This is from Sports Business Journal. I would provide a link but it's a pay site. This only a portion of the story in keeping with pf.com policy.

This sucks for out-of-town Pistons fans (read last graph), and I'm not sure it's a huge deal for local people. Maybe.


The NBA is poised to become the first major U.S. sports league to stream live games in local markets, an aggressive offering that will set up a showdown between cable operators and regional sports networks.

The move marks the latest evolution in digital rights and adds fuel to one of the most contentious issues in local sports media as teams look to broaden their reach while operators look to protect the rights to their most expensive programming.

The NBA has authorized its teams to launch three distinct digital services by the start of the 2008-09 season in late October: video streaming, interactive TV and video-on-demand.

But the service that is certain to create the most waves is the streaming, which is one of the reasons why the league is negotiating on behalf of its 30 teams to cut live local deals.

“We hope to have a model in place this season,” said Bill Koenig, NBA executive vice president of business affairs and general counsel. “Our opening up of the rights will certainly be done.”

The plan would allow viewers to watch live games online within their local market for the first time. That could mean Chicago Bulls fans could watch live action on Bulls.com or on the team’s local RSN Web site, in this case, Chicago.ComcastSportsNet.com. Whether the online offering is free or not is still to be determined.

The NBA will use geo-blocking technology to ensure that people outside of a team’s territory will not be able to access its games online to comply with the league’s local marketing rules.

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"I don't believe there's any problem in this country, no matter how tough it is, that Americans, when they roll up their sleeves, can't completely ignore. - George Carlin

Geo blocking? Sounds like there no way to get around it.

What is the point of streaming in markets where it is already being streamed via cable?

This was later in the story, TaS:

The goal of live streaming and offering more interactive features, Koenig said, is to increase and sustain fan interest by offering more ways for fans to view NBA content.

Koenig is the NBA executive vice president of business affairs and general counsel.

Koenig also said that the league hopes to have this up and running before the season starts but cable operators and regional sports broadcasters doubt it will happen.

Frankly, TaS, I think the goal of the NBA is bring more viewers to NBA Web pages so they can sell more advertisements. Either way, it's going to be a battle between local providers and the league.

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"I don't believe there's any problem in this country, no matter how tough it is, that Americans, when they roll up their sleeves, can't completely ignore. - George Carlin

Geoblocking????? I'm quaking in my boots!

Surely there must be a way to make your traffic look like it is coming from a different place, right? I know normally ISP #'s can be traced geographically, but if technogeeks haven't come up with a way around this yet, I am disappointed.

It's just that NBA games are always in the evening or on weekends. Not many people are at work during these times (or if they are, they aren't working with a computer). So, the market that they are going after seems to be people who are at home, but would choose to watch an NBA game with poor resolution on their computer rather than on their plasma TV.

If they opened it up to everyone, then I think they'd get a lot of business, but it would dramatically hurt the NBA league pass subscriptions.

Streaming baseball is a good idea, because bored office workers can watch it at their desks.

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"Defense fuels your offense. No mystery about that." AA

I'll be looking into Sling Boxes and other ways to get video off my puter.
It's got to be fast and not fuzzy.

My wife's uncle lives in London with his family and uses a Slingbox at his mother's house to watch college sports and whatnot. He says it works great, once you figure out how to set it up.