Sports broadcaster ESPN will make its first UK foray into second-screen viewing during its coverage of this weekend’s FA Cup final following a deal with social TV app fanatix. 

Using the fanatix app via iPhone or iPad, ESPN viewers will be able to find other fans watching the game around the world as well as participating in debate through aggregated and curated football-specific Twitter feeds.

Additional aspects of the fanatix service will see fans able to share opinions on the Cup final with friends via a group messenger, access match statistics, and engage in debate with ESPN TV pundits.

Founded in 2011, fanatix is a platform designed to engage the burgeoning second-screen sports entertainment community, matching a user’s Facebook friends and their activities with a database of over 20,000 global sports events.