Auburn beats Oregon in BCS, but Xbox Live and ESPN are real winners

Written by Matt Swider on January 10, 2011

News: The Auburn Tigers win over the Oregon Ducks, 22-19. However, Xbox Live and ESPN had everyone beat by broadcasting the BCS title game, which WASN'T on network television.

The #1 ranked Auburn Tigers took on the #2 ranked Oregon Ducks tonight at the University of Phoenix Stadium. However you didn't need to be in Glendale, Arizona to watch the game. You didn't even need to turn on your cable box to watch it on your TV. For the first time in history, Xbox Live was live streaming the BCS National Championship Football Game.

Sure, ESPN3 broadcasts of live sporting events have been available to most Xbox Live Gold members for a little over two months. However, tonight marked the biggest streaming game since the service's November 1, 2010 debut.

Not only was it the BCS title game, but it wasn't broadcast on network television. This meant that it was a big "win" for cable-less Xbox Live owners who sang Microsoft's praises since they didn't have to go to a bar or the gym to watch it live.

"Can't believe the BCS National title game isn't on network TV..bummer. Good thing it's on ESPN3 via Xbox Live!" Seth Rings tweeted during the game.

Of course, the massive streaming event wasn't without complications. Despite being broadcast in high definition, several users reported quality issues and choppiness.

"Xbox Live's ESPN broadcast quality of the BCS game is terrible! Massive pixelation so far," tweeted Brian Hansford

There's always room for improvement for next year's 2012 BCS Nation Championship Football Game--featuring the Penn State Nittany Lions (fingers crossed). Maybe by that time, Time Warner won't leave Xbox Live owners out in the cold when it comes to streaming ESPN3.