Now you can burn to CD your favorite Major League baseball games
In a first for professional sports leagues -- which so far have sold highlight packages etc. on videocasette, DVD or via streaming -- MLB.com (owned by all the major league teams) will begin to sell the entire game on video via the Web. So anyone can now download the play by play account of the whole game thanks to the dramatically reduced costs involved. Basically, it is bandwidth that MLB.com has to pay for...and I'm sure they're hoping to sell lots of other things to customers once they have them on the site. According to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
The $3.95-per-game service on MLB.com got a trial run on Thursday, with video of the Houston Astros' no-hitter -- using a record six pitchers -- of the New York Yankees the night before. As of late Thursday afternoon, 201 fans had bought this game, according to the site. The service, called Digital Classic, will be offered again when the Yankees' Roger Clemens notches his 300th victory, which could come as soon as Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals. (Fans can pay in advance for the Clemens game, and then be e-mailed when he wins; around 190 fans had done so by late Thursday afternoon, according to the site, with limited promotion.)