14 minute read
Keeping Families Connected
PARK & RECREATION DEPARTMENTS USING LIVE STREAMING VIDEO WITH HIGH-SPEED SATELLITE INTERNET TO BROADCAST YOUTH SPORTS GAMES AND AID IN SOCIAL DISTANCING
By Chris Sturgeon, GoDog Sports
Parents have always tried to capture big moments during their kid’s sports games. Rarely do they have their phone recording at the right time. During Covid-19, youth sports programs are seeking social distancing tactics to reduce onsite crowd sizes and enable athletes to safely return to game play. Enter GoDog GameStream, a live streaming video service for youth sports that also archives games for on demand viewing and allows users to create highlight clips and download games. Launched in 2019 at park sports fields in Southern California, GoDog GameStream is the first live streaming service provider in the United States with the goal of making the install, launch and day to day operations of live streaming video virtually hands free for parks and sports leagues. According to GoDog Sports Founder Seth Cummings, “we recognized the need to be a managed service and work with customers not only through install and service deployment, but ongoing. As we enter the Colorado market, we have a local team in place to manage every step of the process.”
FEATURES
GoDog GameStream includes an impressive list of features that address connectivity, privacy, simplicity of use and advertising including: • HD live streaming cameras • On demand access to games • Video bookmarking
• Highlight creation • Game downloads
• Custom branded portals for leagues, tournaments, schools, and sports complex use • Custom dashboard to manage teams and schedules • User management for a secure experience • Exclusive high-speed satellite Internet • Customer service with account managers • Pre-roll, in-stream and banner advertising opportunities
CONNECTIVITY
Access to Internet is a challenge for many parks. Through an exclusive youth sports category deal with high-speed satellite
Internet provider Viasat, GoDog GameStream eliminates expensive and time intensive construction associated with trenching fiber and cable to sports fields. GoDog Sports and Viasat can also subsidize the costs of operating Wi-Fi services in the park by incorporating regional or national advertising sponsorships on the login screens. GoDog GameStream initially deployed in parks across California and Texas, servicing Little League and independent baseball locations including VNSO Park in Sherman Oaks, Cortez Park in West Covina, and Sterns Park in Long Beach, California and Irvin J Lamka Park in El Paso, Texas. With Viasat, the live streaming service is expanding to youth sports and athletic fields at parks and schools across the United States. “Several state parks agencies have contracted with Viasat for deployment of high-speed satellite and managed Wi-Fi services in their parks, including
Nevada and New Mexico; and we look forward to expanding our offerings to include GoDog GameStream’s live streaming video service,” said Robert Brown, Viasat’s VP of Strategic Business Development.
INSTALLATION PROCESS
GoDog GameStream scopes your park fields and uniquely plans your installation. GoDog Sports’ national installation team manages the install and account managers maintain the service year-round. Best of all, GoDog GameStream is surprisingly affordable. The system offers flexible league and subscription-based pricing, as well as a revenue share for sponsorships and advertising. With GoDog GameStream your park’s sports venues will take a giant leap forward in innovation and safety. Families will never miss a moment of their kid’s games while watching from their homes, work or anywhere in the world.
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Competing Virtually
ESPORTS BRING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND NEW REVENUE STREAMS
By Todd Pernsteiner, Pernsteiner Creative Group
Communities across Colorado are looking for ways to provide recreation for all demographics throughout the state. The popularity of eSports has connected many generations through a common passion, video gaming. According to CNN, eSports describes the world of competitive, organized video gaming. Competitors from different leagues or teams face off in the same games that are popular with at-home gamers: Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Madden NFL, to name a few. These gamers are watched and followed by millions of fans all over the world, who attend live events or tune in on TV or online. Streaming services like Twitch allow viewers to watch as their favorite gamers play in real time, and this is typically where popular gamers build up their fandoms.
In community programs, e-Sports leagues have been designed to teach many of the same life skills one would get from a more “conventional” program. Participants gain leadership and teamwork skills, develop consistent practice habits, and more. The City of Thorton and South Suburban Parks and Recreation are two Colorado communities that have implemented e-Sports into their programming. A Q&A with these two groups follows.
ESPORTS Q&A
Answers supplied by: City of Thorton Chris Curtis, Esports coordinator South Suburban Parks and Recreation Mike Coulter, Recreation Coordinator Adult & Youth Sports
Q:
When and why did your community decide to get into eSports and competitive gaming?
A: City of Thorton – We first started hearing about esports a couple of years ago and then last fall I attended a session at NRPA that was jam-packed and realized there must be something to this. When Covid-19 hit in March, It seemed like a logical time to jump into esports with everyone stuck at home and virtual programming on the rise.
South Suburban Parks and
with eSports came from the same ideas that all of South Suburban Parks & Recreation projects originate - serving a need in the community we are both a part of and love very much! After much research, we learned that video games are clearly much more than a fad at this point, and we wanted to reach a younger demographic with something they can relate to! Planning began earlier this year, and once we had everything planned out, we spent five weeks preparing the center that opened in March!
Q:
Do you have an eSports lounge space? Describe that – was a remodel of an existing space? And add-on?
A: City of Thorton – Trail Winds Recreation Center opened last November and we have a computer room that is used for teaching classes primarily to seniors during the day. We plan to use it after school starting this fall as an esports lounge that can be reserved in two hour blocks. We are currently looking at purchasing four Xbox and four Sony PlayStation consoles, two Nintendo Switch consoles, two PC’s, 36 games, and 12 monitors available for Recreation – The idea to get involved
check out.
South Suburban Parks
and Recreation – We have a very unique space at the Lone Tree Hub, including a curved wall. It proved to be difficult to host classes, however we thought it would be an excellent space for a gaming lounge. We leveraged the curved wall with a beautiful curved counter that holds our PC setups, and it really turned the space into something creative. I personally designed the space, and I kept the idea of “home” in mind the entire time. I have a few couches in the space, situated under large TVs for console games that really sets the tone of playing in your own living room. I use a dimmer lit room, but brighten it with custom RBG lighting in the ceiling, under our desks, and behind our televisions. This creates a really special “high-tech” vibe in the room.
Q:
What was the investment in equipment like for your community?
A: City of Thorton – Our first phase of offering esports consisted of partnering with Mission Control to offer online leagues in which participants use their own equipment, so no investment in equipment. On June 29 the department launched our first esports leagues. Esports are like traditional sports leagues with one major difference, games are played online in the virtual world! Esports are becoming popular with a group of people that are traditionally very hard to reach with recreational programming; boys and girls ages 14-19. It also is a great option for our A.I.R. (Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation) customers who face hurdles participating in
Photos: South Suburban Parks and Recreation
traditional sports leagues. Twenty separate leagues were offered in this first session and include popular games such as Madden Football, NBA2K, FIFA Soccer, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, Rocket League, Fortnite, and more. Schedules are generated, games are played, and champions crowned. So far 54 individuals have signed up to be members on our site. Most leagues are just $5 to join with registration at missioncontrol.gg/play
South Suburban Parks and Recreation – Thankfully, we were able to obtain a grant from the SCFD to fund the initial startup. We made sure we were fiscally responsible during the design phase as my main focus was to make sure every dollar was spent with longevity in mind. For that reason, we have high-end computers, and the best consoles on the market. This ensures as new technology emerges, we’ll be able to maintain the center for significantly longer before having to invest in upgrades.
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Q:
Can residents participate in your eSports programs from home?
A: City of Thorton – Yes, anyone can join, but our marketing has been primarily targeted to participants from our other programs here.
South Suburban Parks and Recreation
– No. Most of our programs are focused on getting gamers out of the house, and interacting with other gamers locally. A big reason this program exists is because we are trying to close the gap between the stereotype of gamers and how they actually interact. Gone are the days of every gamer never going outside, locked up playing games for 10 hours a day. Gamers are now everyday people with everyday jobs, and goals outside of video games. Bringing gamers into a space to interact about a shared interest creates friendships and friendly rivalries that are incredibly beneficial to young people.
Q:
Has this become a good revenue stream for you? If so, what are fees for residents to participate?
A: City of Thorton – League fees are mostly $5 each, with some offered at $10. My feeling is that it will take about a year before this becomes a good revenue stream.
South Suburban Parks and Recreation
– Even with COVID-19 restrictions, we’ve been successful early. Our camps vary in pricing but are very popular and span across multiple game types. Minecraft camps are very popular, and we host a busy weekly Fortnite league. We also offer hourly dropin play, and those prices are similar to the industry standard. Hourly prices are anywhere from $6-$3.50 an hour, depending on how many hours are purchased at once. Our software tracks time per user/account, and can be used anytime we are open for drop-ins.
Q:
What benefits do eSports programs offer to residents?
A: City of Thorton – I think the primary benefit is like any other program that we offer in that it allows the participant to feel like they are part of a community. Typically the 14-19-year-old age group is hard to program for, but I think esports has some potential to reach this group. I’m also excited that this is something that participants in our Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation programs can be equally part of.
South Suburban Parks and Recreation –
As a semi-professional player for many years, I know the interaction we provide gamers who have similar interests and ages has amazing benefits. Video games have been proven to help people relieve stress, increase reaction time, and benefit communication and awareness skills. On top of this, I focus very heavily on social interaction at my tournaments, camps, and drop-ins. I’ve already seen this in our Fortnite league! The first week was pretty quiet as the kids had never met before. However, by the second week, they were all making plans to hang out together outside the center!
Q:
How many people have participated in eSports in your communit and what ages?
A: City of Thorton – In our first session, we had a total of 30 participants register for games. Our second session will begin in late August.
South Suburban Parks and Recreation
– Right now, we’re near 100 unique users that vary in demographics. We run Super Smash Brothers and Tekken 7 tournaments weekly, and these games are played on a very competitive and professional level. Many of Colorado’s top players attend this event every week, and ages range from 16-27. This is very common for this community as tournaments are frequent and typically community funded. Our Fortnite events see a much younger age group at 10-14, and Minecraft even younger at ages 5-10.
Q:
Are there online safety issues you’ve had to overcome or deal with? Have you created your own secure network/ platform? Or do you use a third-party gaming platform?
A: City of Thorton – Mission Control is our third party platform and they have a strict code of conduct and monitor the chat rooms. They also resolve any disputes that might arise. They have been very responsive to any questions that have come up on our end or from the participants. So far, there have not been any safety issues.
Photos: City of Thorton
South Suburban Parks and Recreation – Thankfully, I have 10 years in IT experience. We use a third-party software called ggleap, which fully takes control of the machines on boot. It displays a login for users, after they purchase time, to login and play anything they choose. This software automatically age restricts what they can access, and we have web browser use fully disabled. It’s really given us a lot of protection with all ages.
Q:
Who set up your eSports league and/or program? Was it done within your department or did you work with an outside consultant?
A: City of Thorton – Andrew Garcia from our department is very knowledgeable about esports and set up our initial leagues and Mission Control assigned an account specialist to walk us through the set-up process and give us tips on how to market, what to offer, how long the leagues should be, what to charge, etc. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be!
South Suburban Parks and Recreation – I did personally! South Suburban hired me specifically to create and manage the new eSports program. I’ve been running tournaments and events for a few years, and have a vast experience in esports as a player! I handled the install from start to finish, and I hired staff after we opened to our community. I’m very proud of the space that I’ve created, but I couldn’t have done it without understanding management. This industry is very new to parks and recreation, and with the trust and support of our management team, I think we were able to create something great!
Q:
Anything else you would like to add about eSports?
A: City of Thorton – I know that tournaments are big (Fortnite, Call of Duty) and we are hoping to look into this more. I think that sponsors might potentially be interested in providing prizes to the winners which would attract more participants. I’d like to also check into offering classes that would provide instruction on how to improve skills for various games.
South Suburban Parks and Recreation – I urge other parks & recreation districts to consider an esports program for their community. The younger generation is our future, and providing opportunities for them similar to the rest of our community is essential if we want to stay relevant! I welcome anyone in the industry to reach out to me and ask questions! I’m an open book to how we started this, and would love to see others follow suit!
