blame the loss on him if you wish. But if those 3 fumbles don't happen, and the penalty just before his final interception, we'd probably have seen a different outcome. That's not to even mention the illegal shot he took to the legs on the first INT.(it's the rule, like it or not)

He's had an amazing career and should probably call it quits. But if he decides to come back, I ain't mad at him and you shouldn't be either. Once he actually retires, that is it. He never gets to do the thing he loves ever again. Imagine losing the thing you love to do most at the age of 40 or younger.

All that said, unless you are a die hard Packer fan who bleeds green and yellow, your hate for the guy is irrational but I expect it will continue to flow in his direction.

UT Men's Basketball

I said last week they were due a loss and Georgia took them to the woodshed. Coming off an emotional home stand down 3 players and knocking off #1 to start that run, it's not surprising a road game at Georgia got them. The Bulldogs played a great game and that crowd was really into it.

I think they'll be fine, but ultimately, the loss of Tyler Smith is going to cost them a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.