Local broadcasts of NBA games are coming to your laptop.
The NBA is nearing a deal with FOX Sports and NBC local affiliates around the league to allow live local streaming of NBA games, John Ourand and John Lombardo of Sports Business Daily report. That means if you are away from your TV, you can still catch NBA games. Other local channels like MSG and ROOT Sports should follow.
The deal allowing local broadcasts to stream over the Internet will run through the 2016 season, when all the NBA's major broadcast deals run out.
This refers only to local broadcasts. To watch an out-of-market game, you will still need to buy NBA League Pass and watch through that service.
For expanding local broadcasts however, this is a major step for the NBA.
The league has always been very progressive with its Internet interaction. It embraced Twitter and the Internet as an outlet to have the game reach its fans. This only extends that and expands the NBA's ability to reach its fans. It will be interesting to see if this is successful and whether the NBA may incorporate it into their upcoming TV agreement.
The details are still being worked out. It appears though that the live streams will be housed on the team's Web sites but will link back to the TV network's sites and apps. There are still details to finalize before this becomes a reality. It likely will occur in the middle of the season.
