Are you in?
weblog.raganwald.com
weblog.raganwald.com
The networks and pro leagues seem to have a very tight grip on distribution and I don't see a lot of attempts at innovation there. MLB.tv is cool but why can't I pay $2.99 to watch an NFL game on demand on my AppleTV or Boxee?
Whether you could have watched it online is anybody's guess. It seems to involve whether your ISP has cut a deal with ESPN to be able to do this, and "ESPN 3" is also clearly just sort of wedged between the licensing cracks as games seem to get blacked out at the drop of a hat. But other than some weird quality issues with the stream, it did basically work. (And, oddly, this game was also locally broadcast so I have no idea why I was able to see it.)
No commercials on the XBox 360, either. It was weird, it just puts up a screen about how the game will resume shortly. Kinda nice, actually.
It seems to be ESPN is willing to do the subscription thing, but the sports fields are so tied up in licensing snarls that it's hard to get anything through yet. But it is starting.
Western culture != U.S.