University of Connecticut Announces Sports-Centric Streaming Platform
Credit: Photo by: Porter Binks / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images- UConn+ will launch in late November with live sports and original content.
- Students can earn academic credit by working on UConn+ content.
- UConn+ also has non-athletic content in the works.
University of Connecticut (UConn) fans across the country will soon have a new way to watch Huskies sports.
The UConn announced that it will launch a new streaming platform called UConn+ later this month. According to the release, it will be the first of its kind in college athletics, combining live sports and original content.
“Few other major universities in the country competing at the highest level of Division I athletics own the rights and have the wherewithal to produce and deliver a majority of its own live sports content,” said Tysen Kendig, UConno’s vice president for communications.
According to the release, UConn+ will show live events, profiles, features, coaches’ shows, highlights, and non-sports-focused content. The service will be available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, the UConn mobile app, and uconnhuskies.com.
UConn+ will show live events, profiles, features, coaches’ shows, highlights, and non-sports-focused content.
UConn+ has two TV mini-series in the works: a 2022 UConn football training camp show called “THE BREAKDOWN” and an inside look at UConn women’s basketball called “THE STANDARD.”
“Athletics is not just a tremendous point of pride for our community, it’s a front porch that helps bring people into the front door of this amazing university,” said Kendig. “UConn+ gives us another vehicle for shining a light on the academic and research champions here that positively impact Connecticut and the human condition.”
The UConn+ team has a few non-sports content ideas in the works: a research magazine, a talk-show podcast about UConn people and programs, and health promotion spots. Production on “Worth Repeating,” an interview series hosted by UConn President Radenka Maric, has already begun and will feature head football coach Jim Mora as the first guest.
Last fall, the Digital Media and Design program in the School of Fine Arts partnered with UConn Athletics to create the athletics creative agency behind UConn+.
UConn students will be able to earn academic credit in documentary film production, motion graphic design, and other areas involved in programming.
“UConn+ and this new creative agency will provide additional real-world experience right here on campus, and has generated great excitement among our students and faculty — all of whom enthusiastically bleed blue,” said Anne D’Alleva, UConn’s interim provost and dean of the School of Fine Arts.
UConn is developing most of its programming internally in partnership with LEARFIELD Studios, a media and technology services company in collegiate athletics, and SIDEARM Sports, a technology platform that powers apps, websites, and streaming for collegiate athletic partners.