3 Sports Finish Live on MHSAA TV - UPDATE

June 12, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director

A three-ring championship weekend will have all of its action on the internet with live streaming audio and video this weekend on MHSAA.tv and the MHSAA Network.

Baseball and Softball Semifinal coverage begins Thursday (June 15) and runs through Saturday’s (June 17) Finals from Old College Field at Michigan State University.  On Friday (June 16) and Saturday, you also can catch the action of the Lower Peninsula Girls Soccer Finals from Williamston High School.

On Tuesday (June 13), the final event of the year for the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program will be originated by Cedar Springs High School, which is hosting a Semifinal game in girls soccer.

Here’s the complete schedule of games on MHSAA.tv and the MHSAA Network this week: (All game links are to MHSAA.tv)

Tuesday (June 13) Girls Soccer Semifinal – Division 3

Thursday Baseball Semifinals (Quarterfinals Tuesday)

Thursday Softball Semifinals (Quarterfinals Tuesday)

Friday (June 16) Baseball Semifinals (Quarterfinals Tuesday)

Friday Softball Semifinals (Quarterfinals Tuesday)

Friday L.P. Girls Soccer Finals (Semifinals – Tuesday)

Saturday (June 17) Baseball Finals

Saturday Softball Finals

Saturday L.P. Girls Soccer Finals (Semifinals Wednesday - June 14)

A $9.95 subscription allows viewing of live content on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network for 30 days. All events will be archived for free on-demand viewing, beginning three days after their completion. Subscriptions must be cancelled before the 30-day period is over to avoid recurring charges.

In its eighth year, the School Broadcast Program gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. 

The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.  

All sporting events – live or delayed  are available on a subscription basis only for their first 72 hours online.  They become available for free, on-demand viewing approximately 72 hours following their completion.

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

MHSAA.tv Live Postseason Views Approach 1 Million for 2020-21

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

July 14, 2021

Live postseason events streamed on MHSAA.tv during the 2020-21 school year were viewed nearly 1 million times, with 15 events drawing more than 10,000 live views apiece. 

The final championship weekend of the Spring – featuring Girls Soccer Finals and Baseball and Softball Semifinals & Finals, all across four divisions June 17-19 at Michigan State University – saw nearly 70,000 live views on MHSAA.tv despite record attendance of those events at Old College Field. 

The Division 2 Softball championship game – which ended with Owosso claiming its first Finals title in any sport, drew a weekend-high 5,677 live views on the network. The previous weekend, the Division 1 Girls Lacrosse Final won by Rockford on June 12 led the way with 4,284 live views.

The total number of live postseason views on MHSAA.tv for 2020-21 was 962,371. The most-viewed live tournament events were the Individual and Team Wrestling Finals, which with all rounds over all four divisions combined drew 244,044 live views. Among individual games broadcast solely by MHSAA.tv, the Division 3 Boys Basketball Semifinal matching Iron Mountain and Schoolcraft (15,393 live views) and the Division 1 Volleyball Semifinal featuring Novi and Lowell (13,484) ranked among the most watched.

MHSAA.tv is a partner of the NFHS Network. Postseason events streamed on MHSAA.tv included most sports’ Finals, and Semifinals and Quarterfinals for some – especially sports where multiple concluding rounds were hosted by the same tournament site.

MHSAA.tv also ranked second among NFHS Network contributing states with 18,973 live events (postseason and regular-season combined) streamed during the 2020-21 school year. That total of nearly 19,000 live postseason events was an increase from 7,710 events streamed live during 2019-20 and 3,900 during 2018-19, and placed Michigan behind only Illinois.

The School Broadcast Program is responsible for nearly all production of regular-season events. Having now concluded its 13th year, the SBP gives members an opportunity to showcase excellence in their schools by creating video programming of athletic and non-athletic events with students gaining skills in announcing, camera operation, directing/producing and graphics. Rockford – one of the state’s largest schools with nearly 2,500 students – broadcast 242 events, drawing an SBP-high 74,437 live views and 89,604 total with on-demand replays included. Much smaller Pewamo-Westphalia, a school of 300 students, received the second-most views of SBP members in 2020-21 with 56,009 including live and on-demand. Marquette, Lake Orion, Cedar Springs, Montrose and McBain also were among top SBP providers.

In addition to bringing local events on air nationally, the School Broadcast Program gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions. NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers receive access to all live and on-demand video from across the country. School Broadcast Program participants receive a portion of every subscription sold by a school to benefit its program.

Broadcasts from the majority of Michigan schools – especially those lacking the ability to staff events for production – are streamed using a Pixellot automated camera. Michigan schools have 774 Pixellots in service, third-most in the country behind only Texas and California. Most Michigan schools have one camera at an outdoor stadium and a second at the main indoor gymnasium.

A complete list of participating schools can be found on the School Broadcast Program page of the MHSAA Website.