If you’re without cable (or a television altogether), there are still a few options to consider if you want to catch March Madness. One of these is to follow March Madness on Twitter, and this year that doesn’t mean you’re limited to 140 characters of a game, or a quick courtside photo. This year, @MarchMadness will be tweeting 15 second highlights of each game.
No, it’s not exactly a livestream. If you want to stream all of the championship games live, you’ll need a cable subscription anyway. For instance Bright House Network cable subscribers can get online access to the live streams of all 67 games from the NCAA March Madness website. Or you can elect to turn to unsanctioned livestreams from the sketchy corners of the Internet. There are a lot of free sources to watch the games, but remember, you get what you pay for (or don’t pay for, in this case).
Otherwise, if you’re limited on time you can always catch up on the best bits and pieces of these games. Short of streaming the games live, the @MarchMadness video feature is being brought to you thanks to the technology behind Snappy TV, while Turner Broadcasting will be responsible for delivering the content. Twitter corporate has a hand in the partnership, but it’s simply acting as the delivery vehicle for these video clips.
St. Mary’s with ANOTHER three pointer. – snpy.tv/WCDs7M
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 20, 2013
The highlights are certainly convenient for users – especially those of us living the nine-to-five life. And livestreaming on your phone, if you’re away from a Wi-Fi connection is data-intensive, not to mention costly. For Twitter though, video presents the social network with a new revenue stream that hasn’t been explored as extensively as its other advertising products. USA Today notes that these “instant replays” started off last year, first with ESPN providing the highlights and advertising partners providing the advertising dollars. This year’s advertising opportunity isn’t any different: AT&T and Coke Zero are sponsoring the @MarchMadness videos on Twitter.
We may end up seeing more videos promoted on Twitter during major events, which many of us would welcome considering our busy schedules.
