The IHSAA Board of Directors has voted (8-6) in favor of awarding the high school state tournament webcasting rights to the NFHS Network rather than continuing their decade-long partnership with IdahoSports.com in that capacity.
The Board had a very difficult choice to make. In the end, they felt that moving forward with the NFHS Network was the best decision for their member schools. For about 15 years, IdahoSports.com has always been a friend first and partner second to the IHSAA, long before we even started web casting games. We look forward to continuing that relationship for many more years to come.
Today's decision was certainly very disappointing. However, it does not define who we are or what we do. The dedicated and talented team of people that make up the IdahoSports.com family is just as dedicated today as we were yesterday to providing the best online coverage possible for Idaho's high schools and student-athletes. That has always been, and will always be, our first priority.
Please be assured that we are not going anywhere. I can't stress that enough. We are not going to stop working with the schools to web cast regular season and district tournament games. We are not going to stop providing schedules, scores, rankings, photo galleries or previews. We are actually planning on expanding what we do, including our broadcast coverage to include more schools in different areas of the state. Thanks to our local business friends and advertisers, those web casts will continue to be free to watch. We will continue to grow, evolve and become an even better resource for online high school sports information.
I want to thank everyone for their support throughout this entire process. It has been extremely humbling to read the comments and emails from people all over telling us how much they appreciate our coverage over the years. While I can't thank all of you individually, know that it really means a lot to all of us.
I truly believe that we are all in this together - athletes, coaches, parents, fans, administrators, boosters, local businesses and even the media and press. We are all part of the Idaho high school sports ecosystem that needs everyone's support in order to be successful. We are all part of something very special right here in Idaho.
What does the future hold? No one knows. But we are definitely looking forward to getting there with all of you.
Paul Kingsbury
Owner/Managing Editor
editor@idahosports.com
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