The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League announced in a press release on Tuesday that they have found a new streaming partner for WPIAL championships starting with the 2023-24 academic year.
They have entered into a five-year contract with National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Network, where they will serve as the exclusive official postseason streaming partner of the WPIAL Championships beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year.
The decision to award NFHS with exclusive postseason streaming rights is thanks to Teall Properties Group (TPG), an outside agency the WPIAL contracts. This new deal, according to the press release will allow both the WPIAL and TPG to, “gain new access to expanded branding and promotional sponsorship opportunities that they didn’t have access to before.”
NFHS charges viewers with a subscription fee, with current rates at $79.99 a year or $11.99 a month. They also have a deal with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) for exclusive streaming rights for the state playoffs.
NFHS will also, along with WPIAL Championships in various sports, air certain playoff games in football and basketball.
Trib Total Media held the rights to stream the WPIAL Championships from the 2017-23 academic calendar years. They broadcasted a number of championships for free, especially the six football championships last fall and the 12 basketball finals. They also put in a bid for the exclusive streaming rights, but TPG chose NFHS instead.
“The WPIAL is excited to welcome NFHS Network as the new streaming partner for the WPIAL Championships,” WPIAL Executive Director Scott Seltzer put out in a statement. “We are excited about the new opportunities and resources this partnership will provide to our member schools. We understand that change is hard, and we appreciated the partnerships with Don Rebel and TribLIVE and respect the services they provided the viewers of WPIAL Championships.”
The WPIAL also partnered with 100.1 FM, AM-1020 Newsradio KDKA for a multi-year agreement to broadcast high school football and basketball throughout the region.
