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5 Weekends of MHSAA Finals, 1 Low Price

February 20, 2018

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties   

Over the next five weeks, fans of Michigan high school sports can catch hundreds of hours of live video coverage of MHSAA Championships on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network for just $9.95.

This week’s championship coverage comes from Wings Events Center in Kalamazoo on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 23-24) at the Team Wrestling Finals. Here’s the complete schedule:

Friday – Feb. 23 – Team Wrestling Quarterfinals 

Division 4 @ Noon

Division 1 @ 2:15 p.m.

Division 3 @ 4:30 p.m.

Division 2 @ 6:45 p.m.

Saturday – Feb. 24 – Team Wrestling Semifinals & Finals 

Division 4 Semifinals @ 9:30 a.m.

Division 1 Semifinals @ 9:30 a.m.

Division 3 Semifinals @ Noon

Division 2 Semifinals @ Noon

Saturday Finals - 3:30 p.m.

Here’s the week-by-week NFHS Network coverage schedule of MHSAA winter Championships:

  • Feb. 22-24 – Team Dual Wrestling Quarterfinals-Semifinals-Finals
  • March 2-3 – Individual Wrestling Finals
  • March 2-3 – Girls Competitive Cheer Finals
  • March 8-10 – Ice Hockey Semifinals & Finals
  • March 13 – Girls Basketball Quarterfinals
  • March 15-16 – Girls Basketball Semifinals
  • March 20 – Boys Basketball Quarterfinals
  • March 22-23 – Boys Basketball Semifinals

The 16 Team Wrestling events on Friday are part of the busiest day ever on MHSAA.tv, as a total of 44 events will be streamed by the NFHS Network and by participants in the School Broadcast Program.

In addition to day-to-day regular-season productions, School Broadcast Program participants cover tournament games taking place at their facilities as a condition of membership in the program. SBP schools also play a major role in the production of Quarterfinal games in the Boys and Girls Basketball Tournaments in March.

For the second straight week, a record 115 events are on this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule, with 74 at the varsity level and more to be added as the week progresses. A total of 51 events will be produced by schools using Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated coverage solution. Be sure to check “Upcoming Events” on the MHSAA.tv home page daily for last-minute additions.

Here’s this week’s MHSAA.tv schedule of video streams being produced by SBP members:

Tuesday – February 20

Wednesday – February 21

Thursday – February 22

Friday – February 23

Saturday – February 24

Monday – February 26

Tuesday – February 27

In its ninth 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. Pixellot is used by schools wishing to live stream games, but lacking the ability to staff the events. The program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions. 

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

Highlights of games produced in the past week by MHSAA School Broadcast Program members feature last weekend’s Upper Peninsula Swimming & Diving Finals.

Highlights can be found each week on the MHSAA.tv website, the home page of the MHSAA Website, and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube.

With the winter sports season fully underway, StateChamps! High School Sports Show returns with new weekly editions debuting each Sunday at 9 a.m. on Fox Sports Detroit – featuring fresh editions of the MHSAA Minute.

The MHSAA Minute takes a look each week at different things happening in the life of the Association, from promoting educational programs to rules changes in high school sports. This week’s Minute takes a look at the School Broadcast Program – and as part of its salute to Black History Month, MHSAA Assistant Director Nate Hampton will be featured. Archived editions of MHSAA Minute can be found on the StateChamps! YouTube Channel.

MHSAA TV

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.