You can watch Monday’s Cubs game in a new place: Facebook

The Cubs and ABC 7 Chicago will give fans in the team’s home television territory the opportunity to watch the Cubs vs. White Sox game Monday, July 24, in its entirety via Facebook Live, on both the Chicago Cubs and ABC 7 Chicago Facebook pages. A The Wednesday, July 26 game on the South Side also will be available via Facebook Live on both pages.

These two games will serve as part of a larger four-game regional pilot opportunity the Cubs have arranged on Facebook for this season. I don’t yet know what the other two games are but will post info when I get it.

Dan Reed, Head of Global Sports Partnerships for Facebook, said about this opportunity in a statement: "Sports are inherently social, with the power to build and connect communities around the world. This aligns closely with our mission, and we feel Facebook is a natural home for sports content, including live games. Early experiments with these events on Facebook have delivered great results for fans, broadcasters and rights holders. People around the world are tuning into matches ranging from global football to table tennis, while broadcasters and rights holders are reaching new audiences and experimenting with interactive, social and mobile-first productions.”

The practical effect of this deal means that those of you who live inside the Cubs’ broadcast territory (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa) outside metropolitan Chicago, who don’t have access to this game via an OTA broadcast channel, will be able to watch both this afternoon and Wednesday night, either on the ABC7 Chicago or Cubs Facebook page.

I’d love to hear reports from the field on how this works out for you if you’re in-market and watch this game via FB Live. Please note that both of these games are also available out-of-market: Monday’s game on MLB Network and Wednesday’s on ESPN, so everyone everywhere should be able to watch these games.