After digesting the turnover for 48 hours, to me I see something more unorthodox on the horizon: The Blazer brass saw the NFL sign a deal with Twitter to broadcast Thursday night games, becoming the first non-traditional broadcast partner (other than Yahoo Sports, which did a London NFL game last season to rave reviews) and realized that online broadcasting has matured to the point that it becomes a viable alternative. Moving forward, this becomes more important as more and more people "cut the cord". The Blazers absolutely do not want to be locked into a long-term yesterday's technology deal that in 5 years might be looked as a dinosaur. My theory is that the Blazers are signing a deal with Netflix (or maybe Yahoo) to stream video broadcast. Think about it: Netflix wants content. Live broadcasting is something I am sure they have been working on for a while now, and is probably cheaper than their TV shows/Movies that they produce in-house. Blazer games will become available to everyone in America, on Smart TVs, computers, and mobile devices. A nationally recognized voice would be preferential to appeal to not just Northwest listeners, but nationwide. Plus Calabro has just enough NW ties to make his absorption into the Portland broadcast palatable for the locals. A color man with national cred is probably more likely as well, so throwing names out like Mike Fratello, Hubie Brown, Jon Barry, etc. isn't outside the realm of possibility. In light of this, the release of Antonio Harvey is a bit more murky, but it's been postulated that his involvement with Marijuana growing sealed his fate with the organization. Why they did not think to perhaps move Mike Rice back to radio, if only for next year while they were still paying him, is strange, but making a clean cut of it given his age and deteriorating abilities makes some sense as well. I would think that perhaps the Blazers will go back on their plan to have Wheeler call games alone, perhaps pairing him with "guest color analysis" people such as Terry Porter, Mike Holton, and others already in the organization.
I have been thinking about this as well. I think it will be two parts though. Online streaming service + ROOT sports for TV.
Why ROOT sports? Why tie to a traditional television distribution model when options like Netflix are already as available (and will become moreso in the future), vs. an outlet like ROOT Sports which is in a declining business model and in 5 years might be an albatross.
Will games streamed via Netflix be subject to the same blackout restrictions as the games on NBATV? Are they going to block my IP address because it says I'm located within 50 miles of the Moda Center? That's the first antiquated content delivery model that needs to go. Making it impossible for the people who want to view your product to do so is a horrible business model. BNM
If the Blazers on Netflix could become the 21st century equivalent of the Braves on TBS or the Cubs on WGN in the 80's/90's, that can only be a positive for our desire to close the gap with the "big market" teams.
Because I don't think they'll go exclusively online. There are still a lot of fans who would prefer to watch/can only watch on TV. I suspect they will make sure to get a contract that allows them to stream online, but also have a broadcast partner like ROOT. Maybe in 10 years they go exclusively online.
It's been my dream for the past several season that the Blazers next "TV" deal be done with a streaming partner, like NF, that doesn't discriminate based on geographic location. Anything less would be a travesty, IMO.
I would love to watch the Blazers on Netflix/Hulu! Netflix is worldwide now, people in Sweden could watch them easily.
I've been saying Netflix for over a year. I was also hoping for Google but their high speed internet service isn't coming to Portland.
