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Should a well-placed hit or spectacular catch determine the winner of the World Series this week, avid baseball fans will be able to scrutinize every detail of the decisive play.

Fans will know whether the pitch was a changeup or a fastball and whether it dipped at the last second or just caught a piece of the strike zone.

They will know the exact velocity of the ball and whether the trajectory was similar to the pitches that came before it.

And they will know all of it in a matter of seconds. Because, while baseball may be the most traditional of sports, it also happens to be the most progressive when it comes to reaching an audience over the Internet.

In some cases, the data will be served up so quickly on Major League Baseball's website that the statistics and graphics will be posted on computer screens around the world before the call is even made on radio or TV because of the slight broadcast signal delay.

That live element, part of MLB.com's Enhanced Gameday feature, has become a smash hit on the Internet this postseason as baseball fanatics flock to the Internet to supplement their postseason viewing. In September alone, Comscore MediaMetrix reports, nearly 10 million people logged on to the site.

In less than six years, MLB has turned its Web operations into a multibillion-dollar on-line juggernaut. With a vast archive of every game played this season and last, plus dozens of historic games dating back to the 1950s -- all available on-demand -- the site is the only sports-related property to be mentioned in the same breath as streaming video kings YouTube, Yahoo and MySpace in terms of the number of clips served up.

America's pastime, which blossomed on the radio and came of age on television, is now using the Internet not only to reach fans on multiple platforms but to give them a depth of content -- accessible and immediate -- never enjoyed by any sports fan before.

Other sports leagues -- and for that matter, other media firms -- are looking on enviously at what MLB has built on the Internet in just a few years.

"Baseball has never had a reputation of being a technological leader," said Jim Gallagher, spokesman for MLB Advanced Media LP. "But baseball has been at the forefront on the Internet. We've made all the mistakes that people who are just starting out face, so smartly a lot of people are coming to us."

For a moment, forget YouTube and its rapid rise from startup to billion-dollar property. The genesis of baseball's Internet presence has been every bit as remarkable. And since YouTube has yet to earn a dollar for itself, MLB.com is all that more impressive considering its profitability.

In 2000, a few visionary executives saw the potential for baseball on the Internet and at the same time recognized the dangers of losing out to an upstart that could duplicate content such as stats or analysis. Baseball's 30 teams agreed to each kick in $1-million (U.S.) a season over four years to jump-start the venture at a time when streaming media was in its infancy.

Yet the gamble worked, and much sooner than anticipated.

In just its second year of operation, the site had paid for itself. Users were logging on by the millions, first for audio play-by-play and extensive stats, then for video, and today for the massive amount of content, such as the live pitch tracker.

Revenue from the site, which is divided equally between the 30 teams, soared to $195-million last year, from $36-million in 2001. Visitors have climbed to 1.7 billion from 190 million during that time, while subscribers -- who shell out anywhere from $10 a season to $100 for access to video, audio and statistical breakdowns of games -- hit 1.3 million last year, up from 125,000 in 2001.

When baseball considered taking MLB Advanced Media public in late 2004, four U.S. investment banks valued the company at between $2-billion and $2.5-billion. Thanks to the rapidly rising popularity of Internet video, that valuation has risen to between $4-billion and $5-billion since, the league says.

There are seemingly few limits to the depth of the content. Want to see how Barry Bonds fares against left-handed pitchers during night games played on grass? The site will tailor a stats package just for that. Want to relive some of the greatest moments in baseball history -- everything from Willie Mays's catch to Joe Carter's ninth-inning World Series-winning homer from 1993? They are there too. And fantasy game players can get a complete video highlights package for each of their players delivered to their inbox by the time they show up for work in the morning.

But it's the Enhanced Gameday feature that has established new levels for interactive participation.

The live data is compiled by MLB Advanced Media staff and simultaneously fed into master control in New York. "Believe it or not, we have stringers at every ballpark. Every time the pitcher moves his arm, they enter a code," Mr. Gallagher said. "They sit in the press box, they make $80 a game. It's not a bad deal. You just have to have strong kidneys because you have to wait to go to the bathroom."

So what's the big secret to the site's success? Experimentation. As other leagues now look to mimic baseball's approach, MLB has been pushing as much of its content onto the Web as it can. The sport is a haven for stats junkies at the best of times, but the league realized early on that every bit of data and footage it had was a product that could be sold on the site.

Somewhere, someone wants to listen to the games in Spanish or wants to tune into the home field broadcast of the club they follow, the league figures. So in an effort to increase its audience, all games are shown on the Web. Only local broadcasts are blacked out to protect TV rights, but a Cubs fan in California can easily watch the feed from Wrigley. "Our TV product is really for the displaced fan," Mr. Gallagher said. "If you live in London, you can watch the Dodgers game over tea in your office."

Of course, not all of the experiments have achieved success. With a number of up-and-coming stars from Japan, MLB reckoned it made sense to offer games in Japanese. The idea never caught on across the Pacific and the venture lost money. But MLB figures there have been more wins than losses using that experimentation strategy.

The league's next leap will come in 2007 when it attempts to offer video content for mobile phones, keeping it well ahead of professional football, hockey and basketball, which are still in the process of getting their games on-line.

MLB is also expanding Advanced Media into the other leagues, bringing hundreds of minor league teams into the fold. This season, the Columbus Catfish, the single-A farm team for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, will enter the Web big leagues. The team just relaunched its site, and next year will start sending live stats to MLB's nerve centre.

"Someone from our organization will call in to New York every half inning and say this player grounded out or so-and-so walked," said Jere Sisler, public relations manager for the Catfish. "Then it gets automatically updated. Baseball has always been a numbers game. This is where baseball and the Internet tie together."

Five winning plays for creating an on-line phenomenon

In a bid to expand its business on-line, Major League Baseball asked each of its 30 teams to contribute a few million dollars to create MLB Advanced Media. Today, some estimates peg the company's value at as much as $5-billion (U.S.). The site now dwarfs those of other major sports leagues -- in content and viewership -- and has become a $200-million-a-year cash machine for the league.

1. If you don't do it, someone else will

MLB knew the league was vulnerable to Internet players such as Yahoo or ESPN, which could swoop in and become a dominant force in the world of baseball stats, ticket sales and merchandise marketing. Rather than let that happen, the league insisted on keeping as much of its content in-house as it could, including data, video clips and audio broadcasts. The strategy has kept other players, from sports networks to independent sites, on the sidelines.

2. Get everybody on board and invest

The league asked each of its 30 teams to cough up $1-million a year for the first four years to get MLB Advance Media off the ground. That was a tough task for some teams, which would have preferred to spend the $4-million on pitching or hitting talent. However, the operation began paying off in its second year and is now valued at several billion dollars.

3. Experiment and

let the fans decide

Few think of baseball as a game of innovation and change, but MLB Advanced Media has been the most aggressive of the major sports leagues in adding features that draw fans to the site. A live game tracker that shows the velocity and placement of every pitch on a virtual screen has been a huge success. Other experiments, such as offering radio broadcasts in Japanese, didn't make money. MLB says the secret is that the designers will try any feature to see if it works.

4. Use everything

you have

Everything is a product that can be sold or used to draw audiences. Few sports are as number-intensive as baseball, and MLB puts as much data on the site as it can. Rather than trying to figure out what fans want, it pushes reams of stats out to let fans pick and choose what they want. The subscription video portion of the site can be tailored to specific tastes.

5. Protect yourself

MLB Advanced Media has been very aggressive to ensure rival media aren't drawing viewers by hijacking its content. Roughly half a dozen dedicated employees spend time each day trolling through sites such as YouTube to make sure footage from licensed broadcasts isn't being posted. Though MLB's video offerings archive every game during the season, the league doesn't want fans going elsewhere for the same material.

MLB.com's top three requested videos for 2006

1 | Oct. 19: New York Mets' Endy Chavez makes a great catch during Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

2 | May 20: San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds hits his 714th career home run, a solo shot off Oakland Athletics pitcher Brad Halsey.

3 | May 28: Barry Bonds hits his 715th career home run in a game against the Colorado Rockies.

2005

On-line ticket sales: 18.8 million

Subscribers: 1.3 million

Visitors: 1.7 billion

Page views: 11 billion

SOURCE: MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

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