On our network blog last100, Daniel Langendorf writes:
"The Internet is not just a place to get the latest scores and follow your favorite team in the standings. The Web has evolved so well that it has displaced traditional media as the first-stop source for all your major-sports needs.
Except for local coverage, there‚Äôs no need to watch TV sportscasts anymore. Pardon the sports pun, but the Internet has all the bases covered — from providing the usual scores, standings, and statistics to rich, always-available highlights, interviews, streaming games, downloadable games, podcasts, extensive season and historical archives, and a host of mobile solutions from wallpapers and ringtones to live GameCasts with Audio. Best of all, there are no timetables.
The Big 4 professional sports leagues in the U.S. — the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL — have leveraged existing footage (usually developed through their ‚Äúofficial‚Äù networks) to create their own unique content. The leagues flood their Web sites with an overwhelming array of branded digital content so fans can stream games, download ones they missed, and watch clips packaged in so many ways the head spins."
It's a bold hypothesis - that the Internet has replaced television for sports coverage. But check out the table compiled by last100 to support it:
See last100 for the full post.
Comments
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Watching NBA on the internet is the only option in some part of the world.
Posted by: Endre Jofoldi | December 12, 2007 12:09 AM
though they may have the web portion "covered", these leagues haven't embraced the full capability of the web medium. They're basically trying to turn your computer into a TV with the TV clips driving these other channels. THe NFL is the worst. I'm a die-hard fan of the NFL but their web policies just plain suck.
Where is the interactivity, where is allowing content to be open....the NFL is trying just as much as the record companies to protect their content.
Posted by: John | December 12, 2007 5:12 AM
Richard,
Thanks for sharing this article, I found it to be a very interesting post. To say that the internet has replaced television for sports coverage is a definitely a bold hypothesis. However, I don't think it's quite there yet...
For sports highlights, the internet just can't be beat. But sports coverage is not just about the highlights, but about live coverage of the games...and that has a long way to go. It's still too expensive for the average Joe to watch his favorite team live. The day we have live streaming games free to the fans is the day the internet beats television for sports coverage. It's still up to the fans to decide how and where they consume their sports entertainment.
Im surprised that ESPN.com's video section wasn't mentioned. It's particularly intriguing because they are the only sports video portal that allows embedding of videos into other sites. NFL.com, NBA.com, NHL.com, and MLB.com don't allow embedding, but if/once they do, sports media will be primed for a big boom.
My partners and I have been working on FantasySportsMatrix.com (FSM), which is a sports media portal driven by a social network of sports fans. As sports media continues to become more fragmented, it gets harder for fans to sift through it all and find the hottest content. From main sports media outlets such as ESPN to individual sports bloggers, there is just so much content out there. At the same time, combined with the fantasy sports phenomenon, sports fans are becoming smarter, louder, and bigger than ever. FSM is striving to provide a face and a home for the sports community, and connect them in a way that's never been done before. We're in public beta right now and have a lot of exciting things in the works...
It's refreshing to see ReadWriteWeb cover sports media as well. Thank you for that.
Cheers,
Michael Vu
CTO, FantasySportsMatrix.com
Posted by: Michael Vu | December 12, 2007 12:17 PM
I agree with Michael, everyone I know that uses the web for sports-viewing uses it for short highlights-browsing, not sustained watching. When there is full, good quality, live coverage then it'll be different.
Posted by: josh | December 23, 2007 12:52 AM