March Madness is just getting into the swing of things, and fans from across the country will be tuning in to see how their bracket fares and cheer for their favorite college, their favorite underdog, or their favorite champion to play to victory against all odds. In this always-on, digitally evolved content ecosystem, fans’ expectations have changed. Gone are the days of appointment viewing on the couch or the local sports bar. These same fans now expect access to the madness that is March across all their devices in real time. Today’s consumers want their content provider to know where they left off in their college’s basketball game, which they started on their TV – and then switched over to their tablet during the train ride to meet other alum. Being a fan has never been easier. That fan simply reaches in a pocket and has access to his or her favorite team.

The emergence of “cord cutters,” “cord cobblers,” and “cord nevers” – those who don’t subscribe to a traditional cable package – has forced cable providers and traditional pay TV services to evolve. However, while cord cutting can be an enticing solution for many, especially Millennials, sports content is often an element that keeps viewers tied to a cable subscription as it is the last true vestige of appointment television. Whether watching with friends in-person or over social media, this often leads to watching games in real-time, usually through traditional TV networks. Traditional TV networks realize this and leverage sports viewing habits to secure the upper hand against streaming services. They are the only ones, at least right now, willing and able to commit to multibillion-dollar TV contracts with sports leagues.

While many sports fans still want the big-screen, HDTV experience in their living room – TV networks will not be safe forever. In the next five years, Millennials who are not familiar (or patient) with viewing experiences outside of anywhere, anytime, streaming will shift sports viewing power to something that is strikingly different than the live sports viewing experience of today. From service providers betting millions on NFL streaming, the MLB offering a reasonably-priced streaming video app that is totally separate from their TV bundle, and the NHL not far behind. The writing is on the wall the traditional consumption models are ripe for shifting.

Networks and cable providers can adapt by focusing on these three points for crowd-pleasing performance:

Apps:

Sports leagues and networks are enhancing their direct-to consumer and companion apps to stay ahead in the digital revolution. For example, sports networks like ESPN and Fox Sports have created an abundance of overlays, stats and scores to try and make the broadcast even more informative. Some pay TV providers are extending their traditional set-top box infrastructure to include specialized apps that can be more interactive on the TV. Premium sports networks are introducing their own apps as a second or sometimes primary screen so that fans can get up-to-the-minute information for everything they care about.

For pay TV providers, the opportunity exists to continue to evolve their distribution infrastructure past the set-top box, to leverage their huge broadband speeds, in home WiFi and mobile networks, to extend into new second screen experiences that are accessed over the service provider network.

Skinny Bundles:

Skinny bundles offer more customized content packages that match viewing preferences. They afford cable operators the steady revenue and consumer relationship of a modern subscription, but packaged in a way that’s more attractive to the continually evolving consumer. Individual networks and streaming services have already begun to explore potential customizable bundles. For example, Sling TV has an entire sports tier that allows fans to follow their favorite teams for a fraction of the cost of a traditional cable package.

Cross-Channel Viewing:

Cable operators have an opportunity to weave multichannel viewing into traditional cable packages — for example, making tablet and mobile streaming standard as part of a consumer’s subscription offerings.

To avoid an air ball while fending off threats from streaming service providers – and to keep tomorrow’s sports fans engaged – cable operators and pay TV providers must innovate with personalized offerings and multichannel viewing. As college basketball fans are making bets on their brackets – service providers are betting on apps, skinny bundles, and cross-channel viewing offerings to claim a victory at the end of the season and beyond.

Kent Steffen is president of digital services at CSG International.