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Local high school sports fans had reason to cheer last fall after it was announced that contests featuring teams from Edmonds-Woodway, Meadowdale, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace High Schools would be shown live on a national prep sports webcasting platform.
But the six-month-old agreement between the Edmonds School District and the NFHS Network has had a rocky start as no home volleyball, basketball or wrestling matchups from the four high schools have been live-streamed since the inception of the partnership.
In addition, a revenue-sharing check due to the school district for the fall quarter live-streaming of football and girls’ soccer games by NFHS is more than two months late.
Officials from PlayOn Sports, the parent organization of the NFHS Network, were hesitant to talk about the slow rollout of the live streaming of Edmonds School District home high school games or their delay in sending the contract-specified revenue-sharing payment. Instead, they chose to remain positive about the association between PlayOn Sports and the district.
“We are proud to partner with [the]Edmonds School District and look forward to continuing and expanding the partnership,” said Rebecca Stewart, spokesperson for PlayOn Sports.
Officials from the Edmonds School District signed a contract with PlayOn Sports in July 2025 to allow the NFHS Network to webcast sports from Edmonds Stadium and the district’s four high schools (Edmonds-Woodway, Meadowdale, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace). After cameras were installed at the stadium, football and girls soccer games began live streaming last September.
Subscribers could view contests from Edmonds Stadium – and from high schools with NFHS contracts throughout the area and across the county – for a cost of $13.99 per month or $79.99 for the entire school year.
“Watching high school sports and events has never been easier,” the NFHS webpage announced.
And while live webcasts of Warrior, Maverick, Royals and Hawk home football and girls soccer became available from the beginning of their fall seasons, no fall home volleyball matches at Edmonds School District schools were seen on the NFHS Network as cameras were never installed inside the four local high school gymnasiums.
Now, as the winter sports season is wrapping up, there are still no NFHS Network cameras in place at Edmonds-Woodway, Meadowdale, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace High Schools. That means there has been no live webcasting of home basketball games or wrestling matches in the Edmonds School District this winter.
Officials from the Edmonds School District took responsibility for the delay in getting the NFHS Network Pixellot cameras installed in the district’s four high schools.
“The prep work for the camera at the Edmonds School District Stadium was very minimal, so it was manageable for our maintenance department to complete fairly quickly,” said District Athletic Director Angie McGuire. “The timeline for the gym installations has been very different due to the more complex nature of the prep work needed for gym installation.
”We had hoped to have cameras installed for the current basketball and wrestling season, but we unfortunately could not complete the prep work needed for the NFHS staff to complete the camera installation,” McGuire added.
According to the agreement, technicians from PlayOn Sports are responsible for the installation of the NFHS Network cameras, but they can’t do the work until the site of the camera (whether it be in a stadium, a gymnasium or at a sports field) is prepared with the necessary power, cables and internet infrastructure to support the Pixellot cameras and software.
McGuire said that the work needed to be done for the Pixellot systems was more complex – and less pressing – than other projects around the Edmonds School District.
“Due to the more in-depth prep work needed at certain sites, the project was put on hold while our maintenance staff focused on more urgent, school-centered work,” McGuire said.
It’s unlikely that any winter sports contests from the District’s home basketball courts or wrestling matches will be webcast before their seasons end this month.
“I am hopeful that our community will trust in our efforts and understand that sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances when working on big projects,” McGuire said.
It’s unclear just how many subscriptions to the NFHS were purchased by local fans, players, parents, coaches and alumni of Edmonds School District schools. Those who do have subscriptions have been able to watch webcasts originating from other school district facilities that have NFHS cameras in place and operational. The Mukilteo School District even has cameras installed at the Kamiak High School pool for live-streaming of swim meets, some of which included swimmers from Meadowdale, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.
District school athletic directors said they have received questions from a few people about the lack of cameras in the Edmonds School District high school gyms for NFHS Network live-streaming of home Warriors, Mavericks, Royals and Hawks events.
“At this point, I have not heard of any complaints, only open-ended questions,” said Meadowdale High School Athletic Coordinator Michael Nelson.
“I have not heard any specific complaints,” added Lynnwood High School Athletic Director Andrew Prichard, “merely open wondering when the process will be completed.”
“It has been frustrating, for sure,” said Edmonds-Woodway High School Athletic Director Jennifer Hershey.
While there has been some nationwide debate about the ethical question of having a private webcasting platform make a profit off the participation of high school athletes in prep sports, districts across the country have jumped on board with NFHS. One reason is that school districts have been promised a share of some of the income collected from subscriptions to the NFHS Network.
The specific contract between the Edmonds School District and PlayOn Sports stipulates that 20% of revenue from subscriptions will be shared with the school district – under certain caveats.
“Revenue share is based on the number of subscriptions that are tied to a specific school,” McGuire said. “So in order for the School District to receive a revenue share from a community member’s subscription, the community member must make sure their account is linked to an Edmonds School District school.”
The contract also states that revenue sharing will only occur when a minimum of $50 in “aggregate Revenue Share proceeds” during a school year is generated.
Revenue-sharing checks are to be paid on a quarterly basis, calculated by PlayOn Sports on Oct. 31, Jan. 31, April 30 and July 31. “Funds will be disbursed to DISTRICT within 30 days of these dates,” the contract states.
The Edmonds School District was due a fall quarter revenue-sharing check by the end of November, but had not received one as of Jan. 28. McGuire said she had talked to a representative from PlayOn Sports and was told, “it is currently on the way.”
With winter sports winding down, some are already looking ahead to the prep spring sports season, with high school baseball, track, boys soccer, girls fastpitch softball and girls tennis getting underway. With cameras installed at Edmonds Stadium, it is presumed that track and field meets and boys soccer matches held there will be live-streamed on NFHS.
But those hoping to watch home baseball and softball games on the NFHS Network this spring will likely have to wait until cameras can be installed at those high school ballfields sometime in the future.
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