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NFHS Offers Pixellots, School Support

July 7, 2020

National Federation of State High School Associations

As high schools nationwide continue to deal with the fallout from COVID-19 and make plans for the restarting of activities this fall, the NFHS Network – the leader in streaming live and on-demand high school sports – has announced an unprecedented offer for schools that are facing possible attendance restrictions at events during the 2020-21 school year. 

Through its High School Support Program, the NFHS Network is offering up to two free Pixellot automated-production units for schools that lack production capabilities to stream events on the NFHS Network.  

The offer of two Pixellot units – one for indoor events and the other for outdoor contests – has been extended to all 19,500 high schools in the 51 NFHS member state associations. The NFHS Network is a joint venture of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), its member state associations and PlayOn! Sports. 

In addition to receiving two free Pixellot production units, schools will receive a larger percentage of subscription revenue generated from their events, effective Aug. 1, in an effort to offset revenue losses from reduced attendance. 

“We recognize that the next several years will be challenging for our high schools and state associations,” said Mark Koski, CEO of the NFHS Network. “Many are facing budget cuts and reduced resources, and attendance at athletic and other school events may be restricted. From the NFHS Network’s inception seven years ago, we have been driven by the goal to create a platform that showcases every high school event across every sport and every level of competition. Consistent with this goal, we want the High School Support Program to demonstrate our continued commitment to help our partner schools manage through the inevitable complications created by COVID-19.”  

The Pixellot automated production solution was introduced to high schools three years ago and has quickly become an integral component of the NFHS Network’s offerings. The Pixellot solution allows every event to be streamed live without requiring personnel to produce the games. There are currently more than 5,000 Pixellot units in high schools across the country which will produce in excess of 250,000 live games this upcoming school year with no human involvement. 

In addition to livestreaming 27 sports, the NFHS Network also covers performing arts, graduations, award ceremonies and other school events. To date, the NFHS Network has distributed more than $25 million back to participating high schools and state associations. 

For more information about the High School Support Program, click here. Schools wishing to sign up for free Pixellot units should visit here.

4 Sports Streamed This Week on MHSAA TV

March 8, 2016

By John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director

There’s lot of MHSAA Tournament action with live streaming video on the MHSAA.tv website this week, including Finals in Girls Gymnastics, Ice Hockey and Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving.

The streams will include a number of Basketball Tournament games from Boys District and Girls Regional play produced by participants in the MHSAA’s School Broadcast Program.

The championship live streaming begins Thursday at 5 p.m. with the first of two Division 2 Semifinal games in the Ice Hockey Tournament.  Division 3 and 1 Semifinals follow on Friday (March 11), with the Finals on Saturday (March 12).

Here’s the complete Ice Hockey coverage schedule:

• Thursday – Division 2 Semifinals
Utica Eisenhower/Detroit U-D Jesuit Quarterfinal winner v. Saginaw Swan Valley/Detroit Catholic Central winner – 5 p.m.
East Kentwood/Brighton Quarterfinal winner v. Rockford/Grandville winner – 7:30 p.m.

• Friday – Division 3 Semifinals
Detroit Country Day/Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood Quarterfinal winner v. Hancock/Sault Ste. Marie winner – 11 a.m.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central/Saginaw Heritage Quarterfinal winner v. Gibraltar Carlson/Chelsea winner – 1:30 p.m.

• Friday – Division 1 Semifinals
Hartland/Birmingham Brother Rice Quarterfinal winner v. Livonia Stevenson/Trenton winner – 5 p.m.
Marquette/Ada Forest Hills Eastern Quarterfinal winner v. Romeo/New Baltimore Anchor Bay winner – 7:30 p.m.

• Saturday – Finals
10 a.m. – Division 2
2 p.m. – Division 3
6 p.m. – Division 1

Girls Gymnastics coverage begins at 2 p.m. Friday with Team Finals competition at Rockford High School and will be followed Saturday with the Individual Finals at Noon. This event will be produced by the School Broadcast Program at Rockford High School. There will be a dedicated camera on each apparatus (Bars, Balance Beam, Floor Exercise, Vault), with an announcer providing information on each channel regarding who is competing in each event at a given time. 

Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming and Diving coverage begins at noon Saturday at three locations, with the consolation and championship heat in each swimming event, plus the final round of the diving. 

The continued Gymnastics, Hockey and Swimming coverage is part of six straight weekends of live MHSAA Championship coverage on MHSAA.tv, and online viewers can catch every weekend of action for one low cost of $14.95. 

A Month Pass on MHSAA.tv for $14.95 will give a viewer access to events over a 30-day period from the time it is purchased.  Over the next two weeks of live winter championship coverage, the following events will be featured: 

  • Boys Basketball Regionals – March 14-16
  • Girls Basketball Quarterfinals – March 15
  • Girls Basketball Semifinals – March 17-18
  • Boys Basketball Quarterfinals – March 22
  • Boys Basketball Semifinals – March 24-25

A Day Pass is available for $9.95. All events will be available for free on-demand viewing by Wednesday the week following their initial live airing. 

The MHSAA Championship Radio Network begins three straight weekends of winter tournament coverage this weekend at the Ice Hockey Semifinals and Finals. The audio stream is available at MHSAANetwork.com. Over the following two weekends, the MHSAA Championship Radio Network also will carry the Semifinals and Finals of the Girls and Boys Basketball Tournaments for distribution on an over-the-air network of radio stations, and on the internet.

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.

This week’s coverage of MHSAA Basketball includes a Class A Boys Basketball District featuring the No. 3 team – East Lansing High School, a Class A Girls Basketball Regional at Mason, a Class A Girls Basketball Regional at Hudsonville and a Class C Girls Basketball Regional at Marquette where two 2015 champions – Calumet (No. 3 – 2015 Class C champion) and St. Ignace (No. 6 – 2015 Class D champion), could square off in the Final.

Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover varsity competition this week for broadcast on MHSAA.tv  (As of March 7):

March 8

• Class A Girls Basketball Regional Semifinals at Mason
Battle Creek Lakeview v. East Lansing – 6 p.m.
Jackson Northwest v. Kalamazoo Central – 7:30 p.m.

• Class A Girls Basketball Regional Semifinals at Hudsonville
Hudsonville v. Greenville – 6 p.m. – LIVE
Muskegon Mona Shores v. Grand Rapids Christian – 8 p.m. – LIVE

• Class C Girls Basketball Regional Semifinals at Marquette
Negaunee v. Calumet – 6 p.m. – LIVE
Iron Mountain v. St. Ignace – 8 p.m. – LIVE

March 9
• Class A Boys Basketball District Semifinal at East Lansing
Lansing Eastern v. Haslett-Grand Ledge winner – 5 p.m. - LIVE
DeWitt v. East Lansing-Lansing Waverly winner – 7:30 p.m. – LIVE

March 10

  • Class A Girls Basketball Regional Final at Mason
  • Class A Girls Basketball Regional Final at Hudsonville
  • Class C Girls Basketball Regional Final at Marquette

March 11

  • Class A Boys Basketball District Final at East Lansing

March 14

  • Class C Boys Basketball Regional Semifinals at Flint Hamady - 6 & 7:30 p.m.
  • Class D Boys Basketball Regional Semifinals at Negaunee - 6 & 8 p.m.
  • Class D Boys Basketball Regional Semifinals at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart - 6 & 7:45 p.m. 

March 15

  • Class A Girls Basketball Quarterfinals at Fenton – 7 p.m.
  • Class A Girls Basketball Quarterfinals at Fowlerville – 7 p.m. 
  • Class D Girls Basketball Quarterfinals at Negaunee – 7 p.m. (Dependent on match-up) 

March 16

  • Class C Boys Basketball Regional Final at Flint Hamady – 7 p.m.
  • Class D Boys Basketball Regional Final at Negaunee – 7 p.m.
  • Class D Boys Basketball Regional Final at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart – 7 p.m.

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