According to this article, ESPN is expected to let you stream their NBA games without a cable provider, which is huge for cord cutters like me who don't want to use illegal streams.
ESPN has made plenty of forays into streaming video, but services like WatchESPN typically require that you already have TV service. That partly defeats the point of viewing online, don't you think? However, you might not face that limitation for much longer. According to sources for the Wall Street Journal, the NBA has signed a pact with Disney (ESPN's parent) to launch a new streaming service that doesn't demand a cable or satellite subscription -- a big deal for ESPN, which still makes most of its money from paid TV.
Wow -- I feel like ESPN could be shooting themselves in the foot with that one. One of the two primary reasons cable is so expensive is due to the fact that ESPN and other live sports networks can command so much money from cable providers, and gets placed on the most basic tiers of TV (the other reason is complete lack of competition in the industry -- but then, ESPN benefits from that too).
Until NFL and collage football offers the same thing, nothing for them to worry about.
And such agreements will begin to be negotiated as soon as ESPN launches their NBA online viewing product, if not sooner. Why wouldn't college football, the NFL, and MLB want their product available for free online if someone is going to pay them billions for the rights to do so?
Because of the NFL ticket payday.
One thing about the NBA though, they've always seemed to be ahead of the other major sports when it came to adapting and evolving.
NBA TV launched in 1999
NHL Network launched in 2001 (but not in the US until 2007)
NFL Network launched in 2003
MLB Network launched in 2008
The NBA has been pushing the women's game since 1996
Of the major sports, the NBA had the first openly gay athlete play
You used to not be able to see any NFL or MLB clips on Youtube, only the NBA (and maybe NHL) let regular users upload and assemble their own clips/highlight reels.
Now this I can't verify, but I remember NBA.com being pushed hard when it first came out, I don't remember this happening with the other leagues. (Though according to whois, NBA.com, MLB.com, and NHL.com were all registered in 1994, NFL.com not until 1996).
So I wouldn't be surprised if NBA was the first to adapt in this regard either, allowing, maybe even pushing their tv partners to stream without cable. This is where the market is eventually headed anyway. Plus the NBA has always had an uphill battle competing with the NFL, MLB, and college football, so it behooves them to be early adapters.