Accedo partners with PlayOn Sports to expand NFHS Network’s streaming reach

SWEDEN: Grassroots sport rarely gets the streaming red-carpet treatment. That is changing for America’s high schoolers. Accedo, the Stockholm-based streaming software specialist, has been picked by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to widen the reach of the NFHS Network, the platform that streams high school sports across the United States, pushing it onto new smart TV and connected TV platforms and making the content accessible to more fans and families.

The numbers behind the deal explain the appetite. The NFHS Network streams over 600,000 live and on-demand events a year, drawn from more than 8,500 schools nationwide, covering 27 regular-season and postseason sports along with other student activities that celebrate student-athletes, student-broadcasters and schools across the country. Some events run on automated cameras, others are produced by student-led broadcast crews, a detail that says as much about the platform’s community roots as its technical ambition. Fans currently watch via NFHSNetwork.com or the NFHS Network app on iOS and Android, along with Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV. Through the partnership with Accedo, the network will now expand onto additional smart TV and connected TV platforms, with an enhanced streaming experience built on Accedo’s expertise and its award-winning OTT solutions.

Albert Lee, director of strategic accounts for sports at Accedo, framed the partnership simply, calling the NFHS Network the go-to source for live and on-demand high school sports, with a dedicated fan base, and describing the work as being about giving more fans a way to follow the teams that matter to them. It is not a flashy pitch, but flashy is rarely what grassroots sport needs. Reliable distribution is.

For Accedo, the deal slots neatly into a client roster that already includes Paramount, Deutsche Telekom, ITV, Hallmark, BBC, Cogeco and Tata Play, reinforcing its position as a specialist streaming partner rather than a platform trying to own the content itself. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with 15 global offices, the company has built its business on exactly this kind of behind-the-scenes infrastructure work, optimising, growing and evolving other people’s streaming services through no-code video solutions and complete OTT managed services, always backed by a data-driven approach with the end user experience in mind.

Accedo will be showcasing its work at IBC, running from 11th to 14th September, on booth 5.D76, with an invitation to visitors to stop by or get in touch to book a meeting. The company can be found online at accedo.tv, and on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as Accedo. Media enquiries can be directed to Helen Weedon, communications manager at Accedo, on +44 (0)1570 429817 or +44 7733 231922, or by email at helen.weedon@accedo.tv.