• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 18, 2010

Icing ESPN and Comcast, a New York-area network will become the first to stream a live sports event into the home in 3D. MSG's coverage of the New York Rangers and Islanders hockey game next week will be available in the emerging format just weeks before golf's Masters 3D hits the air.

MSG is likely to take a loss on the March 24 broadcast; it is using it as more of a test, readying for the expected proliferation of 3D-casts. The Rangers-Islanders feed will be without advertising. It will also require the rental and set-up of special cameras and equipment, plus use of dedicated announcers and other staff.

Declining to offer specifics, MSG Media President Michael Bair said costs are "significantly greater" than the typical stream and "a massive logistical and economic undertaking."

With ESPN having announced the impending launch of a 3D network and Comcast saying this week it will offer the Masters in the third dimension, MSG executives were exuberant to have the cachet that comes with one-upping them.

"We did want to be first," Bair said, noting that MSG broke ground with an HD broadcast in 1998.

Still, it may be more coincidence than consciousness. While MSG has been planning a 3D-cast since January, it was able to secure the special cameras as they travel from a concert in Connecticut to the National Association of Broadcasters show.

If the broadcast from Madison Square Garden proves an engineering success, Bair said MSG might do another game, if the Rangers secure a spot in the NHL playoffs. Next year, multiple games are likely with the Rangers and New York Knicks.

It is possible next week's game will be available in homes outside the Cablevision footprint. MSG network is in about 11 million homes, and there are some discussions with carriers such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and DirecTV about picking up the stream. Cablevision owned the MSG network until it was recently spun off.

The broadcast will have five 3D cameras inside the Garden, closer to the ice than normal and placed on special stands built for the game. A director with 3D experience has been hired and announcers separate from the game's standard feed -- Rangers radio voices Kenny Albert and Dave Maloney -- will call the game.

Bair said the broadcast could help decide where to install permanent 3D camera set-ups in the Garden as it is renovated. The game will be on Cablevision channel 1300. A non-3D viewer will see a blurry screen and be unable to make out much.

Using set-top-box data, Cablevision may be able to grab some insight into how many people tune in, but pulling the arcane data could be an undertaking with little to gain.

"We're not going to evaluate the success based on ratings -- the success is whether we create a dynamic 3D telecast that we learn a lot from," Bair said.

In addition to owning one of the 3D TVs, a person needs an HD-enabled, digital-cable box and 3D glasses to watch. Panasonic and Samsung sets are available -- costs can exceed $3,000 -- with Sony versions coming later in the spring.