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NBA Draft Coverage A Slam Dunk For The Vertical, ESPN

By Aaron Ferguson

Feb 22, 2015; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean during the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim O
Feb 22, 2015; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean during the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim O /
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ESPN’s NBA Draft coverage was a nice complement to The Vertical’s debut with a live online show, and both were slam dunks.

The 2016 NBA Draft was a wild one, with the word “unpredictable” being an understatement. The real draft winners were ESPN and The Vertical, who debuted their live draft show by way of a video stream.

ESPN used Rece Davis as the host of their draft coverage with Jalen Rose, Michael Wilbon and Jay BIlas on their set. Others making appearances during their broadcast were international connoisseur Fran Fraschilla and Andy Katz, who specialized in interviewing prospects at the draft and adding his own commentary.

ESPN added what The Vertical couldn’t: live video feeds of players in the green room and fans in the Barclays Center. They also got the first opportunity to interview players that attended the draft, regardless of whether they were in the green room or not. Those were the major advantages.

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One last area where ESPN had an advantage over The Vertical’s coverage was their salary cap analysis that was updated with the trades and picks that occurred leading up to, and during, the draft.

The Vertical excelled in their draft analysis. Their coverage featured former NBA general manager Bobby Marks, Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean and Draft Express’ Jonathan Givonny and Mike Schmitz. Of course the infamous Adrian Wojnarowski was dropping Woj bombs and analyzing them on the show live from Brooklyn. Chris Mannix hosted the show for The Vertical.

Their coverage excelled where they needed to, in analysis in terms of developing into NBA players. With a former GM, college coach, scout and the NBA’s most connected journalist, that needed to be The Vertical’s focus, and they nailed it.

Prospects also had an opportunity to interview with The Vertical live from the Barclays Center. Again, with a former GM and a current college coach, the interviews were better than ESPN’s, with the exception of Kris Dunn’s.

The most riveting interview was that of the 10th overall pick for the Milwaukee Bucks, Thon Maker. What was most impressive was Crean interviewing Maker, a player that Crean was pursuing to join the Hoosiers next season.

Going beyond The Vertical’s draft coverage is a new wave of media that has been untapped. Yahoo! Sports began their live video feeds by broadcasting one of the NFL’s games in London. They also did live shows during the NCAA’s March Madness tournament, and now during the 2016 NBA Draft.

With podcasts becoming more popular and an easy way to gain information and learn more about analysis, Yahoo! is pushing the envelope even further with live streams of shows that incorporate a television set, hosts with analysts and graphics, touch screens and more that add to the video experience.

The ability to live stream their coverage from anywhere in the world is extremely valuable. Television networks battle for rights to events and Yahoo! will quickly be able to compete.

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Not only will they be able to compete, they will have leverage over smaller networks, such as Fox Sports 1, MLB Network, NBA TV, etc. because they will have a greater reach over these television stations that not everyone can get in their family rooms.

Ultimately, this allows Yahoo! to reach more viewers that these smaller networks can’t reach, which means more advertising money and a greater opportunity for leagues to grow, especially internationally.

Both networks excelled in their NBA Draft coverage by hitting on the areas where they held advantages. Overall, the edge has to go to The Vertical’s coverage because it is better geared towards NBA evaluations, as opposed to ESPN’s coverage that featured more college basketball analysts.

Next: 2014 NBA Draft: Players We're Waiting For

The greater implications come from the untapped network that Yahoo! is exploiting by streaming live coverage in a television-like setting.