NBA Authorizes Teams To Launch Local Market Video Streaming
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NBA Gives Teams Permission To Launch
Local Market Video Streaming This Season |
The NBA is "poised to become the first major U.S. sports league to stream live games in local markets, an aggressive offering that will set up a showdown between cable operators" and RSNs, according to Lombardo & Ourand of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The league has authorized teams to launch video streaming, interactive TV and VOD services "by the start of the 2008-09 season." NBAE Exec VP/Business Affairs & General Counsel Bill Koenig: "We hope to have a model in place this season." Lombardo & Ourand note the service that is "certain to create the most waves is the streaming, which is one of the reasons why the league is negotiating on behalf of its 30 teams to cut live local deals." The plan "would allow viewers to watch live games online within their local market for the first time." The NBA will use "geo-blocking technology to ensure that people outside of a team's territory will not be able to access its games online to comply with the league's local marketing rules." The league's decision to "open its broadband rights creates a minefield of issues between local sports networks and their cable and satellite carriers." One RSN exec said, "I can tell you that we're going to push back. (Cable and satellite operators) will hate this concept." But FSN "hopes to be able to convince cable and satellite operators that streamed games will not hurt their core linear TV business." NBA execs indicated that they "don't know whether the games will be free or not, though the NBA will leave that decision to teams." NBA officials also are "uncertain whether the games will be hosted on the local team site, the RSN site, or both." Details of advertising "within the feeds and who sells that are also still to be worked out" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/18 issue).
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