MAKING ALL STAR VILLAGE SHINE WITH AI-AUTOMATED LIVE STREAMING

BACKGROUND

Cooperstown All Star Village (CASV) hosts a week-long annual world-class 12U Baseball Tournament, outside the birthplace of baseball, Cooperstown, New York. One of two 12U tournaments in Cooperstown, CASV is a 70-acre resort, including hotels, restaurants, and twelve state-of-the-art youth baseball fields designed for 12U standards. Every year, 10,000 youth players, from 700 teams, gather at CASV to compete in the tournament. To cover the annual tournament, All Star Village had a few young employees shooting the games on tripods as well as using a few unmanned, IP cameras with fixed angles.

Objective

Differentiating CASV, Generating Revenue

The primary goal was to differentiate CASV from their competitor in town and generate revenue by onetizing the tournament through paid access for the live games.

Challenge

Filming 12 Fields Without Extra Staff

Filming the games was a significant undertaking as some of the fields lacked power and Internet access, and the games took place from 9 am to 9 pm every day. It was challenging to staff the cameras as it was impossible to hire a camera operator for every game day. Additionally, IP cameras were not reliable. Wi-Fi drops, power outages, sensitivity to climate fluctuations, and a host of technical complications, all made it harder to cover the games.

solution

Double-Play AI Cameras and a Dedicated OTT Streaming Channel

To address the challenges, CASV installed Pixellot DoublePlay – the world’s first AI multi-camera solution for baseball to ensure full coverage of all the matches, while eliminating the need for a camera operator and director.

To offer video access and monetize production, Pixellot built CASV a dedicated platform to stream the games behind a $99 paywall. CASV hired a marketing company to upgrade their website and manage the user acquisition for the new channel.

Pixellot’s DoublePlay Baseball solution

outcome

6-Figure Revenue and 140K views

By offering full access to every game in their annual tournament, CASV was able to stand out and differentiate themselves from their competitor. With more than 2,100 customers, 6,300 production hours, 140 thousand views, and 13 active systems during the three-month season, CASV’s first fully covered tournament was a shining success. Based on a RevShare model established between CASV and Pixellot, both parties earned a six-figure revenue at the end of the season.

benefits

Increased Visibility, Revenue, and Fan engagement

By using professional cameras and a tailored OTT channel, CASV was able to differentiate itself from its competitor, create a better experience for the athletes and families and generate a new revenue stream from subscriptions. CASV was also able to provide highlights of events that weren’t streamed before, making it more exciting for every player to watch. One of the highlight clips became viral and also received national attention in major media outlets.

“Partnering with Pixellot for our youth baseball camp enables us to provide the players and their families a powerful and unrivaled package of content to remember their time here…

Through Pixellot, we can now bring the highest quality video coverage of games and our festival events for young players and their families. Alongside reliving great memories, this is an invaluable platform to attract more young people to the national pastime”.

                         Rick Abbott, CEO of CSAV