Spring Game to be Available on AppleTV as K-State Adds to Streaming Offerings

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State Football's Spring Game will be among the first events streamed on a newly launched AppleTV app released by K-State Athletics along with digital media partner SIDEARM Sports, further expanding the Wildcats' digital reach.

K-StateHD.TV, which was available for download in the AppleTV app store last week and carried Saturday's conference baseball game against Oklahoma State, joins a similarly named Roku app designed to deliver live and on-demand K-StateHD.TV content for free to Wildcat fans' televisions via the popular over-the-top (OTT) devices or integrated into newer smart TVs. In addition to AppleTV and Roku, the Spring Game will also be streamed live via the K-StateHD.TV video portal at K-StateSports.com and through the K-StateSports Facebook feed.

"We set out to provide maximum exposure for our student-athletes and teams while providing the best possible digital fan experience and the release of our AppleTV app expands our streaming footprint even more," Kenny Lannou, K-State Senior Associate AD for Communications/Public Relations, said. "Obviously we want people to experience the great things we have going on in our venues by purchasing tickets and attending games, but we also want people to be able to engage with K-State Athletics and be able to follow our teams from afar and on a multitude of devices."

K-State and SIDEARM Sports released the K-StateHD.TV app on Roku – a platform with an estimated 30 million active monthly users – in November and Wildcat fans have consumed more than 186,000 minutes of content on the platform. AppleTV was predicted to have as many as 21.3 million users last year according to a study by eMarketer, with fourth generation or later models allowing access to the App Store and download of the K-StateSports app.

Roku retails for as low as $29.99 or exists as a service integrated into newer smart TVs. Fourth-generation AppleTVs are available in several different options with the most inexpensive retailing for as low as $149.99. AppleTV features a number of integrations that make it appealing for fans with existing Apple products, like AirPlay, which fans may have used to connect smart phones or laptops to their television prior to the launch of the app.

Inside both set-top-box apps, users will find the same great live third-tier content and shoulder programming – including coaches shows, highlights, student-athlete profiles and game replays – they've grown to expect from the K-StateHD.TV subscription product, which was made free to all at the start of the 2017-18 school year when K-State became SIDEARM's 1,000th partner. That programming will continue to be offered simultaneously through the department's official athletics website.

In addition to third-tier live video streams – games K-State has exclusive rights to distribute outside of Big 12 Conference agreements, generally one non-conference football game which will be aired on ESPN3, a handful of men's and women's basketball contests and other non-selected Olympic sports – the AppleTV and Roku apps carry all K-State Radio Network audio feeds.

First and second tier video content remains subject to Big 12 Conference agreements and distribution through traditional over the air TV like ESPN and Fox Sports and their associated OTT products (ESPN3 and FoxSportsGo).

Game-by-game broadcast information can be found on the schedule pages at K-StateSports.com, in each team's game notes or in preview stories posted in advance of each contest.

The Wildcats are the first SIDEARM property to launch an AppleTV app, and were among the first five SIDEARM schools with a Roku app.

Kansas State University Athletics

Spring Game to be Available on AppleTV as K-State Adds to Streaming Offerings

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