Yesterday, KAB Chairman and owner of KNZA Radio Group Justin Fluke and KAB President Allison Mazzei testified in the state legislature to fight for broadcasters’ rights to stream post-season high school athletics.

Senate Bill (SB 13) was introduced in the Kansas Senate and was heard January 23 in the Senate Committee on Education. This bill aims to restrict the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) from entering into exclusive video streaming agreements during post-season play. Currently, KSHSAA has a multiple-year agreement with the NFHS Network, who they use as their exclusive streaming partner during post-season.

The KAB provided proponent testimony and is working with revisers to amend the bill to protect visiting team rights during regular season. Please contact your local senator and ask them to support Senate Bill 13!

KAB Position on Regular Season

Last year, the KAB met with KSHSAA and asked them to implement a policy that provides visiting teams with the same broadcast rights to a radio broadcast, a video broadcast and/or provide telegraphic play-by-play accounts as the home team during the regular season. We focused on visiting team rights because broadcasters are not opposed to a school’s right to sign exclusive agreements with their chosen media partners. We believe all schools should have the right to have their games and events broadcast and streamed by partners of their choice.

It is our position however, that such exclusive agreements should govern only the rights of the parties to the agreement (that school and their partners). Exclusive agreements with “Home” schools should not govern or serve to restrict the broadcast rights of “Visiting” teams and their media partnerships. “Visiting” schools should have the same rights to broadcast or stream their team’s games, as those extended to the home school. The KAB felt this was a reasonable request that, ultimately, KSHSAA declined to implement.