Every action-packed goal at a soccer game and pounded ace during a volleyball meet are streamed by the Asbury Sports Digital Network, which is working to upgrade its sports coverage.
ASDN is the live game broadcast where students and the athletics department work to produce every home game.
It invites fans to “access and follow all of the Eagles’ home events live from the comfort of [their] own home,” according to ASDN’s website.
Running the program is Asbury’s Director of Athletic Communications & Events, Colton Back, and the department’s latest grad assistant, Faith Osborne.
“My specific role with ASDN is producing it as a whole,” Osborne said. “Me and Colton kind of share that role and I’ve fallen more into the director role this semester just to kind of kickstart our vision.”
ASDN is working to improve upon the foundation they have already set and continue to grow their program.
“Mark Whitworth [vice president of Athletics] is completely supportive of us and wants to see us grow, which is huge for us to have that on our side,” Back said.
Last year, the network worked with only one or two cameras during most events. This year, they have upped it to three consistent cameras to try and increase their scale of production.
“Last year, we had an average of up to 250 viewers,” Back said. “We had tops get up to numbers like 500 or six. So it’s continuing to grow.”
Already, they have seen positive outcomes from their growth, including more interest from sponsors, which benefits all of athletics. They have also gotten positive feedback from viewers and family members of players who weren’t able to make it to games.
“We’ve already heard multiple different comments of just somebody saying, ‘I really appreciated getting to watch the game at a high-quality value,’” Osborne said.
That “high-quality” value and reach to a variety of viewers is exactly what Osborne’s goal has been.
“The reason I’m doing this is to bring a better opportunity to students as well as upping the scale of our production value to the parents and even the visiting teams watching the games,” Osborne said.
ASDN has been working closely with Don Mink and the media communications department to generate more student interest in sports production. They are working with multicam classes and a directed study to give students more experience, which is a large part of their goal.
“My future vision would be having tons of students that want to be involved,” Osborne said. “We want to be able to include a lot more individual stories on different students as well as multiple different cameras and even more positions than we have now.”
ASDN is looking to get more students from communications, sports management, and other majors involved in their program to cover more in-depth stories about athletes and get large crews involved in games.
“I want [studenst] to get better at their career learning and then also feel like they’re part of a group,” Back said. “I want them to know that they’re welcomed, that they’re cared about here, and that they feel a part of athletics.”
Back’s goal has always been to broadcast every home event at the highest level possible while trying to give students an amazing experience where they can have fun and sharpen their craft.
Osborne will be sending out more information to campus soon about ASDN and potential roles as they work to grow.