Fans of Pronghorns Athletics will have the opoportunity to follow their hockey and basketball teams on the road this season with the launch of a new television service that will broadcast Canada West sports online.
The Canada West Universities Athletic Association announced on Wednesday a partnership with Stretch Internet to launch CanadaWest.TV, the official home of web-based broadcasting for all 14 Canada West member institutions during the 2011-12 season and beyond.
The first network of its kind in Canada, CanadaWest.TV will be the exclusive live home of all Canada West basketball and volleyball games along with selected games in other sports including football, hockey, and soccer.
The U of L is planning on broadcasting all its men's and women's basketball and hockey games initially. The bonus for Horns fans is that they can know follow their teams on the road.
"We are thrilled to announce this partnership with Stretch Internet and launch this online network, which will greatly enhance the experience of our fans who want to catch live Canada West action for those who cannot make it to the game," says Ben Matchett, Canada West vice-president, marketing. "It provides us with a unique opportunity as a conference and as individual schools to have our product seen by fans across Western Canada and around the world, and our new mobile platform means they will not miss a minute of the action no matter where they go."
Live video for all streamed games will be available online as well as on all Flash 10.1-enabled mobile devices and, for the first time in Canadian university sport, on all iPhone OS devices – including the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
"I cannot emphasize enough how thrilled we are to partner with Canada West," said Stretch Internet President Ryan Ermeling. "Our platform is perfectly suited to the needs of the conference and its 14 member institutions. Fans will enjoy an incredibly user-rich experience, with high-quality live and on-demand video along with integrated live stats and other features – on both desktop and mobile platforms. Since our very first discussions in Calgary, it has been evident to us that quality and professionalism are of the utmost importance to the conference, and we are confident we will deliver on both fronts."
