It’s that time again! If you are a sports fan like me, you probably already know what I’m talking about. It time for March Madness, which in my humble opinion, is the greatest sporting event this nation has produced. It’s a perfect setup. You have the best teams in college basketball (check this page), alongside conference champions from smaller leagues who are hungry to be the next in a long line of Cinderella stories. There will be brackets to fill out, office pools to enter, and 67 games to watch.
Even people who don’t care that much about basketball will often take notice of the tournament because of the bracket challenges and office pools. Also, this sporting event delivers like no other when it comes to story lines. You have the Cinderella runs made by unexpected teams that seemingly come out of nowhere, right along side some of the biggest legacies and most powerful names in college athletics. Can you tell I’m a fan?
My favorite part of March Madness is the first round, where you have a barrage of 32 games played over the course of a Thursday and Friday. This used to be a bit of an issue for me, since I have a job that keeps me very busy during the day. Thankfully, the NCAA has been kind enough to stream all of the games over the Internet for several years now. This didn’t do much for my work productivity, but it sure was handy for watching my hoops.
Even better, we now have a yearly mobile app release, so we can watch our beloved NCAA Tourney action while on the go with the iPhone, or even use the iPad to free up your laptop while at work to do, well…work. This is the BEST. Three years ago, I had a 7 hour drive home from Shreveport, LA on the opening Thursday of the tournament, which would have been disastrous in the past. Fortunately for me, the NCAA added the Westwood One radio feeds for use when bandwidth won’t handle streaming video. I was able to keep up with all the action during my long drive home.
Today, the NCAA released the latest version of their March Madness Live app. Not only does March Madness Live allow you to watch or listen to games, but it also has the full tournament schedule, let’s you store your tournament bracket, and will integrate to your Facebook and Twitter so you can post and Tweet directly from the app during the action. Another cool feature, back from last year, is the Channel Finder. The tournament’s TV contract expanded last year to allow for the live broadcast of all tournament games. This meant that other networks besides CBS (TNT, TBS, and TRUtv) had to be brought on board. Just put your ZIP in the Channel Finder, and all the numbers you need are included.
One noticeable change to the app this year will be welcomed by some and hated by others. Last year, users had to pay a $3.99 in-app purchase to get streaming functionality, which I didn’t think was out of line for such a useful app. This year the charge is gone, but in its place is a login requirement for your cable or satellite television provider. Users of WatchESPN and HBO Go will recognize this, as both of these apps use this system to verify access to their content. For March Madness Live, this login is required to see games that don’t appear on broadcast network CBS.
This means free streaming for those of us with cable or satellite TV, which is great. However, last year’s setup was a great deal for cord cutters who are moving away from pay TV subscriptions to the Internet for their entertainment needs. Live sports has always been one of the big issues for sports fans who want to make this move, and last year’s March Madness Live app was hailed as a big step in the right direction for cord cutters. This one, not so much. However, considering all the money that CBS and the NCAA have wrapped up in the NCAA Tournament, I can understand why they are moving this direction.
The NCAA’s March Madness Live app is available for free in the App Store. The NCAA Tournament First Four starts on Tuesday, March 19, and the First Round begins Thursday, March 21. Get your brackets ready!
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TAGS: 2013 ncaa march madness, march madness, ncaa, ncaa men's basketball, ncaa tournament
