The University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s athletic department has partnered with Facebook to broadcast 11 of its men’s and women’s basketball games throughout the first two months of the season. 
So far, UMES has had seven games livestreamed throughout November, with four more coming in December to close out the calendar year.
For Stan Bradley, UMES’ Associate Director of Athletics for External Affairs, partnering with Facebook came with the ability to provide more exposure for their programs, and allow fans alternate ways to keep up with this year’s Hawks teams.
« It’s kind of a win-win all around, » Bradley said in an interview. « It’s important to the kids, especially the families. When our coaches go out recruiting and bring an athlete on to campus, apart of that is moms and dads may not live next door and want to tune in and watch their son or daughter play. And we’ve got to be able to offer something where, not only can they do that, but it’s good quality and they enjoy watching. »
Before this season, UMES had begun broadcasting their home games on ESPN+ during the 2019-20 season, but after sitting out the 2020-21 athletic year entirely, the Hawks athletic programs returned with the same production company in tow and decided to use Facebook’s Paid Online Events option as a home for broadcasting their games.
« What we weren’t going to do is just give it away anymore, » Bradley said. « If you look around at college basketball and college sports in general, a lot of them are on pay-per-view platforms…  And what we found is that we were able to put a nominal fee on these games, not only for parents but for fans and people who may not get to the games to see. And it’s cheaper than the cost of a ticket. »
And for an athletic program that is coming off of not competing at all last year, being able to have access to see the teams for the first time in almost two years could go a long way in reinvigorating interest and excitement around the Hawks’ teams.
In the mind of the Hawks head women’s basketball coach Fred Batchelor, it also opens the doors to people interested in learning more about the athletics programs at UMES, something that could help in attracting potential future Hawks athletes.
« The whole production and the quality of the production just elevates our program, our department and our institution, especially being able to provide something at home, » said Batchelor.
« We played at Richmond and it was on ESPN+, and it was nice to be able to have our fans access a quality production through our livestreams. So I’m really pleased with what we’ve done here, as far as letting people see what UMES is about. And it says a lot when you’re able to do that in your own backyard at home. »
With seven of the scheduled 11 games already being streamed, there are four more home basketball games for the Hawks that are set to be streamed live on Facebook during the month of December.
The women’s basketball team’s games against Navy (Dec. 5) and UNC Greensboro (Dec. 11) and the men’s team’s games against Clark’s Summit (Dec. 8) and St. Mary’s College of Maryland (Dec. 11) are set to round out the rest of this month’s live broadcasting schedule.
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