IHSAA reaches agreement with Iowa PBS

Friday was a good day for Iowa High School sports fans across the state.

Starting in 2025-26, PBS will broadcast state football, basketball and wrestling finals, the first time it will show all three.

For years, state finals have been televised by Iowa PBS free of charge through the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association, on the other hand, had a media agreement with the Iowa High School Sports Network for nearly 20 years that required a paid subscription to watch. This caused a lot of frustrations for fans.

That’s all in the past now.

The public broadcasting network will show finals for the three most-watched sports starting in the fall.

“The stories of Iowa student-athletes, teams, coaches, and communities are at the center of our Iowa PBS Sports coverage,” said Andrew Batt, executive director and general manager at Iowa PBS in a news release.

“We are excited to extend our award-winning, in-depth broadcasts to the IHSAA and mutually ensure statewide access of these games across all 99 counties of Iowa and beyond. Every Iowan deserves an opportunity to witness these athletes pursue a championship on our state’s most extensive broadcast and streaming network.”

Boys state wrestling was last televised by PBS in 2002, while football and basketball will be making their modern-day debuts on the network.

“We are thrilled to partner with Iowa PBS to bring our football, wrestling, and basketball state championship broadcasts to fans across the state,” IHSAA executive director Tom Keating said in a news release.

“Our fans have asked for a free and easily accessible broadcast option, and Iowa PBS is just that.”

PBS will televise football finals Nov. 20-21 from the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, the wrestling finals Feb. 21, 2026 and the basketball finals March 13, 2026, both from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.