A DePauw Tiger fan can always count on 91.5 WGRE to broadcast every men's and women's basketball game. But this season, fans can watch home games, too.
For the second straight year, the DePauw athletic department is streaming all home basketball games from Neal Fieldhouse with play-by-play provided by WGRE. The department has negotiated with Stretch Internet to stream on a game-by-game basis using its servers. Stretch Internet currently provides the live feeds for University of Cincinnati, Florida State, UCLA and Indiana University.
For Jane Ondik, mother of freshman guard Emma Ondik, the live feed has allowed her to watch her daughter play in her third collegiate game from her home computer in Illinois.
"Being able to watch the team and see the team and feel part of the community while you can't actually be there," Ondik said. "You still feel a part of the program and you can still support the team and your child. You can talk about the game, and it's a huge time saver."
Bill Wagner, sports information director for DePauw, hopes that someday the live feed will be available for all sports.
"Any time we can get the message of DePauw University out there it's important," Wagner said. "Several of the NCAC schools use Stretch Internet, and they provide a really good finished product for us. It's going to be exciting, and it will provide fans with one more alternative."
DePauw began streaming games last season in the SCAC. As more and more schools gained the ability to stream the games, the athletic directors of the SCAC came together and voted that each school must stream every home conference game
Last year, Wagner said they broadcasted 19 home conference games, including one test game against Wabash College, using the live steaming provider Team Line.
This year, after seeing other NCAC schools use Stretch Internet, DePauw chose it to provide the online feed and have an archiving feature for the viewing of games at a later time.
Instead of committing to a $4,000 package to broadcast any game DePauw wants, the athletic department chose to go by a game-by-game option of $80-100 for each game streamed.
"They provide a high-quality product and customer support," Wagner said. "I hope eventually we can make this a collaborative effort with other groups on campus and we can really make this a great production."
The games on Wednesday were not the first to be streamed live online using WGRE's commentators. During the football season, D3TV live-streamed the game against Albion College from Blackstock Stadium, creating excitement for the future if facilities and equipment can improve.
Until those facilities are improved, however, Wagner said they will stay in the Lilly Center.
"We really can't stream a whole lot else," Wagner said. "It's a more controlled environment here in Lilly from a film standpoint. Right now, we're using the cameras that the coaches use to provide DVDs for scouting purposes. We do have internet access at the press box at Blackstock, but the cameras are farther away from the action."
Because of the equipment at Blackstock, Wagner said the game would not be streamed at a high quality, something that DePauw should require.
"There's probably a market out there for people who don't care about the quality," Wagner said. "But to keep peoples' interest and keep watching, it's part of our brand to provide something of quality."
Aside from quality, DePauw is also restricted to broadcasting in Lilly because of the lack of adequate facilities at the soccer, baseball, softball and field hockey fields. For example, Boswell Field lacks an internet router, a genuine press box and a place for the camera to see the entire field.
"You can go with a wireless signal but it's not recommended at all," Wagner said. "It's not just an internet issue, but it's also a facility issue. There are a lot of limitations out there."
When athletic director Page Cotton, along with the university, unveiled a potential plan to improve the athletic precinct earlier this fall, it included ideas for facilities at the fields.
But, according to Dick Vance, the associate vice president for facilities, improvements are at least two years away.
Besides improvements, another concern would be an increase in staff to operate the equipment.
"You can see as you start to expand this, you start to add people to it, and that's where I hope we can utilize students who have an interest in this," Wagner said. "I think it's a tremendous experience, and you get to actually work on a product."
Until facilities improve and better equipment can be purchased, Wagner hopes to continue streaming the basketball games and next season streaming the volleyball games, which take place in Lilly as well. Aside from the basketball teams and volleyball, fans can still listen to WGRE for broadcasts but will have to wait to watch.