NBA Launches Store To Download Game Content At NBA.com

NBA Launches Own Video Download Store

The NBA announced today the launch of the NBA.com Download Store that will allow fans to download full game broadcast throughout the ‘07 NBA Playoffs and Finals shortly after games conclude. In addition to the NBA.com Download Store, video content. Single games will cost $2.99, individual Playoff series $12.99 and the entire playoffs $79.99. Classic games from last year’s NBA Finals and other select games will also be available for $2.99 each (NBA). SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Eric Fisher writes the store “essentially replaces” the league’s ’06 iTunes deal with Apple for playoff video content. Moving downloads in-house will “eliminate the need for a revenue-sharing” agreement like the one with Apple (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/7 issue). NBA Senior Dir of Interactive Services Steve Grimes said early sales have been “promising.” NBAE Senior VP/Operations & Technology Steve Hellmuth noted the league has about 40,000 games on tape in its archive, most from ’90 and later, and that it will take “about eight years before all 40,000 games are digitized and logged.”

OTHER SPORTS: Turner Sports New Media GM & VP Scott Bailey, whose company produces the official Web sites for NASCAR and the PGA Tour, said, “The larger opportunity here is in the things you’ll see at the DVD store where someone has packaged a series of dramatic moments for you.” Bailey said that this summer, NASCAR.com will release “many more videos for downloads, like compilations of races a particular driver has won.” MLBAM President & CEO Bob Bowman indicated that MLB.com later this year will introduce a video search product so users can “search through hundreds of games to find highlights from specific players,” adding that users will “likely be able to download those clips free.” NFL VP/Media Strategy Brian Rolapp said that the league is “weighing how much historical footage it could offer for downloading, and which clips would be supported by advertisers, versus those that would be available for purchase” (N.Y. TIMES, 5/7).