During its coverage of tonight's NBA Draft, NBA.com
will feature a camera taking "visitors into the 'green
room,' the area where prospective draftees are waiting,"
according to Josh Rubin of the TORONTO STAR. Another camera
will allow visitors "to zoom in on the stage" where the
selections are made. The Draft is "expected to draw more"
than '98's 300,000 draft-day visits to the site. NBA Dir of
Internet Services Stefanie Scheer acknowledges the numbers
would have been higher with no lockout, but she said, "The
number of visits is up about 10 per cent over last year, and
we're pretty happy with that." Scheer "calls the NBA's site
a break-even proposition, but she doesn't expect things to
stay that way for too long." Scheer: "Especially with E-
commerce growing, we really expect this to be a major
revenue generator." Scheer said the league will be
examining its Web options once its current deal with ESPN
Internet Ventures expires. Scheer: "Those options could
mean we'd be doing our own site, or it could mean we'd get
other partners involved" (TORONTO STAR, 6/30).
IBM'S ACTIVE ROLE? The INDUSTRY STANDARD's Bernhard
Warner examined NBA.com and wrote that the "roving digital
cameras," called "NBA's JamCam," used during the NBA Finals,
are "something many of the more progressive sports leagues
are trying to boost fan interest," and a "worthy" experiment
"totally in keeping with the pioneer spirit of the NBA."
The NBA will "relaunch" the site's store this fall "with a
new look and help from league sponsor IBM." Warner added
that the NBA's "top brass has grasped the reality" that the
league's "ambitions to expand internationally hinge upon the
Internet." NBAE President & COO Adam Silver said there is
demand from broadcasters, "especially internationally," to
do multimedia Web casts, but the NBA "hasn't devised a way
to dole out Web rights yet" (INDUSTRY STANDARD, 6/28).
