[Sigia-l] MLB throws a curveball to big Web players

[H. Jay Melnick]

all:

This tidbit in from On-Line Journalism.....           Cheers..... Jay


MLB throws a curveball to big Web players
http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-5156247.html?tag=cd_lede

2004-02-10 18:19 EST | 2004-02-10 23:19 GMT
- Sogole Honarvar, Section Editor

Major League Baseball is in the process of shopping Web broadcasting rights to
major Internet players, reports CNET News.com. Last week, RealNetworks
declined to continue distributing MLB games online for $20 million over three
years. However, new Internet companies vying for the Web broadcast rights are
shocked by MLB's increased price tag. MLB isn't fazed by the deal's issues,
because it can always air games on its own site. The issue then becomes
whether or not big-name Internet companies are ready to deal with licensing
fees and increased advertising to make up for the gap in funding. MLB predicts
a wide fanbase for streaming Web video of its games in 2004 and will
distribute online whether or not Internet companies buy the rights. If MLB
hits a homerun with both controlling content and distribution, it may just
prove that the Web companies are out of their league.

Major League Baseball: http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp
CNET News.com: http://news.com.com/
RealNetworks: http://www.realnetworks.com/






H. Jay Melnick                                 editor at Coloradio.com
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