Midco Sports enters new era of streaming content nationwide

This piece is sponsored by Midco.

If you love to watch college sports, get ready for a golden era in athletics.

Never has there been as much content allowing you to watch your favorite schools and sports in action – and Midco is becoming a national leader in making it possible.

“The introduction of streaming in 2020 definitely set us up to grow,” said Jeannie Thurston, senior vice president of marketing and sports.

“Sports is ever-changing, and streaming just continues to grow as sports teams and institutions consider their options for connecting with fans. It’s a great time for Midco to make sure we have a solid foundation in place to support their needs.”

Helping lead the effort is Andy Price, who joined Midco as vice president of sports content after a 35-year career in broadcast. His previous roles in the Twin Cities included serving as director of operations for School Space Media and senior director of broadcast/game presentation for the Minnesota Twins.

“I’m super-excited to have Andy on board,” Thurston said. “He’s had a very seasoned career and is very networked in this space. He’s excited to be a part of the Midco Sports team and has really hit the ground running.”

The timing is right: “Almost every school is having conversations about how to handle streaming sports,” Thurston said. “We’re discussing several potential agreements and have had a presence at major industry events as we transition from a regional content provider to a national player.”

For instance, Midco Sports recently was selected as the centralized home for Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference digital content, including live and on-demand streaming coverage of all 16 member colleges and universities, beginning this fall.

The NSIC includes two Sioux Falls schools: Augustana University and the University of Sioux Falls.

Through a monthly subscription, the NSIC Network broadcasts on Midco Sports Plus will include all home regular season conference and nonconference contests for football, volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling, softball and baseball.

Production for the NSIC Network broadcasts will be the responsibility of the home institution. Other streamed events will be featured on the network in front of the paywall.

NSIC championships also will be streamed on Midco Sports Plus.

“We believe it’s a natural fit to partner with leagues and conferences within our footprint, and the NSIC is a really good example of us building on the established relationship that we’ve had with them around basketball for years,” Thurston said. “But we’re also having conversations with schools and conferences nationwide about how Midco Sports can help deliver their content.”

To support its growth plans, Midco Sports has selected Visaic as its new streaming platform provider.

Visaic, a global leader in interactive streaming platforms, will provide Midco Sports with an AI-powered digital platform for scalable livestreaming, real-time video clipping, Al-generated highlight moments and proven fan engagement features in a unified, cloud-based workflow.

“They have years of experience with streaming platforms, and their advancement in AI is huge,” Thurston said. “The scalability we have with them on board is significant, and we’re excited by the opportunities they will allow us to offer our partners.”

Customer-experience enhancements on the new platform will include:

• Seamless content management for partner teams, schools and conferences.
• Easy platform navigation and multiscreen viewing for subscribers.
• Extended reach with Samsung- and LG-connected TV experiences.

“The Visaic team brings years of expertise and industry relationships to offer a modern, cloud-based video platform focused on interactivity, AI, advanced data science, the latest UI/UX experiences and customer-first managed services,” Thurston said. “They are in growth mode, and so is Midco Sports. We can’t wait to see what both teams accomplish together.”

“We’re excited to partner with Midco Sports to power the next phase of growth for Midco Sports Plus, which offers a compelling lineup of nationally recognized collegiate athletics brands,” said Visaic CEO Kanaan Jemili.

Once schools and teams decide to partner with Midco, “we pride ourselves on our customer experience,” Thurston said.

“We provide consistent, strong connection and serve as a conduit to our partners to ensure they can work through any issue to get their production up and running. We want them on the air or streaming as quickly as possible, and we’re committed to a strong onboarding experience and continued customer support.”

Midco Sports also will continue to produce South Dakota State University and University of South Dakota football and basketball, University of North Dakota football, basketball, hockey, volleyball, softball and soccer, and Augustana University hockey.

As partnerships grow, so do content options for Midco customers.

“There are multiple ways people like to consume content, and we feel like we’re setting it up to meet people where they’re at,” Thurston said. “We see so much opportunity to provide an outstanding experience for schools, teams and their fans.”