IHSSN moving to pay-per-view

Broadcasting rights for Iowa high school state athletic events are once again a center of controversy after the Iowa High School Sports Network announced it was moving to a pay-per-view platform earlier this week.

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The IHSSN, which as of now streams live games for free and charges for any replays, made the announcement on June 20, and it was met with hostility by some Iowa prep sports fans in the replies.

“Always about the money. Never about the kids,” said one Twitter reply. “Boooooo,” said another.

Other users offered more colorful replies, which cannot be printed in our publication.

The Sports Network announced it will charge $9.99 for single games, or viewers can buy a full tournament pass for $18.99.

The announcement was tweeted by Bound Iowa’s Twitter page, alongside with a file photo from last year’s state baseball tournament, which captures New London players celebrating a big moment.

The new plan will be in effect for the state baseball tournament, which is coming up next month.

“Of course it will start with baseball,” one Twitter reply said. “Couldn’t wait until the new school year and start with football for this.”

The move was also criticized by the Iowa High School Athletic Association, which released the following statement.

“The Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN) is the current media rights holder for select IHSAA championship events. IHSSN has recently announced it has adopted a new model that would charge the public to watch certain live events.

IHSSN plans to begin charging for livestreaming with the 2023 IHSAA State Baseball Tournament in July. The network has previously provided the public with free access to championship events via television and other formats.

IHSAA has objected to the IHSSN’s plans to charge the public and earlier today filed a Petition for Declaratory Relief in Polk County District Court seeking, among other things, a declaration from the court as to the rights of the parties with respect to charging fees to public under the relevant media rights agreement.

Moving forward, IHSAA will continue to strive for free public access to broadcasts of its championship events.“

Adding to the frustrations of some is a contrast to the way the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union currently runs its state tournaments. The IGHSAU broadcasts their games to YouTube, which makes them free both live and on replays. State championships are carried by Iowa Public Television.

The associations have limited time to figure things out. The state tournaments are scheduled to run from July 17-21.