I was tipped to this from our friend Ken Fang at Fang’s Bites and the news became official today…ESPN (and ABC for that matter) will soon be sharing video content on YouTube.

Here are parts of the official ESPN release;

As part of the agreement, the ESPN Video Player will be integrated into ESPN’s channel on YouTube and will anchor a wide variety of exciting sports content and highlights on YouTube. ESPN will also make additional short-form content available through YouTube’s player. ESPN content that is available on the ESPN channel and player will not contain long-form content from its linear networks.

“We are thrilled to welcome ABC and ESPN into our global content network of premium partners,” said David Eun, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Google. “More and more studios and networks are realizing the power of YouTube

to reach a huge and engaged audience. Our diverse collection of ad products, Content ID tools and sophisticated online analytics, provide studios like ABC with innovative monetization options, more control over their online content and granular insight into how audiences are interacting with their videos.”

“Reaching and engaging fans is paramount in all that we do as a company, and YouTube is a great platform to achieve that goal,” said George Bodenheimer, co-chair, Disney Media networks, and president, ESPN and ABC Sports. “Making our content available to fans via YouTube presents an extraordinary opportunity for ESPN to create new revenue streams and new value to advertisers, as they continue to look for new ways to connect with fans in the digital environment.”

I think it’s safe to say that YouTube is a big winner here, gaining quality network programming in an attempt to compete in this arena with the network content at Hulu.  Their ability to partner on ad revenue will make the online video giant that much more influential.

I do question why ESPN, or any other network, would seek to share their programming on web platforms other than their own websites.  I understand YouTube is the “ESPN” of online video sites, and the WWL looks at the relationship as another way to expand their brand.  But why not use their uber-marketing skills to drive people from the television to the ESPN website to view full or partial programs?  They’re a television station for goodness sake, why share that content?

I need to be educated on this.  Let me know what I’m missing.