Hutton's role at Facebook, in which he will work alongside former National Basketball Association executive Dan Reed who is now Facebook’s head of global sports partnerships, will see him focus on securing global sports rights for the organisation.

Hutton, who joined Eurosport, part of the Discovery network, in 2015, will take up his new position at Facebook after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February.

As reported by Variety, Hutton insisted he was still fully focused on the upcoming Games despite his new role.

"I'm trying to keep focused on delivering the best Olympic Games possible for Eurosport," he wrote in an email to the outlet.

Hutton's move to Facebook is another demonstration of social media's growing interest and influence in the streaming of live sporting events.

As reported by The Drum, Hutton is on record as saying "sports broadcasters can't ignore [Facebook and Twitter], instead you need to make them part of your story".

Facebook recently lost out on the rights to cover Indian Premier League cricket with Star India, owned by Rupert Murdoch, trumping their $600 million (£430 million/€490 million) bid with a £1.97 billion ($2.74 billion/€2.24 billion) bid of their own.