Microsoft is ready to rumble via MessageCast with the announcement today that MSN and FOX Sports have selected its LiveMessage technology to power sports messaging on the newly unveiled MSN and FOX Sports Web site.

Fans can receive a variety of late-breaking updates about their favorite sports, sports teams and players delivered instantly to their desktop, cell phone, or email. LiveMessage uses the Microsoft Alerts network to track fan presence.

"No matter where they are, the fan is always where the action is," said Royal P. Farros, CEO of MessageCast. Using the example of fantasy footballers, Farros called it "terrific customer service for those who want to get the stats on their fantasy quarterback expediently." Farros said long-term it will most assuredly boost the fan-base of MSN and Fox Sports Web sites.

During March Madness 2004, HitWise reported that roughly 16% of U.S. traffic to sports-related Web sites was for those in the Fantasy category. The visitors to Hitwise's College, Basketball, and Fantasy categories were predominantly male; however, many fewer females were visiting Fantasy sites than the College and Basketball sites. College basketball visitors were slightly older than Basketball and Fantasy site visitors, and the majority of visitors to any of the three category sites had annual household incomes of $75,000 per year or more.

With the MSN and FOX Sports relationship announced just a few months ago, the development cycle for creating a fan-friendly, highly scalable messaging environment was extraordinarily tight. Using MessageCast's LiveMessage platform, the project was completed in just weeks.

Christine Andrews, product manager for MSN said the alerts "are an incredibly important feature to consumers, and we couldn’t be happier with the end product that MessageCast is providing to our customers."

For the wide range of avid sports fans and for providing what customers want, the partnership definitely represents a win-win.