B-T to charge for sports streaming

Those wishing to follow Blair-Taylor athletics from the comfort of their own home won’t be able to do so for free next year.

The B-T school board last Tuesday approved the recommendation of Superintendent Lynn Halverson to charge for access to the online stream. Halverson cited the cost for providing the service and the desire to have more fans in the stands as the reason for his suggestion.

“A big reason livestreaming got to be so important was the COVID pandemic when people couldn’t travel,” Halverson said. “It would be more ideal to have people at events versus watching the livestream.” 

Halverson said the cost for providing the service is about $11,500 and having people pay the same price they would have to pay for admission to the events could help offset that cost. 

“With subscribers and having a paywall set up, we could get some of that money back,” Halverson said. “We’re not going to know until we try.”

The B-T administrator said the Hudl cameras are nice because they do not require a person to run them, they can be programmed to turn on and record at certain times. In addition to allowing the live streaming of events, Hudl is also often used by coaches to compile statistics. 

Halverson suggested possibly adding baseball and softball livestreams — for an additional $3,000 — but board members didn’t think that was necessary. 

“It would be nice,” Michele Steien, board member, said. “But is it needed?”

Halverson said the district will monitor how much money is made from the streaming and determine if it will continue with Hudl after the 2024-25 school year.