2021-22 Broadcasts Kick Off with Big Football Weekend
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 24, 2021
Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools will be featured on more than 300 live-streamed broadcasts during this first full week of the 2021-22 school sports year, headlined by 16 broadcasts of opening-weekend football games on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network and partner Bally Sports Detroit.
Bally Sports Detroit will be providing coverage of all six games of the Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic from Oct. 26-28 at Wayne State University’s Tom Adams Field, including both Aug. 26 games on live cable television. All six Xenith games also will be available on the Bally Sports Detroit website and Bally Sports app.
Meanwhile, MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network will have live coverage of all six games from the Battle at the Big House at University of Michigan and all four games from the Vehicle City Gridiron Classic at Kettering University’s Atwood Stadium.
Here’s the schedule, with links to watch those games online:
Thursday, Aug. 26
► Battle at the Big House: Lapeer vs. Grand Rapids Catholic Central – 12 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Battle at the Big House: Midland vs. Traverse City West – 3 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic: Dearborn Fordson vs. Canton – 4 p.m. – Bally Sports Detroit (also LIVE TV)
► Vehicle City Gridiron Classic: Frankenmuth vs. Goodrich – 4 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Battle at the Big House: DeWitt vs. Traverse City Central – 7 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic: Detroit Catholic Central vs. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley – 7 p.m. – Bally Sports Detroit (also LIVE TV)
► Vehicle City Gridiron Classic: Flushing vs. Flint Powers Catholic – 7:30 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
Friday, Aug. 27
► Battle at the Big House: Midland Dow vs. Fenton – 12 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Battle at the Big House: Saline vs. Hudsonville – 3:30 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Vehicle City Gridiron Classic: East Lansing vs. Grand Blanc – 4 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic: Dexter vs. Birmingham Groves – 4 p.m. – MHSAA.tv (also available on BallySports.com/Detroit)
► Battle at the Big House: Clarkston vs. Davison – 7 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
► Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic: Chicago St. Patrick (Ill.) vs. Warren De La Salle Collegiate – 7 p.m. – MHSAA.tv (also available on BallySports.com/Detroit)
► Vehicle City Gridiron Classic: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep vs. Linden – 7:30 p.m. – MHSAA.tv
Saturday, Aug. 28
► Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic: River Rouge vs. Eastpointe – 1 p.m. – MHSAA.tv (also available on BallySports.com/Detroit)
► Xenith Prep Kick Off Classic: Southfield Arts & Technology vs. Detroit Cass Tech – 4 p.m. – MHSAA.tv (also available on BallySports.com/Detroit)
Total, more than 150 varsity football games, more than 100 varsity volleyball matches and nearly 90 varsity boys soccer contests will be available this week on MHSAA.tv and the NFHS Network, with production by participants in the School Broadcast Program. More than 400 MHSAA member schools are participants in the School Broadcast Program, now in its 13th year, producing games using traditional hands-on student crews or via Pixellot cameras installed at stadiums and gymnasiums across the state. Click for a complete list of upcoming events.
Other intriguing football matchups appearing on the Network include (all 7 p.m. starts):
► Aug. 26: Sterling Heights Stevenson at Rockford
► Aug. 26: Saginaw Swan Valley at Cedar Springs
► Aug. 26: Utica Eisenhower at Lake Orion
► Aug. 26: Alpena at Marquette
► Aug. 26: Edwardsburg at Montague
► Aug. 27: Clarkston Everest Collegiate at Montrose
NFHS Network subscriptions begin at $10.99 a month. Subscribers have access to all live video and streaming statistics 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.
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.