Is D-III ready for pay-per-view?

Well, the future is here, as we mention in the front page story. But how much are you willing to pay to see a D-III game online?

From my national perspective, the game would have to be pretty good to make me shell out $5.95. I know the quality of Penn Atlantic streams is spectacular (so good, in fact, that I was unable to load them on our business-class DSL connection at our house in Virginia). The showcase broadcasts they did last year in the Midwest Conference, CCIW, UAA and NEWMAC were impressive indeed.

But the stream itself is just one part. There’s a difference between a professional broadcast with multiple cameras and professional announcers and a one-camera broadcast with students on the air.

When it’s free, I don’t care how bad the commentary is. If I’m paying for it, however … different story.

The good news is, there is really video all over the place, if you know where to look. And we encourage SIDs to post links on our site. Tens of thousands of people visit our Scoreboard page every night. Wouldn’t you like them to visit your streamed video, audio and live stats? (Use the Edit link next to the game in question.)

But what would you pay? I would pay $5.95 for a game of national importance. I might pay a couple bucks less for a game involving my alma mater, since I no longer live in the area. And if my children were old enough to be playing in these games, I might have a different standard.

Also, on a side note, congratulations to Frank Uible, Rhodes Scholar and Diehardfan, the newest members of our Posting Hall of Fame.