ATDC member PlayOn! Sports and the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) and announced the launch of the GHSA Digital Sports Network, a partnership providing multi-platform distribution of Georgia high school sports content, beginning in Fall 2009. Postseason coverage of all, yes all GHSA sports, will be made available to fans in a variety of live and on-demand formats across television, broadband, DVD, and download-to-own.
The initial content will contain archived prior-year playoff and championship events in football, basketball, volleyball, and wrestling. Inaugural events for the 2009 season are four football games from the Corky Kell Classic, on Saturday, August 22 at the Georgia Dome. Full game, on-demand access for these premier matchups (Starr’s Mill vs. Etowah; Brookwood vs. McEachern; Camden County vs. Grayson; Walton vs. Norcross) will be available on GHSA.tv immediately following the conclusion of play. Additional fall events will include postseason play in football, volleyball and softball.
Congrats to PlayOn! as they continue their drive to provide the tools necessary for media companies, academic institutions, and sport associations to produce high quality video coverage of live events that don’t get TV exposure.
Exciting news from ATDC member company SimCraft. Auto Racing Daily is reporting they recently inked an endorsement deal with IndyCar and Indy 500 driver and team owner Sarah Fisher to launch their series of racing simulators at the 2009 International CES, Jan. 8-11, 2009, in Las Vegas. Sean MacDonald, founder of SimCraft, has made amazing progress since the company joined ATDC in July, 2006 – from first prototype to a full line of products and now Sarah Fisher at CES. Congratulations Sean!
And even if you don't care too much about SimCraft you have to check out the cat fight between Danica Patrick and Milka Duno on the same page.
If you have not seen the news from The Atlanta Business Chronicle or TechJournal South, 2080 Media (aka PlayOn Sports) has raised $3 million in a round led by Imlay Investments with Noro-Mosely Partners participating. What you may not have heard is that ATDC Entrepreneur in Residence MIke Eckert is going to be joining PlayOn's board along with Greg Foster of NMP. What I know that you have not heard is that the company joined ATDC last week.
PlayOn is a digital media company providing an end-to-end solution for the production, management, and distribution of professional quality TV-like live events over the Internet at a fraction of the cost of traditional television. Led by David Rudolph, the company is technology and asset spin out from Turner Broadcasting. More then four years has been spent testing and perfecting the PlayOn platform.
PlayOn's initial market focus will be on sports content. The company has seen demand from organizations such as universities, high schools, and leagues to generate media exposure for their sports and programs. Aside from the direct financial benefit the exposure provides, it also has a positive effect on recruiting, alumni cultivation, and general awareness. Media entities have also desire the exclusive sports content that PlayOn enables them to create and distribute.
PlayOn is shooting for the big space between user generated content at YouTube quality and what you see on ESPN every day. Should be an exciting to watch the game unfold.