ESPN Mobile to offer full-length college football games
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Aug 31st 2006 8:27PM
posted Aug 31st 2006 8:27PM
Mobile ESPN might not have attracted quite the following they'd have hoped for so far, but that's certainly not to say they won't keep on keepin' on. In a deal with potentially broad-reaching implications for 3G data, MVNOs, and mobile entertainment in general, the sports-oriented carrier has announced plans to broadcast live college football games to their handsets, with as many as 25 planned for the 2006 season. Details are slim for the picking -- including the all-important question of pricing -- but if they can get this feature out the door for little or no additional cost on top of their basic service plans, we can definitely see this winning a few converts (not to mention flooding Sprint's EV-DO pipes in the process).[Via Moco News]
They could make some cash (and wreck some marriages) by renting phones out for strategic situations - baby shower phone, wedding phone, mother-in-law visit phone...the list writes itself.
For $25 to $30 above and beyond what you already pay for the Mobile ESPN plan, I just don't know that it is worth it.
FootBall, for the most part, is a planned TV watching event. Most football fans schedule their Saturdays around the games that they intend to watch.
I would much rather see on demand per game pricing. I would never plan to watch a game on my phone, however, if I get stuck somewhere, I might shell out 5 to 8 bucks to watch. Just don't know that I would use it often enough to pay a monthly fee.
Its a great service but the market for these services is still pretty small.