LOS ANGELES - SONY Electronics and Fox Sports on Tuesday said they will beam the national college football championship game to 80 theatres in 3-D next month in the latest example of the sports world tapping into this new viewing technology.

Sony Electronics, a unit of Sony Corp, and News Corp's Fox will deliver live the FedEx Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national championship game between the University of Florida and University of Oklahoma on Jan 8.

The game will be shot from Dolphin Stadium in Miami using privately-held 3ality Digital's image-capture technology and transmitted live via Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp satellite distribution network.

There will also be a 3-D viewing that day at the Paris Hotel and Casino's Theatre des Arts in Las Vegas at a Sony-sponsored event during the Consumer Electronics Show.

RealD, which has rolled out 3-D systems in 1,500 theaters around with world, will also co-sponsor the CES event.

The college football 3-D event follows closely on the heels of other 3-D sports broadcast initiatives. Last week, the National Basketball Association said it was teaming up with Turner Sports to broadcast in 3-D a night of events associated with the US sports league's all-star game in February.

And the National Football League also recently broadcast a game in a test for media and other guests between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers in three cities. -- REUTERS