You may have noticed that your local NBA franchise has begun streaming games in-market. yes, it’s true and that’s a big change from previous seasons when you could watch your local games only through your TV set. Now, the NBA has quietly launched in-market streaming thanks to agreements with Fox in 17 NBA markets including YES in New York and NBC’s Comcast SportsNet channels in six regions.
Comcast SportsNet’s Bay Area, California, Chicago, Mid-Atlantic, New England and Philadelphia have begun streaming their games to authenticated cable subscribers in October. Fans may have noticed that CSN NBA games have been added to the NBC Sports Live Extra mobile and tablet apps.
Comcast SportsNet Northwest which airs Portland Trail Blazers games is not participating in the streaming as the team has its own pay-per-view online package.
Currently, NBC has agreements with in markets where the local cable company is the dominant provider in the local market such as AT&T U-Verse or Time Warner Cable. NBC Sports Group says it’s working with other distributors to make the Comcast SportsNet streams available to all viewers inside the market. As an incentive, the streams will be provided at no extra charge to the cable and satellite companies.
NBC is not only streaming the games, it is also showing the pre and postgame programming.
Fox Sports Net is also looking to increase its agreements. It is streaming in-market games through its Fox Sports Go mobile and tablet apps and also on desktop computers.
SportsNet LA which is run by Time Warner Cable is also streaming Los Angeles Lakers games to fans in Southern California. And in New York, Knicks fans can watch games online through Cablevision’s MSG Network app.
The NBA becomes the first professional sports league to allow in-market streaming en masse. This becomes a model for MLB and NHL which currently allow for out-of-market games to go online, but have placed restrictions on in-market streaming. It’s hoped that with a new Commissioner, baseball will have an agreement in place before the 2015 season. The New York Yankees, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays have streamed games, but two of the three teams shut down online access after fans refused to pay extra.
With the NBA now streaming games for local fans and allowing them to watch at their convenience on any device, fans now hope this will cause MLB and the NHL to fall into line in the very near future.
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