NBC Sports Next has launched a first-of-its-kind subscription streaming service to serve the youth and amateur sporting events ‘market’. It supports streaming of live and on-demand sports events to a variety of devices, with plans for a connected TV app in 2024.
The new platform is called SportsEngine Play and will provide a streaming home in the U.S. for National Governing Bodies covering youth and amateur sports, major club programmes and individual teams. Their viewers will include the athletes themselves and their families.
Leading participation sports will be covered, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, volleyball, soccer, and lacrosse. Other sports including cheer, dance, figure skating, gymnastics and martial arts will be made available through the SportsEngine Play platform.
Frisco Independent School District, one of the largest districts in Texas, is an example of the kinds of organisations that could use the platform. NBC Sports Next has launched a Frisco Sports Live web portal powered by SportsEngine Play, and this will stream approximately 4,000 sporting events for the district’s 12 high schools and 18 middle schools during the school year.
“Frisco ISD is excited that the achievements of its students will be showcased,” explains Jerry Littlejohn, Frisco ISD Athletic Director. “The quality of the video is outstanding, and it adds to the experience of participants, families and fans throughout the district and beyond.”
Video streaming through SportsEngine Play can originate from a variety of camera sources, ranging from a mobile phone to autonomous cameras professionally installed at sporting venues. Over 90 cameras have already been installed at more than 85 locations and these numbers will grow as more organisations join the platform.
Hundreds of hours of live and on-demand streaming content are being captured on SportsEngine Play already. The service comes with video editing tools so teams and athletes can create their own highlight reels.
SportsEngine Play also hosts elite amateur sports competitions, such as the NXTPRO Sports’ PRO16 Basketball Circuit. NBC Sports Next says it will continue to acquire streaming rights to elite amateur sports competitions that will entertain and inspire young athletes.
The company says it is “enabling sports organisations, leagues, coaches and parents to unite teams, families and young athletes around the sports they love in a way that has never been possible before.”
Brett MacKinnon, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Youth and Recreational Sports at NBC Sports Next, adds: “We’re thrilled to introduce SportsEngine Play to the more than 30,000 youth sports organisations and the millions of players and families we serve through our NBC Sports Next technology platforms and applications.
“Given our sports and media DNA, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver this product to the sports community – a pre-eminent streaming platform for all youth and amateur sports, with personalised video content, the best instructional and player development videos, and much more to come as we continue to grow.”