Inside ESPN on Xbox LIVE

ESPN on Xbox LIVE is getting a makeover in time for the start of college football season.

Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers can download the new update available now, which includes brand new personalization features, tools and more.

As always, fans will have access to thousands of live events from ESPN3.com and highlights from ESPN.com.

Here’s more about ESPN on Xbox LIVE from SportsNation cohosts Colin Cowherd and Michelle Beadle:

Raphael Poplock (Vice President, Games and Partnerships) and Damon Phillips (Vice President of ESPN3.com) talks to Front Row about the new update:

FR: What’s unique about watching college football via ESPN on Xbox LIVE?

RP: ESPN on Xbox LIVE is a truly unique viewing experience that is getting a major upgrade in personalization and interactivity that will appeal to the hardcore college football fans out there. You can customize the sports and teams you care most about, tag games for reminders and live alerts, stay up-to-date on the latest news with ESPN BottomLine and even watch two games at once.

FR: Can you take us through the features on a typical Saturday afternoon of college football games?

RP: Sure, let’s take September 3rd, for example.  You’ve noted some Big Ten and SEC teams as you favorites, so at 12 noon, their live games show up across the top of the menu of My Sports.  Want to watch Akron-Ohio State and Utah State-Auburn at the same time?  No problem.  Split Screen lets you do that, and you can switch between the audio on both games whenever you want.  By 3:25 p.m., you get a reminder that Western Michigan-Michigan kicks off in 5 minutes — so you switch to that game.  Still in the last minutes of Utah State-Auburn?  Live alerts keep you updated on all the score changes, or you can even pull up the College Football Scoreboard in one of the split screens so you never miss an update from any of the games.  Want to switch to Minnesota-USC?  You can stay on the game you’re watching while pulling up the Mini Guide at the bottom of the screen to switch to it.  And if that isn’t enough, ESPN BottomLine scrolls all the latest breaking news and score updates across all sports.

FR: How many college football games are you carrying on ESPN3.com this season?

DP: This season, ESPN3.com has more than 400 college football games and 31 bowl games. More than 75 games are exclusive to ESPN3.com, close to 50 of which will be shown in the first five weeks alone, and also includes some of the biggest out-of-market games. We’ve also recently signed exclusive deals for ESPN3.com with the Southern Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference, and college sports fans should expect more of that to come across football, basketball and other college sports championships.

FR: What other programming can we find on ESPN3.com that can be viewed on Xbox LIVE?

DP: The update launches just in time for the U.S. Open Tennis, and ESPN3.com has all four major Grand Slam tournaments available on the network throughout the year. Fans should also expect great coverage throughout the college basketball season and Championship Week 2012. We also have the NBA, MLB, all five Euro soccer leagues — Barclays Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, German Bundesliga, Dutch Eredivisie and Italian Serie A — as well as major golf championships like the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship and ICC and Champions League Twenty20 cricket, to name just some of the highlights.

For more on the new features, go to this morning’s press release.