This morning CBS sent me a press release about this new iPhone application that they are putting together that revolves around NCAA basketball March Madness.  It looks very impressive.

CBSSports.com is partnerning with the NCAA and MobiTV to create a March Madness on Demand application for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  This will provide basketball fans a chance to watch streaming audio and video from March Madness starting today and continuing all the way through the Men’s Final Four, taking place in Detroit.

Over a Wi-Fi connection, MobiTV will deliver live video of all 63 basketball games in the first round of the tournament through the semifinals/finals of the Final Four.  Brackets will be updated in real-time with up-to-minute scores.

The application is available for $4.99 on the Apple App Store.  This is not a bad price to pay for being able to carry around games in your pocket.  It costs less than a lunch at a fast food place.  If you’re a die-hard basketball fan like I am, I highly recommend buying this app.   Go Michigan State Spartans, Final Four Champs!

[Direct iTunes link for the app]

A couple more screen shots after the jump:

“This is simply about our running down the checklist and trying to address each thing the fans have said they want” stated Jason Kint, CBSSports.com SVP and General Manager. “Last year, it was foremost about eliminating registration and blackouts, which we did. And this year, it’s about improving the video experience itself as much as we can.”

CBSSports.com has decided to go with Microsoft Silverlight media player to stream March Madness basketball games on their website.  About 4.8 million unique visitors tuned into March Madness on CBSSports via March Madness on Demand.  This lets viewers watch the game on a first come, first serve basis.  March Madness will be starting on CBSSports.com on March 15.  It will be available through Windows Media Player or Silverlight.

Silverlight has been winning major content syndication sports deals.  Last year, Silverlight was chosen to stream the Olympics this past summer.   MLB used to run on Silverlight, but recently decided to switch to Flash.  It is absolutely crucial for Silverlight to perform when it comes to March Madness as people take basketball very seriously, including myself.  I’ll be a very happy guy if Michigan State wins the Final Four this year.