Page 54 - 2020 IHSAA Annual Report

The IHSAA Champions Network

The facing page features numbers that on-demand service provided by IHSAAtv.org,
demonstrate the popularity of high school and it, too, is growing exponentially every year.
sports in Indiana (as of March 13, 2020, the
last day of high school sports during the High school sports fans who can’t attend
2019-20 school year). state final tournament events in person can
stream most of them live on IHSAAtv.org.
Not only does the IHSAA derive substantial They also can watch tournament events at the
income from the Champions Network, it also sectional, regional and semi-state level plus
uses its relationship with its 56 partner radio regular season games and meets—streamed
stations to communicate the value of partic- live—every week all year long. And state
ipating in high school sports to statewide championship events from years past are
audiences all year long. available on demand.

In fact, these same affiliate stations broadcast In addition to broadcasts produced by the
a total of 55,560 FREE :60 and :30 second IHSAA, there were 12 other affiliates that
commercials during the 2019-20 school contributed content to IHSAAtv.org. Through
year, primarily to promote attendance at early March, there were nearly 2.5 million page
high school athletic events. If the IHSAA had views—an increase of 58% over the previous
purchased those same 55,560 commercials, it year. The most watched broadcast was the
would have cost approximately $859,700. Boys Basketball Sectional Pairing Show.

Add the money the Association receives to the Between increased attendance at nine fall
value of the commercial time, and it’s easy to and winter tournaments in 2019-20 and the
understand why the Champions Network is growing interest on all the IHSAA Champions
widely regarded as the most comprehensive Network platforms, it’s apparent that high
state association network in America. school sports in Indiana have never been more
accessible or more popular.
The relative newcomer to the IHSAA
Champions Network is the live streaming and

Great storytelling makes high
school sports easy to enjoy. The
IHSAA has many broadcasting
friends throughout the state of
Indiana, including Greg Rakestraw
and Jane Schott, seen here prior
to tipoff of the 4A Girls Basketball
finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

54 INDIANA HIGH S CHOOL A THLE TIC ASS OCIA TION Annual Report 2020