The NFL kicked off its 2010 season Sunday night with the Hall of Fame game, bringing in impressive viewership numbers for NBC: the telecast drew an overnight rating of 7.6, up 31% from last year’s preseason opener. Thus continues the successful trend for sporting event broadcasts.

As The New York Times reported a few weeks ago, the experience of watching sports at home is now so good that teams are working to find new ways to keep fans coming to games (you mean to say Mullet Night isn’t doing the trick anymore?). One solution: enhancing the video experience for those inside the stadium.

Watching a game from the comforts of home certainly has its advantages:

In the technology world, four years is an eternity.  So, those of us woking on streaming technology not only understand its evolution in the last four years, but can truly appreciate how the presence of video everywhere has revolutionized coverage of the 2010 World Cup.

Last week, when Butler’s Gordon Hayward’s half-court heave at the buzzer rimmed off and crowned Duke champion of the 2010 Men’s NCAA Tournament, it marked the end to two incredible weeks…of live streaming.  NCAA March Madness On Demand, offered free of charge for online viewers, was once again a slam dunk for CBS Sports. 

Some of the numbers:

• 11.7 million hours of live streaming video (up 36% from last year) were consumed by 8.3 million unique visitors (up 10% from last year). 
• 575,000 unique visitors (up 70% from last year) watched the tournament’s final game and consumed 368,000 hours of live streaming video (up 72% from last year).
• The “Boss Button,” which disguises basketball-watching by instantly pulling up a spreadsheet, was clicked 3.94 million times, up 42% from last year.

What does this all mean?  The popularity of live streaming of sports online continues its rapid ascension.  One would think a Duke/Butler final, with 99% of the world long eliminated from their office pools (myself included!), would not draw nearly the number of viewers as the North Carolina/Michigan State final from a year ago, let alone 70% more!

On the heels of my experience streaming the Trail Blazers' first game, Turner Sports announced the release of NBA League Pass Mobile, an Apple iPhone and Google Android app giving users streaming access to more than 40 live games per week.  It will also provide scores of other games as well as up-to-date statistics.  At $39.99, it's expensive compared to your typical mobile app, but with over 40 games a week for the entire 2009-2010 season, it may be worth it to the big time basketball fan. This is yet another example of the demand for video to be delivered anytime, anywhere.  "It's important for us to get our content in front of as many fans as possible," said Bryan Perez, senior vice president of NBA Digital, in Ryan Lawler's coverage of the announcement over at Contentinople.  We feel the same way, Bryan!

Speaking of streaming, the Trail Blazer game on Friday night vs. the San Antonio Spurs will be the second online streaming opportunity.  I will definitely be tuning in, especially after a very unique customer support experience.  Click through to read about it.

Since the Portland Trail Blazers are kind of a big deal around these parts, I was excited to hear that they would be "the first team in the NBA to stream games online."  With Major League Baseball showing excellent results from its online streaming (in both the quality and business sense), it's good to see the NBA working to polish their online solution.  After my first experience, though, while it's clear the potential is there, it definitely needs work.  Click through for the full post.

Image courtesy of Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian