The Blog for Video 2.0

As the world of online video grows and expands, one area that continues to show positive gains is sports video. Maybe it is due to the fact that sports is easily edited down to key highlights or because sports has a loyal and vocal fan base, but whatever the reason online sports video is here to stay.

Sites such as ESPN, TSN, the Golf Channel and YouTube all serve hundreds of sports videos. Niches are even forming for fans of specific teams, such as this Pittsburgh Steelers Channel we found.

Labels: internet video, sports, steelers

Here is a look at the current online video offerings from the major sports leagues.

A newly created revenue share deal between the NBA and YouTube was recently announced. Fans upload videos of their own best basketball moves. A top 10 will be selected each week and shown on NBA TV. The YouTube NBA channel has a promo and link for more video at NBA.com.

The NHL is offering full game downloads via Google Video and YouTube.
The league will provide game highlights and behind-the-scene video; YouTube will put the clips on a dedicated NHL channel supplemented with user-uploaded video. As has been the case with other YouTube content deals, the NHL will be able to remove copyright-breaching content from the site or can leave it and share in the revenue.

Both sports seem to have younger fans, which explains the big push and acceptance of online video. The NHL needs to do all it can to get its product visible as it currently suffers from a poor national cable TV deal on the "Versus" network.

Labels: online distribution, online video, sports