Flo Sports

[Kuiper]

Not Flo, but Flo-like.

WIAC to Implement Pay-per-View for Championships and Tournaments

The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) will implement pay-per-view for its conference championships and tournaments on a trial basis during the 2025-26 academic year.
 
Championships and tournaments that will include a pay-per-view model on the WIAC Network (wiacnetwork.com), include: men's and women's soccer (all rounds), women's volleyball (all rounds), men's wrestling, swimming & diving, men's and women's basketball (all rounds), men's and women's ice hockey (all rounds), indoor track & field, women's gymnastics, outdoor track & field, women's lacrosse (all rounds), baseball (all rounds) and softball (all rounds).
 
"The WIAC has the best fan support in NCAA Division III, with thousands streaming our contests every week," said WIAC Commissioner Danielle Harris. "By adding a nominal fee during post-season competition, we can continue to offer first-class championship experiences that our student-athletes and our fans expect and deserve. Additionally, regular season contests will continue to be free of charge."
 
Viewers will have a couple of ways to follow their teams during conference championships and tournaments:
 
Daily Pass (provides access to a specific game):  $10 per game (with the exception of the sports listed below)
         $12 - Swimming & Diving
         $15 - Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field
         $15 - Women's Gymnastics (for both sessions)
 
Sports Specific Tournament Pass (access to entire tournament):  $25 (with the exception of the sports listed below)
         $20 - Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field
         $30 - Swimming and Diving

[WUPHF]

Not Flo, but Flo-like.

I think this is the WIAC way of saying that this is coming to the regular season too unless the fans boycott, loudly or quietly, the conference championships.

The WIAC just announced that their commissioner is leaving for another conference, so obviously this could change.


MADISON, Wis.--The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) will implement pay-per-view for its conference championships and tournaments on a trial basis during the 2025-26 academic year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I don't think there was any doubt the WIAC was seeking to monetize their broadcasts - the big question was how.  I do believe this is an experiment for them - I think they want to see how it compares, revenue-wise, to selling ads on a free broadcast.

I don't think the WIAC is naive about the size of their fanbase across the state.

I'd also suggest, if your local WIAC school already has prominent local businesses sponsoring - voice your opinion there (in the kindest possible way).  "I'll spend more money with you if I don't have to pay for a WIAC subscription."

I think, ultimately, everybody wants the same thing - for the schools and athletic departments to be as well funded as possible - there are lots of good ways to do that, especially in the WIAC, where large public schools with big footprints can drive a lot more than just subscriptions.

[ziggy]

It's not Flo, but the MIAC has decided they want to get in on the PPV action and will charge either $10/game or $25/sport to watch its playoff contests.  That could rapidly add up to more than the yearly cost of a Flo subscription.  It's supposed to be a trial; regular season webcast remain free (for now at least).

The MIAC likely won't be the only conference doing this. I'm not sure if this directly factors into the decision making but an interesting comment made to me was that a conference going this route allows them to observe first-hand the impact charging has on viewership without having already signed over your rights in a multi-year deal.

Bingo.

[y_jack_lok]

Makes Flo look cheap, comparatively, especially for a casual fan who might follow multiple sports at a school.

[WUPHF]

Makes Flo look cheap, comparatively, especially for a casual fan who might follow multiple sports at a school.

I have to think that a lot of casual fans watch more than one sport.  And that the typical WIAC football fan also watch basketball and vice versa.

At least a few of the Agile based league networks in Division II are in the $120-150 range per season.

I am curious if the developments in the MIAC and WIAC were driven more by the leagues or by Agile trying to shore up their Division III market share.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Yes, "casual" fans is probably a misnomer. Should probably be calling them dedicated fans. What the WIAC is doing for playoffs, though, seems pretty pricey.

Haven't heard of Agile. Can you provide a link to their website? There are several that have "Agile" somewhere in their url and I can't seem to find one that looks right. Thanks.

[WUPHF]

Agile is the parent company of Hudl.  I probably should just say Hudl.

But I am with you on the use of the phrase casual fans.

[IC798891]

I actually think casual is the right term here.

Casual fans don't follow the regular season, but they tune in for the bigger stuff (rivalry games and postseason games). These are the ones who are going to be impacted

[y_jack_lok]

I actually think casual is the right term here.

Casual fans don't follow the regular season, but they tune in for the bigger stuff (rivalry games and postseason games). These are the ones who are going to be impacted

I think both terms are useful. I consider myself both. I'm a dedicated fan when it comes to certain schools and a casual fan when it comes to a few others.

[scottiedoug]

Maryville's AD said there has not yet been talk of going Flo in the Southern Athletic Association. I encouraged him to try to keep it that way.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Flo announced today they've extended the Landmark Conference deal through 2032.

[Kuiper]

Flo announced today they've extended the Landmark Conference deal through 2032.

Here is the press release on the Landmark page

It includes a hardware and software package (see bolded part below) that Flo claims increases quality and upload times and has been tested already at Catholic and Moravian.  Interesting if fans of those schools have noticed a difference.  I don't know for sure if the SCIAC is also using it, but if it is, I have definitely noticed a difference at some of the schools.

The Landmark Conference was the first NCAA Division-III conference to join FloSports and is now the first to extend its exclusive media partnership with the sports media company in a deal that will showcase the conference on the FloCollege platform through 2032. The extension follows steady audience growth for the conference this year with more than 2.5 million live plays of events on the FloCollege platform and 3 million impressions on social media to date. It also secures investment into the conference's member institutions productions through the term of the contract. The announcement was made today by Landmark commissioner Katie Boldvich and FloSports, SVP of Rights and Acquisitions, Mike Levy.

The Landmark Conference is one of the flagship partners to use the FloSports Production Suite that was developed to elevate stream quality and graphic packages for Division-II and Division-III partners. The investment in production and deployment at the member institution level includes a hardware and software package that has greatly advanced streaming quality leading to 100% delivery of 60 FPS video feeds (an increase of 45% ) and a dramatic rise in uptime delivery. The production package is currently used at Catholic University and Moravian and will roll out to all 10 member institutions in the conference for the 2026-2027 season.

"FloSports has significantly enhanced our ability to deliver high-quality live event coverage, which is invaluably supported by their content engine that gives a full picture of our teams and athletes throughout the season," said Boldvich. "They are an essential partner to ensure the health and growth of our sports across the entire conference."

"Landmark has been with us since the beginning and believes in our mission to grow Division-II and Division-III sports on a national scale," said Michael Levy, FloSports, SVP of Global Rights & Acquisition. "Their trust in us has allowed for experimentation and enabled us to push the boundaries on the types of productions that we can deliver at scale, and we're honored to continue this journey with them."

Mark Fleming, Director of Athletic Communications at Moravian University, who has been leading the FloSports Production Suite implementation for the school added, "We're looking forward to continuing the partnership with FloSports in the coming years. The staff at FloCollege made the transition as easy as possible for all the Landmark Conference schools. At Moravian, we're trying to help FloCollege improve on the final product by beta testing a new production flow. Using the FloSports Production Suite has made the setup process easier and will give the feel of a full sports network once all our schools start using it." 

FloCollege is the global streaming home for live and on-demand coverage of more than 20,000 games available this season. This year, FloCollege has earned more than 2.5 billion video views on social media and more than 16 million video views on the platform. The Landmark Conference is one of 18 conferences on the FloCollege platform representing Catholic University, Drew University, Elizabethtown College, Goucher College, Juniata College, Lycoming College, Moravian University, Susquehanna University, The University of Scranton, and Wilkes University.

FLO has committed over $50 million to develop the FloCollege platform through rights fees, broadcast infrastructure, original content, and cutting-edge product development. These investments ensure institutions and fans receive a consistent, high-quality experience across all devices.

[Pat Coleman]

A unified graphic package across all of their platform would be a good step -- it strikes me as unusual that it hasn't happened already.

I have watched some SCIAC coverage but not every school. Chapman continues to have the best production, as it did before joining Flo.

[y_jack_lok]

So the Landmark signed with Flo at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year: (https://landmarkconference.org/news/2023/7/12/07132023-lc-flosports-partnership.aspx)

That makes 2025-2026 their third season with Flo. I hope all Landmark institutions will soon start seeing the benefit of the improvements they are touting. I also hope the other conferences that have signed with Flo don't have to wait until the third season for their institutions to see those same benefits. I further hope this will, in the future, increase the revenue the institutions receive from Flo.