CJ McCollum (left), Damian Lillard (center) and coach Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers talk late in the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Nov. 24, 2017. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NBC Sports Gold is again offering a Blazers Pass streaming service for Pacific Northwest residents, but this year fans are able to vote on which games should be included.
The OTT service will include 15 games. The only one locked in is the Trail Blazers’ highly anticipated Western Conference trip to play the Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Nov. 23. Portland fans can vote now on the other 14 games to be included in the package.
The survey page lists 29 pre-selected away games—only road games can be considered due to rights restrictions. The pass will only be available to consumers in the Blazers’ viewing territory, which includes Washington and Oregon.
SportTechie Takeaway
The Blazers Pass vote offers an added layer of choice for direct-to-consumer packages, which by their nature already include some element of flexibility for fans. The trend in digital media is, as an executive from the automated highlight reel service WSC Sports recently espoused, a movement from national to global to local to personal. This Blazers Pass offering indicates that there may even be a half- or quarter-step in between local and personal in which the opinion of the crowd can craft some degree of choice.
