15 minute read
LIMITLESS
OSU Max is the Future of Storytelling in College Athletics
Dressed casually in an Oklahoma State wrestling jacket and cap, John Smith reclined slightly in the wooden chair and recounted a powerful memory of Gallagher Hall.
A videographer captured his every word, gesture and facial expression, but Smith appeared at ease, his voice ebbing and flowing as if he were chatting with an old friend. Smith shared this riveting anecdote: before he started coaching the Cowboys, long before he rose to his status as a living legend in the wrestling world, he was a 12-year-old towel boy on the mat when OSU won the 1978 Big Eight Championship. That night, Smith remembered, the crowd noise escalated to the point that light bulbs popped and shattered, causing fragments to rain on the mat. Smith was tasked with hitting the official on the back as a way to notify him when time expired—it was far too loud to hear the buzzer in the arena.
It is a legendary moment in the history of OSU Athletics.
STORY BY HALLIE HART | PHOTOS BY BRUCE WATERFIELD
Because of OSU’s new subscription-based streaming service, that narrative is now preserved in Smith’s words, housed among numerous videos that offer rare insight into the lives of OSU student-athletes and coaches. This is the brilliance of OSU Max, the direct-to-consumer network designed for Cowboy fans.
When the athletic department unveiled OSU Max in December, it featured 150 pieces of creative content, and that number is rapidly ballooning. Stephen Howard , the Assistant Athletic Director for Digital Strategy, said the goal is for fans to never run out of videos.
“OSU Max is the behind-the-scenes, unfettered access into Oklahoma State Athletics that you can’t get anywhere else,” Howard said. “It’s following our teams, our people, diving inside locker rooms, going inside film study sessions, historical deep dives into our teams and even the Bedlam rivalry, as well as a house of massive amounts of historical content.
“It’s a must-have for anybody who is just a die-hard Oklahoma State Athletics fan, and what I love about it is, you’re going to hear some stories that you’ve never heard before.”
For those who pay the subscription fee of $8.99 per month, OSU Max offers a multitude of features. Bo Mattingly, co-founder of Sport & Story—the organization partnering with the athletic department in this endeavor—likened OSU Max to a “mini Netflix” geared toward Cowboy fans. The videos are carefully categorized, much like the comedies and dramas on familiar streaming services, but these documentary-style pieces appeal to different sectors of the OSU community. Analytical minds can rejoice in the detailed dissection of games in the “Cowboy Film Room” videos, while history buffs might prefer to bask in the nostalgia of “Cowboy Rewind.”
At its core, OSU Max is a channel for storytelling, using all types of videos to connect fans with the individuals who have built and enhanced the university’s rich athletic tradition. Whether a subscriber watches members of the Cowboy basketball team gather at coach Mike Boynton’s house for dinner or hears Cowgirl softball players discuss the importance of enjoying their sport, the universal human emotions are palpable. Those authentic, peoplecentric stories create the unique appeal of OSU Max.
“There’s a lot of content being produced by schools,” Mattingly said. “But there’s very little longform storytelling where you can really humanize people, really get to know who they are and what they’re about.”
After identifying this need in college athletics, Mattingly had to implement his idea with programs that offered treasure troves of compelling stories.
This is how OSU Max was born.
Bo Knows
It started with “Our Time: Oklahoma State Football.”
As Mattingly consulted with coach Mike Gundy and others involved with OSU Athletics, the plan took shape: Sport & Story could document the behind-the-scenes operations of the Cowboy football program for a series that would air on ESPN+ throughout the 2020 football season.
Mattingly, whose work is based in Arkansas, saw value in highlighting OSU. Gundy’s name is familiar to people across the nation, Mattingly pointed out, so “Our Time” could attract viewers far beyond Stillwater. For years, Gundy’s program had exemplified consistency, Mattingly said. With running back Chuba Hubbard and wide receiver Tylan Wallace returning instead of declaring for the NFL Draft, 2020 looked like an intriguing year to feature the Cowboys.
When Mattingly immersed himself in OSU Athletics, he realized the football series could be a launchpad for something greater. The evidence surrounded him: banners for 52 team national championships across multiple sports, an All-American list expansive enough to cover a wall in Heritage Hall, and prestigious trophies and Olympic medals for OSU alumni.
“This is a storied athletic program,” Mattingly said. “And sometimes, I think Cowboy fans need to be reminded of that. Sometimes, we’re too close to our own backyard, and someone else comes in, and they go, ‘Wow, this is a really nice backyard.’”
Mattingly was that observant visitor who noticed something extraordinary.
This outside-looking-in perspective provided fresh, innovative angles for “Our Time,” but it also meant he had to foster mutual trust with the athletic department. This was a Cowboy football program that operated with smooth efficiency: running through drills at practice, assembling coaches for meetings, taking “The Walk” along Hester Street to Boone Pickens Stadium on game days. Would a camera crew be an obtrusive presence disrupting the flow of it all?
Initially, everyone had to adjust to the change, but it didn’t take long for doubts to subside. Coaches and players carried on as if the cameras had always been there. Camera crews blended in with the program, even when unavoidable circumstances added a complex layer to the Cowboys’ season.
No one could ignore the uncertainty looming over college football because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Sport & Story weaved that element into the narrative, featuring footage of players and coaches taking COVID tests. The camera operators adhered to those protocols, too.
As Sport & Story collaborated with OSU Athletics and welcomed feedback from the communications staff, Athletic Director Chad Weiberg—then the Deputy Athletic Director reporting to Mike Holder—noticed how well the process worked.
“They came in here, and they just became part of the team, really, and weren’t a distraction at all, and did a good job of telling the story and highlighting the program,” Weiberg said.
“I think that was a big part in just building the relationship with them, knowing the quality and the kind of people that they were, and just being comfortable working with them.”
Because of those bonds, leaders in the athletic department had faith in Sport & Story to provide creative direction for OSU Max. “Our Time” was one of several reasons this trust proliferated.
Kevin Klintworth , OSU’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications, said he enjoyed Mattingly’s podcasts, one of Sport & Story’s earliest ventures. In September, the University of Arkansas partnered with Sport & Story to debut Hogs+, the streaming network for Arkansas fans.
Mattingly also worked with documentarian Christopher Hunt , the director of the “Eddie” documentary that delves into the triumphs and tribulations of Eddie Sutton’s historic coaching career. OSU Max would be in the hands of established professionals.
“One of the things that we’re really fortunate with is to have somebody like Christopher Hunt, to have somebody like Bo Mattingly,” Howard said. “Not only are they a part of the dayto-day operation for what Sport & Story does, but also, they know Oklahoma State. They know what’s going on.”
The idea for OSU Max sprouted as Sport & Story continued to collaborate with the athletic department. Mattingly recognized large portions of college fanbases can’t regularly attend games, so a streaming network would give those people a new way to connect with their beloved school. Klintworth realized Orange Power Studios, OSU’s in-house production agency, couldn’t devote much time to longform storytelling because staff and resources were concentrated toward producing video board footage, third-tier TV broadcasts and creative content.
OSU Max could offer solutions. The key was making sure all of OSU’s athletic programs would buy in.
Mike Boynton
Behind the Scenes
Boynton sat behind the steering wheel and drove along Sixth Avenue as his young son, Ace , peered out the back driver’s side window.
Boynton’s daughter, Zoe, was in the other back seat, joining her brother and dad on the trip to elementary school. Boynton walked his two kids up to the school building, exchanging hugs and fist bumps before returning to his vehicle. Next, Boynton headed to OSU’s campus and started his workout routine on a stationary bike, sweat collecting on his forehead as he spoke to the camera while wearing his wireless earbuds.
These ordinary moments in Boynton’s morning routine are recorded, arranged and paired with his voiceover to create a heartwarming narrative, providing fans with snapshots of his daily life outside coaching.
“I appreciate our administration for being a little bit forwardthinking and doing something like this,” Boynton said. “I don’t know how many programs provide that kind of behind-thescenes access for their fans. It’s awesome, obviously, to get that type of exposure, for recruits, because you want people to see the onion peeled back a little bit and see more of the personal side and how we operate when the lights aren’t necessarily on in the arena.”
For all of this to happen, Sport & Story and OSU Athletics depend on a fusion of different perspectives, a conglomerate of creative forces.
Leaders such as Boynton and softball coach Kenny Gajewski—two individuals who have been especially receptive to the idea, Howard said—have to welcome the camera crews into their programs, allowing videographers to seek and follow storylines. Weiberg’s focus on a bold, cutting-edge presence for OSU Athletics has shaped the vision for OSU Max. Klintworth and Howard, along with sports information directors, provide extensive knowledge of the athletic programs, and OSU media personalities such as Jessica Morrey, Deion Imade and Dave Hunziker also contribute to the content.
Of course, the other major piece of the puzzle is Sport & Story’s legwork. With Mattingly’s direction, content creators discover, record and edit stories that present familiar teams in new ways. Mattingly said often, three to five staff members are on campus to capture videos and collaborate with Howard and Klintworth.
“The thing that makes it work is that none of us duplicate our skills,” Klintworth said. “Everyone has their own niche that’s their specialty, and OSU Max kind of marries those things into a final product.”
Although the heart of OSU Max lies in Stillwater, the behindthe-scenes work branches across the nation. One producer is based in the Northeast. Mattingly lives in Arkansas. Thanks to file-sharing technologies, a single piece of content can easily float from person to person, undergoing tweaks and edits along the way until it morphs into a polished final cut.
Story ideas germinate in a variety of ways. Sometimes, SIDs might help videographers identify important topics, but often, the camera crews delve into programs and let stories arise naturally.
Sydney Pennington , a fifth-year third baseman on the Cowgirl softball team, said she recently participated in an OSU Max interview with Gajewski and shortstop Kiley Naomi . Instead of pigeonholing the softball team into a storyline, the videographers presented open-ended questions, simply asking Pennington and Naomi to tell them about the program. Athletes and coaches are empowered to define their narratives.
“That was pretty cool,” Pennington said. “We kind of just gave our story and how the program’s grown so much in the last four or five years. I think it shows on the field how much fun we have, but now, we’re going to be able to show them all the time.”
The human element of OSU Max shines because studentathletes and coaches are featured in their natural environments. Pennington, Naomi and Gajewski spoke in front of the Cowgirls’ wooden lockers illuminated with orange lights. In a different video, as Cowboy wrestler Daton Fix reflected on the time he did 100,000 push-ups in one year, the Christmas tree in his apartment glimmered in the background. Another video captured basketball players filling their plates in Boynton’s kitchen and laughing while seated around his dining table.
These mini-documentaries are slices of OSU athletes’ lives, not staged scenes.
“We’re just gonna act like ourselves and just go about our daily lives,” Pennington said. “And that’s who we are.”
This authenticity is making an impact on longtime fans.
Only the Beginning
Doug Shivers subscribed to OSU Max as quickly as he could.
After learning about it on Twitter, Shivers, an OSU graduate and memorabilia collector, was immediately interested in the idea of a Cowboy-centric streaming platform. He also decided to recommend it to a fellow OSU fan, a friend who lives in St. Louis.
For a few days, Shivers wondered what his friend thought of OSU Max. Then Shivers received a text message that explained his buddy’s delayed response.
“He’s like, ‘I’ve been watching that football highlight reel (on OSU Max) for like three days now,’” Shivers said. “So he was impressed. He was a believer after he subscribed.”
OSU Max is reaching numerous alumni and devoted fans, and the network is still in its infancy with plenty of room to grow. Eventually, OSU Max will be available on an over-thetop (OTT) app, which means subscribers will have a way to access it via services such as Roku and Apple TV, and a fulltime staff will work in Stillwater.
Currently, fans can receive additional content from the free Oklahoma State Cowboy Brew newsletter, which includes promotional information about OSU Max videos, along with features such as OSU trivia and weekly sports schedules. Cowboy Brew and OSU Max subscriptions are available at osumax.com
“The possibilities, I think, are very exciting,” Weiberg said. “And they are limitless.”
As the library of videos expands, OSU Max will encompass every Cowgirl and Cowboy athletic program. Shivers said he appreciates the videos dedicated to teams that don’t typically receive the same level of national attention as football, though he enjoys the football content, too.
He also pointed out how OSU Max can have longevity, referring to its exclusive footage as “priceless.”
“In the future, there’s going to be people that want to go back and see what happened,” Shivers said. “When somebody comes to college 10 years from now and somebody talks about, ‘Well, I remember when they beat Notre Dame,’ well, then it’s going to be easy to go back and look at the film room things.”
OSU Max preserves the voices of the past, amplifies the stories of the present and carves a cutting-edge path into the future. No matter where a video fits into OSU’s rich timeline, it supports one of Weiberg’s major goals: showing fans the personalities of OSU Athletics.
“I’ve often said, I wish they could see a lot of the things that we get to see off of the field because it’s incredible,” Weiberg said. “We have incredible young people that are doing amazing things.”
This human element is greater than sports, and it’s also a reason people love sports. Klintworth said he has a friend who didn’t follow the NBA, but when she learned about LeBron James’ philanthropic work in schools, she became an instant fan.
OSU Max revolves around this concept. Dedicated Cowboys can always deepen their connections to OSU, and new fans can emerge when they find inspiration in the story of an athlete or a coach.
“You just don’t know what chord it’s going to strike with someone,” Klintworth said. “Or what action or what memory or what event will basically have them say, ‘I’m a Cowboy for life.’”
Regardless of someone’s level of familiarity with the university, OSU Max offers constant opportunities to learn something. Although Weiberg described Klintworth as a “walking encyclopedia” of Cowboy knowledge, OSU Max is delving into stories that even Klintworth hasn’t heard.
Klintworth said he always wanted to meet someone who could provide a firsthand account of the wrestling action that caused the Gallagher Hall light bulbs to shatter.
As he watched a video on OSU Max, he realized he already knew a famous witness.
To Klintworth’s surprise, it was John Smith.
Originally published in Spring 2022 online edition of POSSE Magazine
