Celtics in talks with Comcast to stream live games for free

[campybatman]

I hope this goes through as I spend more time on the computer than with watching TV. This is awesome news!

The NBA franchise is in talks with Comcast to stream games live, and free, on the Web next season.

“There’s a generation of fans that want that second-screen experience,” Celtics president Rich Gotham told the Herald yesterday. “They want the big screen hi-def, but they also want a computer open in front of them to delve into stats and chat with fans in real time.”

Gotham said details of the deal with Comcast SportsNet have yet to be worked out. But he expects the agreement to be signed in time for the season opener this fall.

“We haven’t worked through all the specifics of the model,” he said.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/ge ... id=1176712

[BRUNiNHO91]

For free? Can they do that?? Wow..that would be amazing. No more chasing around for stupid laggy ass online streams on JTV or Ustream..
However..hopefully if this goes down, it's something decent..not a 1 inch screen that freezes every 2 minutes..

[chakdaddy]

Interesting...I doubt the NBA would allow this to happen though.

Of course, Comcast has the rights to the games, so if they want to broadcast their channel for free, why couldn't they?

Surely the NBA would have some kind of blackout issue with this, they don't want out of market people watching the games free when they could pay for League Pass.

[GregB]

I could see them doing it. But I bet they make the stream only available to local people. Requiring out of staters to get league pass broadband.

[campybatman]

I'm expecting there to be a catch, but who knows for certain. No, there must be going to be some type of a catch. I mean what's to deter a person living in Boston who pays for basic cable with either Comcast or RCN with at least a DSL connection from making "the switch?" This could benefit those who don't have cable but do have internet access. Still, nothing is perfect anytime you've something that's free. Remember when WRKO was doing streaming audio of games a few years ago? That got old fast because there was a delay and you would occasionally lose your connection to the feed or whatever. I thought, what's the point then? A radio broadcast is live and with minimal interrupts.

[cold5]

Stern "How dare you endanger my unlimited cash flow?! You Boston bastards. GO back to worshipping and following your lord. Me."

[Banks2Pierce]

I could see them doing it. But I bet they make the stream only available to local people. Requiring out of staters to get league pass broadband.

Yea definitely. There's very little chance that out of staters would get in on this action.

[campybatman]

If they're going to move forward with this online access. Do so now while the Celtics are relevant.

[kmgarnett21]

IF this happens, for free, this will be unreal!!! Living in Texas I only get to see the nationally broadcast games and sometimes I find a link online, so I only got to watch about 30 games this past season.

It would be awesome to be able to watch a majority of the games.

[BillTheGOAT]

any updates on this issue ?

[campybatman]

The NBA schedules will be announced early next week, so maybe news will come to light pertaining to this topic. Otherwise, we'll just have to be patient and wait and see if Rich Gotham or whomever to makes it official. This is too good of an opportunity for the Celtics not to get it done between they and Comcast before the start of the regular season.

Of particular interest is heightening sponsorship sales for the club’s growing extensions into digital media, particularly social networks, which took up part of yesterday’s discussion. The Celtics have 377,000 fans for their team community on Facebook, more than twice the level of just five months ago; 8,600 followers on Twitter; and more than 1.5 million unique users per month to Celtics.com. The club is also negotiating with Comcast to stream its games live online in the Boston area as part of the NBA’s ongoing experiments with in-market streaming. "We didn’t reach our goal (of a repeat NBA title) this year, but there’s no regret,” Gotham said. “We fought the good fight. So our focus now on the business side is on growing our base and extending our reach into these new and emerging areas. We’re not relying on people to come to us -- we’re out there going to where they are now. We really see ourselves as an integrated marketing company with a big aggregated audience that carries a ton of passion.”

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/130692

[Hemingway]

How does league pass work as far as commercials? Are you watching the same game as seen on local tv with Mike and Tommy and the same 7 commercials that repeat over and over or do you have a live feed without commercials?

I would think they could make more money if they could get commercials individualized. I mean when I go on facebook the ads are always for things that are in my intersts of favorite music. What if the deal was you download a program that plays the game but also knows what sites you go to and gives you commercials that are targeted to you. Or better yet, give a survey to you so you can pick the commercials you want? I wouldn't mind all bud and GGW commercials.

[chakdaddy]

How does league pass work as far as commercials? Are you watching the same game as seen on local tv with Mike and Tommy and the same 7 commercials that repeat over and over or do you have a live feed without commercials?

On the actual NBA League Pass through cable or satellite, you get the actual local TV broadcast with local commercials - the same as whatever is being show on the regional sports network.

On League Pass Broadband, watching over the internet, you get the NBA's commercials "'where amazing happens'' and so forth; sometimes you just get a leaguewide scoreboard update during the breaks. And I think rarely a real commercial is on, not sure how they get chosen.

[campybatman]

Hopefully, Boston will make a similar announcement soon.



Blazers to start streaming games online

http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2009 ... g_gam.html

[Celtic Esquire]

I don't understand why the rights holder would NOT want to stream games online for free.

You can't fast forward through the commercials and it increases the number of people watching so you can charge higher advertising rates.

Seems like a no brainer to me.