NBCUniversal said it launched SportsEngine Play, a streaming service for youth and amateur sports.
The platform enables athletes, parents, coaches and administrators to stream sporting events live, so no one ever has to miss a game.
It also offers on-demand viewing of games, highlights and instructional videos by top athletes including Michael Phelps, Larry Fitzgerald, Shaun White, Maria Sharapova, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Justin Jefferson.
Basic live streaming of games and some on-demand video is available free. Other parts of the platform can be accessed as part of a subscription service.
Subscribers can use the service to create highlights that can be shared with friends and family or posted on social media.
The video can also be used to put together highlight reels for young athletes looking to be recruited by colleges and other teams.
“We’re thrilled to introduce SportsEngine Play to the more than 30,000 youth sports organizations and the millions of players and families we serve through our NBC Sports Next technology platforms and applications,” said Brett MacKinnon, senior VP and general manager, youth and recreational Sports, NBC Sports Next, the Comcast NBCU subdivision that manages digital sports applications.
“Given our sports and media DNA, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver this product to the sports community — a preeminent streaming platform for all youth and amateur sports, with personalized video content, the best instructional and player development videos, and much more to come as we continue to grow,” MacKinnon said.
The streaming service is the result of NBC Sports Next’s 2022 acquisition of youth sports streaming provider Rapid Replay, which had been part of Comcast NBCU’s startup accelerator program. It was combined with SportsEngine, which helps parents locate sports organizations for their kids and provides tools for organizing teams and leagues.
Rapid Replay founder NIck Busto, now VP of video operations at NBC Sports Next, told Broadcasting+Cable that youth sports is a huge industry, bigger than the NBA or NFL. It contracted during the pandemic but has rebounded, growing at about 20% a year.
About 4 million people annually already use the SportsEngine app, Busto said.
“Video is dominant in sports these days, and it is becoming that way in youth sports,” he said.
SportsEngine Play is available on mobile devices. NBC Sports Next is planning to launch a SportsEngine Play connected-TV streaming app in 2024, so athletes and their families can watch the action at home.
SportsEngine Play content can be recorded by a parent or coach on a mobile phone. SportsEngine is also installing professional cameras in stadiums, arenas and gyms as organizations and leagues sign up.
NBC Sports Next is also building client branded SportsEngine Play platforms for partner organizations. Such as the Frisco Independent School District in Texas. NBC Sports Next launched a Frisco Sports Live web portal powered by SportsEngine Play, which will stream approximately 4,000 sporting events for the district’s 12 high schools and 18 middle schools during the school year.
There are free, premiere and All Access tiers for Sports Engine play. The free plan lets users capture and view live-streamed content.
The $9.99 a month ($99.99 annually) Premiere plan includes lives streaming and on-demand viewing of game replays, plus access to editing tools to create highlight videos.
The $19.99 a month ($199.99 a month) All-Access plan includes all live and on-demand streaming, editing tools, plus access to professionally produced sports content, including player development videos, instructional content from world-class athletes and access to top amateur sports competitions.
SportsEngine Play is offering launch pricing of $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year for the Premier plan and $9.99 a month and $79.99 annually for the All-Access tier.
The videos from top-flight athletes feature their training regimens, and insights on leadership and mental health.
“It’s a powerful thing to create opportunities to learn, grow and inspire within a deserving community, such as youth sports,” Walsh Jennings, the U.S. gold medal volleyball player, said. “I’m proud of the work my fellow champions and I have created with The Pros and so happy our content has found such a great home. My goal is to forever inspire and empower as many people as I can, and this partnership will allow for great and positive impact.”
