Does streaming hurt ticket sales?

On 8/24/2022 at 2:56 PM, theguru said:

I think your logic is mostly solid but the only problem is many/most outlets that stream high school games lose money. 

I beat this drum a lot, but there is almost no money in covering high school sports and with that in mind I think allowing the streams is the right thing to do.  

Additionally, the "free product" you speak of does not belong to the schools, it belongs to the people paid for by their tax dollars.  The same people that should be able to view the games at home like Mr. Smith pointed out.

With the introduction of sports cameras like the VEO2 and I-pads connected to Wi-Fi and YouTube , live streaming has become a realistic way of schools broadcasting/livestreaming games. Covid was the best and worst thing to have happened to this. Schools with "large programs" primarily football and basketball invested in some rather pricey equipment to livestream these games in an attempt to offset the revenue lost when stadiums and gyms were closed. Some schools made a significant amount of money this way. Now that fans can attend in person, that revenue is all but lost. Unfortunately, the schools still see dollar signs from the pay per view model that was previously so successful and now refuse to allow anyone to live stream for free.

I have a VEO2 system that I paid for out of pocket, along with the annual subscription which allows me to livestream worldwide for free. But the school doesn't want to lose their $5.00 per stream. Schools and particularly ADs are more concerned with what they take in at the door (or per stream) than building a long-term audience. When kids who ordinarily do not attend a game, can watch it live on TV or any other device connected to the internet and can interact with it they may begin to follow the games with more interest. Family members might as well. It could absolutely lead to more fans showing up on game day. I can tell you that the dedicated fans, are coming regardless.