USBands Oversees Competitions For Over 600 High School Marching Programs Across United States And Brings Up To 25 Events To The FloMarching Platform Annually
FloMarching Will Stream Live Coverage Of Competition Events Starting With The 2020 Season
AUSTIN, Texas (June 25, 2020) – FloSports, the innovator in live sports streaming and original content, announced today an exclusive 4-year deal with USBands, one of the leading marching arts organizations in the country, to stream its competitive marching arts season starting in 2020. USBands oversees educational events for nearly 600 high school marching band programs across the country representing 50,000 students that perform in over 100 events across 17 states each year. FloMarching, FloSports’ platform dedicated to marching arts, will stream up to 25 USBands competitions annually and provide dedicated editorial coverage throughout each season. With the addition of USBands competition events to its offering, FloMarching continues to position itself as the premier destination for marching arts and has seen 115% subscriber growth since it launched in 2016.
USBands operates under the banner of the Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!) whose mission is to support the development of young people into magnificent human beings through their participation in the arts. Since its first event in 1988, USBands has supported the development of scholastic performing ensembles through exceptional service, nationally-accredited adjudication and access to the best venues. The guiding principle of USBands is to provide ensembles, regardless of style, size and experience, an opportunity to be successful, allowing students to benefit from their involvement with scholastic music.
Each year, USBands sells over 300,000 tickets to its sanctioned events across the country. FloMarching will broadcast up to 25 of their largest regional events in addition to the national championships that are currently scheduled for November 2020. The final list of live streaming events will be announced later this summer.
The intent of USBands is to provide a full-scale marching band season as originally planned for 2020. Given the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, each state and each school will have different guidelines to follow regarding marching band participation this fall, therefore USBands will abide by all state and local authorities, as well as observe all applicable CDC guidelines in the hosting or sanctioning of high school marching band competitions.
However, in the event schools are prohibited from travel, participating in mass gatherings or affected by restrictions imposed upon scholastic music programs, USBands has developed a creative and structured alternative to present an accredited solution to the participatory challenges music programs are facing.
In response to requests for safe and meaningful options and opportunities for the traditional high school marching band activities in the upcoming 2020 fall season, USBands announced the launch of v-USBands, an alternative digital competition platform for students to remain engaged with their music programs and providing those programs the structure and accountability needed from school administrations for ongoing assessment and continuity.
Over the period of seven weekends during the fall, performances from v-USBands submissions will be posted on FloMarching from individuals, ensembles and marching bands for parents, students, friends and extended family members, not to mention pageantry enthusiasts around the world, to watch and enjoy. More information on participating in v-USBands can be found at USBands.org.
“FloMarching is the perfect partner for this stage in the growth and evolution of USBands, particularly given the circumstances of COVID-19. Whether we are able to host live action events, or post entertaining performances from individuals, ensembles and all styles of marching bands through v-USBands, FloMarching provides a high-tech solution with a proven track record of delivering the quality and content of what parents, students, and fans want to experience. We are excited to see what comes next with our partnership with FloMarching,” says Sean King, Senior Advisor to USBands.
“We are proud to introduce USBands to our FloMarching platform,” says Phil Wendler, SVP Global Rights Acquisition, FloSports. “Marching arts has become one of the most important vertical sports offered on our network. The community is deeply passionate and engaged in these live performances and adding USBands competition events will thrill our subscribers. We’re excited and hopeful that we’ll be able to broadcast these incredible live events to fans soon.”
FloMarching has become the global leader in year-round live and on-demand coverage of marching arts, as well as original films, breaking news, up-to-date results and event calendars, and more. In addition to USBands, FloMarching has exclusive multi-year agreements with Drum Corps International, Bands of America and Winter Guard International to air their biggest marching arts events and championships. Combined, FloMarching offers year-round marching arts coverage and will air more than 50 events annually.
About FloSports
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a venture-backed subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of competition events across 25+ vertical sport categories in the US and abroad. FloSports’ mission is to give underserved sports the love they deserve. With a growing library of more than 300,000 hours of premium content including news, expert commentary, films, documentaries and more, FloSports has established itself as an innovator and leader in sports streaming. Finally, your sport has a home. For more information, please visit: flosports.tv.