PCA July Partner of the Month: SportsEngine

Our partner of the month for July is SportsEngine, a leading provider of technology for youth and amateur sports, offering sports management software for thousands of clubs, associations, leagues, governing bodies, and tournaments to better manage their tournaments, leagues, player registration, background checks, websites, and mobile applications.  SportsEngine is part of NBC Sports Next, a subdivision of NBC Sports which provides sports-centered technology and experiences in youth & rec sports, and golf. SportsEngine launched SportsEngine Play in October 2023 as the first subscription streaming service for youth and amateur sports, making it easy to capture memories and live stream games or events directly on a team’s website while growing its community of supporters. SportsEngine Play also features a comprehensive library of player development and training content and resources.

SportsEngine has been a supporter of PCA for over 10 years, and over time we have expanded the partnership from local support in Minneapolis, to national initiatives focusing on delivering PCA’s content to SportsEngine users across the country.

We spoke with Nick Busto, Vice President of Video Operations and Trish Sylvia, VP Advocacy & Impact, both with NBC Sports Next.

How long has SportsEngine been around?

Nick: SportsEngine was founded in 2008 in Minnesota under the name Puck Systems as a registration software for youth hockey organizations. By 2012, the organization had evolved into Sport Ngin with the goal of making the lives of all youth sports organizations easier by providing tools to help them thrive. In 2015, we officially became a part of the NBC Sports family and changed our name to SportsEngine, where it has since continued to benefit and improve youth sports, promoting youth sports participation, creating more rewarding experiences, growing organizations & businesses, reducing costs and diversifying revenue, and protecting athletes.

It’s through this dedication to continually improving the landscape of the youth sports ecosystem that SportsEngine Play launched as part of the youth and recreational sports portfolio.

Our organizations have partnered together for years and we are excited about all the possibilities to collaborate further around your new product SportsEngine Play.  Can you tell us more about the product?

Nick: SportsEngine Play is a streaming service that allows users to live stream and record events, such as youth sports games and tournaments, to be available for viewing on-demand. It also allows you to clip and share highlights, whether you want to show off your child’s skills on social media or send content to recruiters nationwide. We are excited that it will be the destination where you can create one home for all video content for youth athletes. In addition to live and on-demand sporting events, SportsEngine Play also houses a training and development content library for athletes, coaches, and parents. This library includes a channel for Positive Coaching Alliance, which contains content on coach tips & tools, equity & inclusivity in sport, positive parenting in sport, and on demand viewing of past webinars.

Can you give me some examples of how it is being used beyond storing video content?

Nick: Well, a great example is if you are a parent stuck at work and you cannot make it to your child’s game. Through SportsEngine Play, you can watch a live stream from the office and then come together at the end of the day to watch the highlights after the game. Or, if you have a grandparent or other family member who can’t travel for a tournament, they can log in to watch and cheer your child on without missing a moment of the action.

Trish: What is truly exciting about SportsEngine Play is we’re bringing to the table everything you can imagine needing and wanting at your fingertips, wherever you are in the youth sports ecosystem. If you’re a parent or recruiter and want to watch a game or specific game highlights, you have access to watch live or on-demand. If you’re a coach or athlete looking for training or safety resources, we have a library of video content that serves that need as well.  SportsEngine Play brings accessibility to youth sports, while also offering instructional content on mental fitness, resiliency, and a number of other topics in conjunction with partners like the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Does my child’s youth sports organization have to sign up for SportsEngine Play or can I sign up as an individual?

Nick: There are a number of different ways you can engage with SportsEngine Play.  You can work with us at a league level and think of SportsEngine Play as a video network for all of the teams in the league, with each having their own channel with content, such as highlights, interview videos, live streams, etc.   You can also engage at the team level and provide for all the members of the team.  But if you’re a motivated parent on the sideline, and you want to stream your kids’ game, you can download the app and start streaming, collecting and storing content, and so much more for free.

I immediately think about how PCA might encourage parents and caregivers on the sidelines to use the platform to capture examples of Positive Youth Sports moments.

Nick: Absolutely. Obviously, when you think about videos, you always think about your top plays and your magic moments. But at the same time, some of the best videos are of incredible sportsmanship moments or seeing a child bounce back right after an incredibly challenging experience. We want to make sure we have the processes in place to surface those moments and celebrate them because, essentially, it’s a representation of all of youth sports in one platform.

How is our partnership working to help SportsEngine and SportsEngine Play?

Trish:  Positive Coaching Alliance is extremely important to us.  When we think about the experience that we want our young athletes to have, and when we think about transforming cultures in youth sports, equipping coaches, equipping parents, making sure that they have the tools to give kids the kind of experience that they deserve, we want to work with partners like PCA who have a common goal to improve youth sports. We love that together we share content to help everyone in youth sports. Your content is valuable to us because you produce such high-quality materials, and we want to help you reach as many people as possible. The impact of the messaging and the content that you’re creating is the content we want our families to have.

We are also thrilled to be a part of PCA’s National Leadership Council, and NBC Sports Next is excited to be the media sponsor of your upcoming PCA Celebrity Golf Tournament in August.

Nick, is there anything else your team is working on you want to share with us?

Nick: As we think about grassroots sports, we want to make sure we are doing everything to elevate those events. And so, at some of the premier facilities across the country, we are installing fixed AI cameras to be able to stream everything that goes on. This is going to elevate the remote viewing experience even higher than imagined.

As an NBC company, I am sure you are getting excited for the upcoming Summer Olympics?

Nick: Being a part of the NBC Sports family, in addition to all the work we’re doing the enhance the youth sports experience at home, we’ve also been working hard to actively promote the 2024 Olympic Games, and are really excited about the  SportsEngine Play Kids Guide to the 2024 Paris Olympic & Paralympic Games we have published leading up to the Games. The guide takes an event that may be very adult centric and makes it a fun and interactive experience for the whole family. We also have a partnership with AMC theaters, where we will be broadcasting the opening ceremonies and a number of key events, so athletes and their families or their fellow teammates can watch the Games on a big screen like never before.

Nick and Trish, thank you so much for your partnership and all you do with us and others to make youth sports more positive, equitable, and accessible.

Please check out SportsEngine Play and Positive Coaching Alliance on SpotsEngine Play to help keep your team organized and your athletes prepared all season long with coaching tips, drills, and routines.