(by David Eckoff, guest blogger): Kim Cieslach (EA Sports), John Olshan (MLB Players Association) and John Rodman (X-Box) took the stage as panelists in this afternoon session at the Sports Media & Technology conference in New York City.

Cieslach noted that young men are leaving TV in droves and going to online video games. Olshan agreed: “They’re not watching Friends, they’re playing online games.”

Rodman noted that this audience is drawn to the competition, button mashing and escapism that online gaming offers.

An interesting point was raised that non-interruptive advertisements can be built into the real time play of online sports video games (for example: signage in the stadium within the game).

Cieslach said that the industry is in an experimentation phase, mentioning P2P wagering on games, subscription models and micropayments as examples.

In my next report, I’ll cover “Updating the Online Subscription Revenue Model”, presented by Evan Kamer of the NFL.

(David Eckoff is senior director, marketing and business development for RealOne Sports at RealNetworks and is a guest blogger reporting from the Sports Media & Technology Conference in New York City. Mr. Eckoff negotiates licensing agreements and directs marketing campaigns that grow the company’s subscriber base for streaming game broadcasts. Programming partners for live broadcasts include MLB, NBA, NASCAR, college sports through OCSN, PBA, PGA Tour, UEFA and more. You can reach David Eckoff at RealNetworks by e-mailing deckoff ...at… real.com)