Facebook has updated in a big way, but the new changes are only meant for sports fanatics in the US.

The social network has introduced a dedicated hub called Facebook Sports Stadium and is describing it as a place where you can go to "experience sports in real-time with your friends and the world". There are more than 650 million sports fans currently using Facebook to "celebrate, commiserate, and talk trash" with other fans, and so it made since for the social network to build a place that's all about sports.

We've explained everything you need to know about Facebook Sports Stadium, including what it is, where you can find it, and how it works.

 
Facebook Sports Stadium

Today we’re launching the Facebook Sports Stadium, a dedicated place to experience sports in real-time with your friends and the world. Check out our product announcement here: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/01/facebook-sports-stadium With 650 million sports fans, Facebook is the world’s largest stadium. People already turn to Facebook to celebrate, commiserate, and talk trash with their friends and other fans.Now we’ve built a place devoted to sports so you can get the feeling you’re watching the game with your friends even when you aren’t together.

Posted by Sports on Facebook on Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Facebook Sports Stadium: What is it?

The idea behind Facebook Sports Stadium is that sports fans should have a spot where they can go to get the feeling of watching a game with their friends - even when they aren't actually with their friends. Because, you know, why actually socialise with people when you can stare at your phone screen all by your lonesome self from the comfort of your home?

But seriously... Facebook Sports Stadium is a new section within Facebook that basically serves as a hub for all your second-screen activity. Once you're in the hub, you will be able to see related, sports-centric posts from your friends, commentary from experts (including teams, leagues, and journalists), and of course live scores, stats, play-by-plays, game info, etc.

Facebook Sports Stadium: Where is it?

This is a tricky. The feature is just starting to roll out, and Facebook's announcement post is a bit vague about where you can actually find its new Sports Stadium hub, but with a little bit of digging, we discovered that it can be accessed by searching for an individual sports game. We've yet to test the feature however, and have contacted Facebook for more details.

Facebook Sports Stadium: How does it work?

Okay, so once you're in the hub via Facebook's mobile app, you will be able to switch between four tabs: Matchup, Friends, Experts, and Stats.

The first one shows play-by-play details like you would find through ESPN, while Friends, obviously, aggregates related comments and posts from your friends in chronological order. The Experts tab shows verified posts and detailed content from teams, players, and journalists, and then the final tab, called Stats, has all the real-time stats for the event you're watching.

You can basically follow the action as the game unfolds as well as connect with fans and engage with big names in sports from across the world, meaning this is an all-encompassing second-screen experience.

Here's what Facebook said the hub will serve up:

  • Posts from your friends, and their comments on plays
  • Posts and commentary from experts, like teams, leagues and journalists, with easy access to their Pages
  • Live scores, stats and a play-by-play
  • Game info, like where to find the game on TV

Facebook Sports Stadium: When will it go live?

Facebook said it is rolling the Sports Stadium hub out for American football games and will soon support other sports around the world (like basketball, soccer, and more). You can use it now via Facebook's iPhone app in the US, so you should be able to access it this weekend for the AFC and NFC championship football games. It will also expand to other platforms soon.

It's supposed to come to Android in "a matter of weeks" and desktop for the Super Bowl, according to Re/code.