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How High School Athletic Directors Give Every Athlete and Team that Friday Night Feeling

Aug 16, 2024

5 Min Read

By Tyler Schuster

Hear from four high school athletic directors about the equity Hudl’s livestreaming and fan tools provide for their entire school.

High school athletic directors are always looking for ways to win–for their athletes, coaches and community. How are they doing it?

We interviewed athletic directors from four different programs to find out. No matter the school size, the sports their school offers or the number of teams they serve, the resounding answer was a Hudl athletic department package.

In this blog series, we explore how a Hudl athletic department package is the most accessible and affordable way to level up their department’s ability to serve athletes, coaches and their community throughout the school year.

On September 29, 2023, De Smet Jesuit High School and St. Louis University High School (SLUH) squared off in the latest installment of a storied football rivalry between the St. Louis-based high schools. The game has a brotherly feel to it, with both schools forged by faith, proximity and nearly identical school missions.

Last September’s game was a part of Must-See Matchups, a weekly high school sports livestream series on the Hudl platform, created to spotlight schools from all corners of the country. It features programs eager to stream their games to a larger audience and involve their students in the process.

Being on centerstage for a national audience was a special moment. The opportunity was a testament to years of hard work and consistent livestreaming, dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also showcased the compounding benefits and impact of Hudl’s livestreaming tools as part of the Fan Engagement Suite and the Hudl athletic department package.

“During COVID, one of the blessings was being able to livestream events using the Hudl Focus cameras to put together a very high-quality, HD recording and livestream,” said De Smet Jesuit athletic director Harold Barker.

During the pandemic, high school sports got thrown into disarray. From limited stadium capacities to outright cancellations, navigating a full season was quite the challenge. Hudl’s livestreaming tools made it easier to keep fans connected to the players and teams they love, according to SLUH athletic director Chris Muskopf.

“Having access to the (Hudl) cameras and the streaming capacity and the ability to capture footage and share it in a post-game scenario was immensely valuable,” Muskopf explained. “In the St. Louis area, we had crowd restrictions, and some events couldn’t have any crowds at all. The only way we were able to give (fans) the opportunity to watch our student-athletes was through livestreams and the Hudl camera enabled us to do that.”

Livestreaming was a necessity during the pandemic and demand is still high years later. Instead of combatting crowd restrictions, athletic directors see the ability to livestream games and events as a way to keep their fans and community connected.

Libertyville High School (Illinois) athletic director John Woods loves the feedback he’s received from families about their livestreaming efforts using Hudl Focus sports cameras.

“I get emails from families with grandma and grandpa in Arizona that thank us for making video available online and being able to livestream games and maintain that connection with their family members,” Woods said.

A New Era of Fandom

High school sports are always evolving. With every passing school year, athletic directors are looking for new ways to impact more student-athletes, help more of their coaches and reach more of their fanbase. How are they doing so? By leveraging the multi-faceted capabilities of the Hudl Fan Engagement Suite.

Think of the Fan Engagement Suite as a three-pronged approach to delivering a better high school fan experience. And it starts by activating your organization's personalized profile.

The first branch is Hudl Tickets, a new digital ticketing solution that makes it easy for ADs to save time and boost revenue by managing gameday in one place. The next piece is the easy-to-use livestreaming tools of Hudl TV and revenue-generation opportunities like sponsorships and optional pay-per-view streams at your fingertips. The third element is your school’s personalized profile on fan.hudl.com, where fans go to find livestreams, highlights, rosters and more.

All three pieces of the Fan Engagement Suite go a long way in helping athletic directors deliver a better high school fan experience that’s easy for their fans to follow and easy for them to manage.

“Having a Hudl athletic department package is great, and having the ability to do livestreaming and use sponsorships on streams is helpful,” said Josh Smalley, head football coach and athletic director at Bridge City High School (Texas). “...We’re in a constant battle of how are we going to do it? How are we going to keep up with the demands of goods and the amount of programs we have…We’re always looking at ways we can take care of our whole athletic program and the ability to livestream and advertise with Hudl helps.”

Equity for Every Program

Barker is thankful De Smet Jesuit is on a Hudl athletic department package because of the level of equity it provides for his entire athletic department.

Before the Fan Engagement Suite, elevated exposure and treatment might’ve previously been reserved exclusively for certain sports or teams. But now every team in every sport can be showcased the same way.

“We make sure that every level, every team, every program has the opportunity to be on Hudl,” Barker said. “For instance, we have five soccer teams, and with a freshman game at 4 PM on a Monday afternoon, the game might not have as many fans and it’s mostly just parents. But because we’re on Hudl…grandmas and grandpas can livestream the game or if a mother or father can’t get off work at four o’clock, it allows them to watch the game on-demand.”

Smalley says the high school sports livestreaming capabilities have been fantastic, but the biggest surprise has been the reach beyond just sports. Thanks to Hudl Focus cameras mounted in the gymnasium, Bridge City High School has found ways to showcase school pride and student achievement outside sports.

“The thing that really surprised me is how (a Hudl athletic department package) helps beyond athletics,” Smalley said. “...For example, we do graduations outdoors. And if it rains, and we have to move into the gym, we can turn on the Focus Indoor camera and film graduation. And now other people not in attendance can see graduation. It’s just the impact that stretches beyond athletics that’s been the biggest surprise to me.”

Invest in a Hudl athletic department package today to leverage livestreaming and fan tools this season.

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