Facebook Launches 2012 Olympics Hub

Facebook is aiming to become a one-stop shop for fans looking for information about the Olympics with a new hub with links to athletes, teams and sports.

The hub includes links to Michael Phelps, Aly Raisman, Jessica Hardy and Logan Tom, among others. Fans can also follow teams from various countries, including Team Ireland, the Swiss Olympic Team and, of course, the US Olympic Team.

Facebook has also launched a Page for The Olympic Games where fans can follow the action. That Page already has 2.8 million fans.

Facebook’s embrace of the Olympics comes as the social network increasingly tries to position itself as a forum for news and access to celebs a la Twitter. Facebook, which had been known mostly for peer-to-peer networking, began the new focus with the launch of the Subscribe button last September.

Will Anyone Actually Watch the Olympics Online?

The 2012 Summer Olympics will be more socially and digitally connected than any before — there’s no question there.

But will sports fans take advantage of the surfeit of streaming video options available this July and August? One recent study predicts online viewing engagement will actually be quite low.

According to research by the sports media group Perform, just 16% of American sports fans plan to watch the action online via PC, and just 7% plan to do so by Internet-enabled mobile device. This despite the fact that NBCOlympics.com will stream every event from every sport as well as every medal ceremony — 3,500 hours all told.

71% of Americans plan to watch the Games on TV the old fashioned way. 23% said they’ll read online via PC, and 7% by mobile device. 27% plan to read article offline, and 12% will follow along via social media.

In Australia, where much of the competition will take place during working hours as well, online viewing forecasts are also low. 10% of Australian respondents to the Perform survey said they’ll watch online via PC, while just 6% said they’ll watch on a mobile device. 73% said they’ll watch on regular television.

Streaming video engagement also looks to be low across the rest of Europe, but China is the Perform study’s one outlier. 70% of respondents there said they’ll watch online via PC, while 35% said they plan to watch on an Internet connected mobile device. 55% of Chinese respondents said they’ll read online via PC — over 15% more than the next highest country, Brazil.

Check out the chart below for the full picture, then let us know in the comments — will you watch any of this year’s Olympics online? Why or why not?