This is the third year we’ve watched March Madness online, so we’ve got lots of experience watching sports online. The NCAA gets it right with their presentation of MMOD.
This year, they ditched the sign-up and waiting in line thing. You just go to the site and click whichever game you want to watch and bang, you’re in.
Lots of other events and programs that are available online in the United States are not available if you live outside of the United States. I’m grateful that, at least for now, the NCAA has allowed us to watch just like everyone else, without having to do things like hide an IP address (which I’ve heard slows down your internet connection).
Live streams of games come in different qualities, too. You can choose which quality you want to view the game in based on how well it streams on your computer. We are stuck watching the lowest, or “fair” quality because we have somewhat slow internet, but the option of HD is there.
I noticed yesterday, too, that you can watch every game archived. The entire tournament is online and on-demand. So if you missed your favorite team’s first or second round games, you can watch it online.
This year, they will have every single game online, too, including the final four and championship game. That’s pretty exciting because it means that, no matter where you are, you could watch the games. We get the final games on TV here, but it’s good to know that I could watch it online if I wanted.
There are a lot of other features on the site, like watching the games live on your iphone and remixing highlight reels. Thanks, NCAA, for making it a great experience on what many basketball fans call “Second Christmas.”
