All of which increases the need for additional internet feeds--like last night's game. I watched along with my son and daughter, something we could have never done even a few years ago. As technology continues to improve, I think we'll see more of those kinds of broadcasts, and the technical quality of the production (hopefully) will also improve.
I would also think the ESPN's of the world are considering this likely future, and how they can keep a finger on it.
Very astute post. Happening all over. Bigger conferences like the Big Ten, Pac 12, Big 12 are all launching or have launched digital endeavors to make available lots of things (particularly non-revenue sports) that haven't been available in the past. Those largely are for-pay services with mid-range TV quality broadcasts. Then you have the smaller initiatives like the Horizon League Network, which is free for everyone, lower and more varied quality of production, and ad-supported. HLN has also helped some of these schools, because the games are being produced anyways, it makes it easy for somebody like the CW in Dayton to do a deal with Wright State to pick up the feed and broadcast it locally, as well (they've been working with STO, as well).
Then there are other schools and conferences doing simpler-still streams, like ours, largely as a marketing and engagement tool, the thought being that if you keep alumni and fans engaged by making the content available, they'll be more likely to make return trips to campus to see the teams in person.
Finally, ESPN, I would say (with all my inherent bias noted -- though I thought this long before I had any conflict of interest), is not so much keeping a finger on it as leading the way. ESPN3 aggregates tons of content that ESPN sublicenses from conferences they own the rights to (like the MAC), and has increased dramatically the amount of original content they're producing in the past year, including many MAC and Big East football games, and a deal with leagues like the Southern Conference for basketball. The interesting bit about ESPN3 is that it is a dual revenue-stream model, like cable TV, wherein they receive a monthly fee from the ISP, as well as being able to sell advertising around the content.
As the cost to create a low-to-mid quality broadcast drops, I expect you'll continue to see growth in this area, as more and more events become viable profit creators.
Maybe a good Bracketbuster match up will get us on the big channel.
This is our best bet for getting an additional, compelling game televised. However, it won't get you on ESPN. The slots for the BracketBusters break down as follows: 7 games on ESPN2, 4 on ESPNU, and 2 on ESPN3.