RealGM

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.

GregB wrote: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.

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.”

Hemingway wrote: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?