The Madness Might Cost You Money

The NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament may cost you some money to watch the games on line this year.  In the past fans could watch every game for free on line, this year it will cost $3.99 to see every game on every platform including online, mobile and tablet.  Games aired on CBS will still be free through CBS.com and viewers who get TBS, TNT and TruTV will be able to watch will be able to watch those channels online at no cost. About 77 million households will be able to watch the Turner Channels online through a process called authentication.

However if you don't receive those channels then it will cost you to watch the NCAA Men's Tournament online, somewhere around 23 million households.   It seems somewhat difficult how the network and online providers will be able to determine if you can watch for free or if you have to pay.

In the previous 5 years, every game was free online and in 2011, 13.7 million hours of streaming video was watched online and through mobile devices.