MHSAA Winter Tournaments to Begin Busy Run of Streaming, Radio Broadcasts

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

March 18, 2021

More than 150 games in the District rounds of the Michigan High School Athletic Association Girls and Boys Basketball Tournaments next week will have live streaming video on the NFHS Network and MHSAA.tv.

Girls Basketball Districts begin Monday, March 22, with Boys Basketball Districts tipping off March 23. Games will be produced by MHSAA member schools participating in the School Broadcast Program, either with traditional student crews or by Pixellot, the NFHS Network’s automated production solution.

The broadcast schedules for the District Semifinals and Finals will be released the day before those rounds. You can always reach a list of the upcoming tournament games to be streamed by Clicking Here.
 
The MHSAA Finals for Competitive Cheer, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, and Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving will also be available on the NFHS Network:

► Competitive Cheer is March 26-27 from the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Stacy Smith and Genna Rose will be the broadcasters for the Cheer Finals.

► Gymnastics is March 26 (team) and 27 (individual) from Rockford High School, with Renae Weaver on the call.

► Ice Hockey Semifinals are March 25-26 at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, with the Finals on March 27.  Joe Jason, Pat Ronayne, and Jeremy Otto will cover the nine games. All nine games also will be available on the MHSAA Radio Network.

► Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving is March 26 (diving) and 27 (swimming) at Hudsonville High School for Division 1, Jenison High School for Division 2, and Hamilton High School (diving only) and Holland Aquatic Center (swimming only) for Division 3. Announcers Tom Skinner, Phil Johnson, and Gary Ratski are returning to call the action in the pool.

Now in its 13th 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 – The NFHS Network’s automated streaming solution – 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.

NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 per month. Subscribers will have access to all live video and on-demand video from across the country. School Broadcast Program participants benefit as a portion of every subscription sold by a school goes to benefit its program. 

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

More Championships Come to MHSAA TV

October 31, 2017

By John Johnson
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
 

Championship action in two sports plus the second week of PrepZone gridiron coverage will provide fans of MHSAA action lots to choose from this weekend.

Coverage begins with four District Final games in the MHSAA Football Playoffs – powered by the Michigan Army National Guard – on the PrepZone on FoxSportsDetroit.com and FOX Sports GO! on Friday (Nov. 3) at 7 p.m.:

  • Canton at Belleville (Div. 1)
  • Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Wyoming Kelloggsville (Div. 4)
  • River Rouge at Chelsea  (Div. 4 – Also available on FOX Sports Detroit Facebook page)
  • Pewamo-Westphalia at New Lothrop (Div. 7) 

On Saturday (Nov. 4), the four championship games of the Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer Tournament will have live streaming video on MHSAA.tv and live streaming audio on MHSAANetwork.com, and the Finish Line Cam at Michigan International Speedway returns at the L.P. Cross Country Finals on MHSAA.tv.

All four PrepZone games feature clashes of highly-ranked teams in the final Associated Press polls for 2017. Belleville was ranked second and Canton ninth in the final Division 1 poll; Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Wyoming Kelloggsville were 1-2 in Division 4; River Rouge and Chelsea were 7-8 in the final Division 3 poll; and New Lothrop finished the season atop the Division 7 rankings with Pewamo-Westphalia in third.

The River Rouge at Chelsea game will receive bonus coverage, streaming live on the Fox Sports Detroit Facebook page. That game drew 49 percent of the votes in a Twitter poll conducted Monday.

All PrepZone games will be archived on MHSAA.tv.

Saturday’s Boys Soccer Finals will be live on MHSAA.tv with games at Noon and 3 p.m. The games will be played at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and Comstock Park High Schools, with divisions at each site to be announced after the Semifinals on Wednesday (Nov. 1). All of the games will also have live streaming audio at MHSAANetwork.com.

One Soccer Semifinal game will be Live on MHSAA.tv on Wednesday – a Division 3 matchup at Cedar Springs between Ludington and Grand Rapids South Christian, at 6 p.m.

MHSAA.tv will also offer a free live video stream on Saturday of the finish line at the Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway. The stream will include audio commentary from announcers around the course throughout each race.  The morning session with the boys and girls races in Division 3 and 4 begins at 9:30 a.m., and the afternoon session with races in Divisions 1 and 2 starts at 1:30 p.m. Live timing of each race will also be available on the Cross Country page of the MHSAA Website.

A month’s subscription to watch live on MHSAA.tv is $9.95 and allows access to the full schedule of MHSAA Tournaments during the month of November:

  • Nov. 4 – Boys Soccer Finals
  • Nov. 11 – Selected Football Playoff Regional Finals
  • Nov. 16-17 – Girls Volleyball Semifinals & Finals
  • Nov. 18 – Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals
  • Nov. 18 – Football Playoff Semifinals (12 games) 

Live coverage of Football District Finals and Girls Volleyball District games also takes place this week on MHSAA.tv, being produced by SBP schools:

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 stream games but which lack the ability to staff the events. The SBP program also gives schools the opportunity to raise money through advertising and viewing subscriptions.

All sporting events – Live or On-Demand - 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.

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

A weekly staple on the MHSAA.tv website and the MHSAASports Channel on YouTube is back for another year with highlights of selected games last week produced by members of the Association’s School Broadcast Program. 

This week’s highlights package consists of clips from Pre-District football games Parma Western at Haslett and Oscoda at Breckenridge, and a boys soccer Regional Final match with Petoskey at East Lansing.

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

More than 15 football games are featured each week on the State Champs! Sports Network Extra Point – powered by the Michigan High School Athletic Association – Saturday at 10 a.m. on FOX Sports Detroit.

The half-hour program features highlights from more than a dozen games each week, including clips from games produced by MHSAA School Broadcast Program members. The program airs multiple times each weekend on FOX Sports Detroit and on Comcast Channel 900, and will be archived on the State Champs YouTube Channel. Consult your local listings for additional playback times.

Here are some of the games to be featured this week on State Champs! Extra Point:

  • Canton at Belleville
  • Macomb Dakota at Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
  • Warren DeLaSalle at Port Huron Northern
  • Grand Rapids Catholic Central at Wyoming Kelloggsville
  • River Rouge at Chelsea
  • Grant at Muskegon Oakridge
  • Kent City at Montague
  • Laingsburg at Ithaca
  • Pewamo-Westphalia at Ithaca
  • Petersburg-Summerfield at Ottawa Lake-Whiteford
  • Morrice at Deckerville

PLUS - Additional coverage from Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, Upper Peninsula and School Broadcast Program games.

The MHSAA also has a presence on other State Champs! Network programs throughout each weekend. The MHSAA Minute is a weekly part of the State Champs! High School Sports Show on FOX Sports Detroit at 9 a.m. every Sunday – with multiple replays on FOX Sports Detroit and Comcast Channel 900 throughout the week. That program also is archived on the State Champs YouTube Channel. Consult your local listings for additional playback times.

This week’s MHSAA Minute on State Champs talks about The Scholar-Athlete Award.

The MHSAA also has content on the State Champs Scoreboard! High School Football Radio Show on Friday nights during the football and basketball seasons, originating on WXYT-FM (97.1) in Detroit and carried on more than 10 radio stations across the state. This Week In High School Sports and Be the Referee are weekly features on the program.