NSAA: No Student Access Allowed

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NSAA: No Student Access Allowed Trevor Svoboda, Editorial Cartoon February 22nd, 2016 The NSAA s policies of profit hurt journalism students in the state of Nebraska, essentially running away with

1 NSAA: No Student Access Allowed Trevor Svoboda, Editorial Cartoon February 22nd, 2016 The NSAA s policies of profit hurt journalism students in the state of Nebraska, essentially running away with money. (Editorial cartoon by Trevor Svoboda) Nebraska is cold in nature. Lying at about 40 degrees north of the equator, the state becomes unbearable in the winter. Millard West s quarterfinal match quickly became one of those days. The temperature dropped well below 32 degrees. To add insult to injury, the wind started blowing while the rain fell steadily and icily. Completely exposed to the elements, huddled under a blue tarp draped over a table barely big enough for two at Buell Stadium, sat two students and one teacher. Myself,

2 fellow journalism student JD Wessel, and adviser Lisa Lukecart all cowered under this makeshift tent. We were out in this disaster of a night to radio broadcast the football game between Millard West and Lincoln Northeast via Striv TV. It is a new company from Henderson, Nebraska, that allows students to livestream games through their website. Millard West s football team this year stormed through the regular season, dominating every team unfortunate enough to be on the schedule. They rolled into Lincoln, Nebraska to Memorial Stadium, the hallowed home of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, ready to take on the Millard North Mustangs. We felt lucky we had the opportunity to broadcast the game until we found out about the catch. The catch for the Pawprint? It was a championship game, and under Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) jurisdiction. Because of that, the game could be broadcast with an audio feed only, taking away from student experience and robbing us from what could have been a tremendous opportunity. Even with the audio broadcast, we couldn t bring some of the kids from our journalism department, which meant they couldn t take part. Westside journalism adviser Matt Rasgorshek believes the NSAA s policies hurt his students as well. From my perspective, it s a live classroom, and any organization that claims to support students should support this, he added. Our broadcasters sat out in the rain and wind during that Lincoln Northeast game, but were only able to put together a radio program, with it being a playoff game. All our hard work seemed as good as nothing in the end, with no finished product to actually show for it. We knew of the regulations, per NSAA policy, raising an important question for us: is the NSAA a fair organization dedicated to students? Or is it a profit hungry organization, only out for money? The answer lies somewhere in the middle, but all the issues are easily traced back to the NSAA. We can start out by looking at why the NSAA doesn t allow a video feed. According to Sarah Sasse- Kildow, an NSAA Assistant Director, the organization is the generator of postseason content, so they own the broadcasting rights. They, in turn, sold the rights to two different organizations, the Nebraska Television Network (NET), and the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS). They now own the rights to the playoffs of NSAA events, with NET broadcasting the seven championships on the NET network.

3 By selling the rights to a local television station, the NSAA creates another problem easily fixed by companies like Striv. The NET viewing area is only in Nebraska. Many people who live out of state want to watch Millard West or other schools athletes play, but they can t. My grandparents, who live in Oklahoma, want to watch me broadcast the game. When it s audio only, they don t get to see the game or me on it. Backup quarterback Zach Lanham s family has the same problem. His grandparents live both in Nebraska and Texas, and watch football games on Striv, and they experience the same issue when the NSAA doesn t allow video broadcasting. A family s ability to watch their grandson play becomes yanked from under their feet, all because of a profit rule. And in the case of inclement weather, many just can t abide the elements. I am so happy I can watch the Millard West football games on my computer. (I) am a mother of one of the coaches and enjoy not having to sit out in the cold, Evelyn Jacobs said. Even in the world of professional sports, not one company dominates the right to games. The Super Bowl, easily the biggest sporting event in the country, is broadcasted by companies like CBS, NBC, and FOX, who cycle through rights on a yearly basis. The NSAA has created a pseudo-monopoly, leaving schools out of the loop.

5 Even though Millard West journalism has started streaming football games, attendance has gone up. Attendance peaked against Millard North this year, therefore, not infringing on profits. (Infographic by Craig Morrissey) However, these rights were signed over long before the use of student broadcasting services like Striv became common in Nebraska high schools. The NSAA has taken measures to determine how much access students should be provided when their team is on the field. The current solution is one that comes with great cost to schools. For postseason games, schools are allowed to broadcast the game on their respective channels for a whopping $250 sub-licensing fee for NET and the NFHS. As Taylor Siebert, CEO of Striv Inc. explained, the fee wasn t set up by the NSAA. It was based on what other states have come up with and decided on, he said. Put simply, a small journalism class like Millard West can t swing the fee for so many games. Wildcat athletics may have ten or more postseason games, and our proverbial wallets can t keep up. By charging the fee, the NSAA effectively shuts down students ability to broadcast because it s ludicrous to imagine a group of high school kids could pay $250 to stream a game to upwards of 600 people, considering the schools already pay a fee for streaming capabilities in the first place. Even those who watch online probably wouldn t be in the stands otherwise. The key difference between a group like NET and Millard West is the subscription money made, allowing them to cover costs like this. Nobody at Millard West gets paid for broadcasting. Even trying to sell advertising, $250 per week during football season is impossible. Furthermore, Sasse-Kildow said the majority of money that funds the NSAA comes from postseason ticket sales. As the generator of content, we have a stake of that, and if ticket sales go down, we lose money, she added. But do student broadcasting services such as the one Millard West provides take away from ticket sales significantly? There s evidence that would point to no. Millard West took on Millard South on September 26 th, This was before our Striv channel would receive more than a couple hundred viewers. The paid attendance for the game was 3,333 people. A year later, on September 4 th, 2015, Millard West took on Millard North. Paid attendance for the game was 3700, and the Striv viewership was up to 600+ people.

6 Whether or not the NSAA would lose money on postseason ticket sales alone isn t clear in the minds of the NSAA staff, yet it is the opinion of the Pawprint staff that not only does it not, but rather the NSAA s policies take away from the quality of a journalism student s education in the pursuit of profit. When Millard West football took the field in Lincoln, the team didn t have to pay a fee because they were playing there. Journalism is an NSAA sanctioned activity, but has to pay to actually participate in their own activity. So even though the NSAA sponsors a journalism state championship for young writers, they simultaneously hurt these same kids, only because they are so terrified of losing money that really shouldn t be theirs to lose in the first place. *first appeared in print on 2/11/2016

Birmingham City Football Club Disabled Supporters Forum: 18 th November 2017

Birmingham City Football Club Disabled Supporters Forum: 18 th November 2017 Location: Changing Rooms Bar (11:30am) BCFC Chairs: Rachele Johnson (Customer Service Manager & Supporter Liaison Officer),