"The MPSSAA is excited to have a partner like PlayOn! Sports to enhance coverage of high school sports and athletes in Maryland," said MPSSAA Executive Director, Ned Sparks. "Maryland boasts an exciting high school sports environment that will now be available to viewers across the state, fans across the country and alumni around the world, all while providing our student athletes and their families unique access to their outstanding achievements."  The new internet video portal for the MPSSAA Network, www.mpssaa.playonsports.com, hosts all events produced through the partnership. Most events will be streamed live and will be archived for on-demand viewing.

 

     "We are thrilled to partner with the MPSSAA to create a network of high school sports content in Maryland that celebrates Maryland's student athletes," said Tim Eichorst, President of PlayOn! Sports. "We are building a library of content that will allow students, families, and communities access to their school's sports and activities in a way they haven't had before."  The network has already streamed last fall's volleyball, soccer, and field hockey championships, all of which can be viewed on-demand at www.mpssaa.playonsports.com. Girls' and Boys' Basketball, Wrestling, and Swimming and Diving Championships will be covered this winter with additional coverage in a wide range of both boys and girls sports in Maryland throughout the school year.

 

     Another component of the partnership is the opportunity for all Maryland high schools to take part in the PlayOn! Sports School Broadcast Program. The School Broadcast Program provides schools access to PlayOn's proprietary technology platform to self-produce sports and activities from their school. This content, typically produced by students with the help of a teacher adviser, will be featured on individual branded school portals on the PlayOn! Sports website(www.playonsports.com) as well as accessible through the MPSSAA Network site (mpssaa.playonsports.com).  "Schools can leverage the PlayOn platform to create content, provide educational opportunities for students, generate exposure for student athletes, and provide unique digital advertising opportunities for sponsors," Eichorst said. "We are rolling this program out immediately and hope to have an initial group of schools producing and broadcasting their activities during this spring's sports season."

 

     PlayOn! Sports is the largest rights holder, producer, and aggregator of high school sports events distributed across television, the internet, and IP-video enabled mobile devices. By combining State Athletic Associations' postseason content with the regular season events of member schools, PlayOn provides marketers with a unique multi-media platform solution to reach teens, young adults and families. PlayOn is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., with offices in the Southeast, Midwest and California. For more information, contact PlayOn! Sports at info@playonsports.com, or visit www.playonsports.com.

     Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA), organized in 1946, is made up of public high schools from each of the 24 school systems. The purpose of the MPSSAA is to promote and direct public high school interscholastic activities in order to assure that those activities contribute toward the entire educational program of the state of Maryland. The MPSSAA currently includes 197 public high schools, with almost 114,000 student-athletes participating in 24 sports. 

###

 

Monica Cox

404-219-5511 | monica.cox@playonsports.com

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter: @playonsports

 

Jill P. Masterman, Program Specialist

410-767-0374 | JMasterman@msde.state.md.us