SportsCanada.TV - Canadian Online Amateur Sports Network

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SportsCanada.TV - Canadian Online Amateur Sports Network

CanadaNew Westminster, Canada
Organization type: 
for profit
Project Stage:
Growth
Budget: 
$50,000 - $100,000
Website:
http://www.sportscanada.tv
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

At SportsCanada.TV, we have created an affordable live streaming network for Canadian amateur sports organizations to broadcast their events online.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Amateur sports in Canada is in a Catch-22 situation. In order to attract corporate sponsorship funding, provincial and national sporting events in Canada need more media coverage to create a larger following. But the media won't cover these events because there isn't a large enough following. Our solution is to increase the exposure of amateur sports in Canada by creating our own network specifically focused on Canadian amateur sports at all levels across the entire country. Anyone with internet access can watch the live broadcasts completely free of charge.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

At SportsCanada.TV we have created a new network for Canadian amateur sports using live internet streaming technologies. We provide a professional and affordable solution for event hosts to broadcast their events to the entire world over the internet. We offer event hosts a number of options to fit any budget, from a free "self-broadcast" option where we provide the bandwidth and tech support for the host to cover their own event using volunteers to a full production option where we provide all the equipment and staff to produce a professional broadcast with features including multiple camera angles, instant replays and live scoreboard overlays.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

For the past few years we have broadcast a number of provincial, national and international events hosted in BC and have established a large viewership audience. Some of the largest sports organizations in Canada now have "channels" on our network where all their previous broadcasts have been archived. Our live internet broadcasts provide families, friends and fans the opportunity to watch our Canadian amateur athletes compete regardless of where the event is taking place in Canada. For example, many student athletes leave home to compete in college and university athletics and now their parents can still watch every game. The archives of these broadcasts are also routinely used for athlete, coach and official development as well. We have covered of a number of national and international wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball events, and have heard back that these broadcasts provided exposure for these sports and have inspired other athletes with disabilities to participate in them.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

We have a few competitors that broadcast sports online but most use the pay per view model. The whole idea behind the SportsCanada.TV network is to increase the exposure of amateur sport so we are against pay per view. We want the broadcasts to be available to as many people as possible. I feel my background as a former college athlete in BC and my years of experience working in amatuer sports (at Basketball BC) has given me a huge advantage because I now have an excellent understanding of the amatuer sports sector in Canada.
Team

Founding Story

SportsCanada.TV was founded by Choyal Brown in December of 2008. As a former Canadian college basketball player, Choyal felt that local mainstream sports media did not offer the range or depth of coverage that Canadian high school and collegiate sports deserved. In 2009 SportsCanada.TV began webcasting games for a handful of colleges in BC and by the end of the year nearly 30 others colleges across Canada expressed interest in joining the network.
About You
Organization:
SportsCanada.TV
About You
First Name

Choyal

Last Name

Brown

About Your Organization
Organization Name

SportsCanada.TV

Organization Country

, BC, New Westminster

Country where this solution is creating social impact
Region in BC where your solution creates social impact

How long has your organization been operating?

1‐5 years

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Innovation
How long have you been in operation?

Operating for 1‐5 years

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your solution addresses? Choose up to two

Cost.

Social Impact
Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve

Our goal at SportsCanada.TV is to continue to grow into the largest amateur sports network in Canada, and to be able to attract enough corporate sponsorship that we can provide our production services to event hosts completely free of charge.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

SportsCanada.TV has provided Canadian amateur sports fans a network that allows them the opportunity to watch their favorite sporting events live. Our new media outlet has dramatically increased the coverage of amateur sports in Canada and is giving our Canadian athletes the much needed exposure they deserve. We are on pace to double our web traffic from last year... we look like we will hit an incredible 4,000,000 page views in 2012 alone.

What is your projected impact over the next five years?

We project that TV and the internet will continue to merge and we will be providing exclusive online coverage for over 25 sports in Canada and reach over 2 million page views a month by 2017.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

One of the largest barriers we face is event hosts not understanding the importance of webcasting their events. Many events are run by an older demographic who have been doing the same thing for years and do not understand that fans would love to follow their event live.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1

Post the archive of every event broadcast we have done to date

Task 2

Start to interact with fans on social media and reach 2000 followers on Twitter

Task 3

Create a partnership with the CCAA and have every college in Canada broadcasting on SportsCanada.TV

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1

Purchase enough equipment to cover 3 simultaneous full production events

Task 2

Have all the High School Championships in BC, Alberta and Ontario broadcast on SportsCanada.TV

Task 3

Create a partnership with the CIS and have every university in Canada broadcasting on SportsCanada.TV

Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships

We webcast the events for a number of National Sports Organizations including Canada Basketball, Volleyball Canada, Rugby Canada, Wheelchair Basketball Canada and Ringette Canada.
We also work closely with the CCAA and 40 of its colleges and universities members and are currently working on a partnership with the CIS and its members.
This past March we started working with the Provincial High School associations in BC, Alberta and Ontario.
We also have a partnership with the BCIT broadcasting program and we hire their students to do our productions.

Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your solution? If so, where and why?

We originally focused on events in Western Canada, specifically BC and Alberta but now we are looking to expand our coverage into Eastern Canada as well. I believe it is important to engage and unite the whole country in sport so athletes can benchmark themselves against the best athletes in the country.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

Although we are a tech company, we are run by sports minded people as apposed to people with tech backgrounds. This makes it easy for us to interact with our clients. Our sports background also gives us a competitive edge that will help our innovation be successful.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list