NBA Posts Online Highlight Reels
Though live since the beginning of the playoffs, the NBA waited until today to formally announce the launch of its new video site, download.nba.com. There, b-ball fans have the option to either download any game from the playoffs for $3 a pop, get a series of playoff games between two teams for $13 or get the playoffs in their entirety for $80. Games are commercial-free and typically two hours long.The NBA's digitization of its goods follows similar programs launching or already in place by the other major sports outfits. Both NASCAR and Major League Baseball are currently available on iTunes, as were highlights from the 2006 Stanley Cup. In fact, the NBA itself already makes limited video content available on YouTube.
Though the league is limiting its focus to this year's playoffs at the moment, it claims to be working on digitizing 40,000 some odd games going back to 1990, which will take an estimated eight years to complete. Why so long? Because the NBA isn't simply letting a computer convert old videotapes into stream-able downloads. A human must watch every minute of each game and document the action during each possession. The hope is that, in the future, a user could search download.nba.com for 'Michael Jordan dunk' and be shown every play in which Michael Jordan ever dunked -- which used to happen quite a bit, we hear.
From The New York Times
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