Imagine watching a basketball game as if you were laying on the hardwood, or seeing an arena football game the way the quarterback sees the field.
Those experiences are now a reality with the recent partnership between the Monumental Sports Network, and Kiswe Mobile, an interactive video streaming platform. The deal is a first for a regional sports network and was announced Friday as games soon began featuring the multi-angle video player.
Kiswe uses cloud-based streaming technology, which will be fully integrated into Monumental Sports Network’s mobile apps. Subscribers to the network will be able to watch the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, Arena Football League’s Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade, and high school contests in an interactive way. Users will also be able to connect with other fans, as well as share clips of their favorite moments in a game, on social media.
“We’re thrilled to bring Kiswe’s video streaming experience to our subscribers, allowing the viewers to decide exactly how they want to watch their favorite D.C.-area teams,” Monumental Sports Network Vice President and General Manager Zach Leonsis said in a statement. “Monumental’s continuously expanding tech partnerships are what make our Network so unique.”
You’ve got to see the new interactive video player we just launched. Download the @MonSportsNet mobile app and check it out! @KISWEapp pic.twitter.com/swnRAyPDT6
— Zach Leonsis (@ZacharyLeonsis) August 6, 2017
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The WNBA’s Washington Mystics in 2014 had allowed fans to view games from multiple unique camera angles via the Mystics Live app, powered by Kiswe’s technology, according to SportsBusiness Daily. The app offered six camera angles, as well as the TV broadcast.
Last year, the Capitals, whose games aren’t carried by Monumental, signed a deal with Kiswe, which the team’s coaches had been using since 2015 to analyze game video from different angles on iPads for instruction on the bench. The Capitals are carried by CSN Mid-Atlantic, which could make it difficult for the team to use Kiswe for its fan engagement capabilities due to broadcasting rights agreements. The Mystics aren’t burdened by such rights deals, according to SportsBusiness Daily.
“We are excited to partner with Monumental to bring interactive innovations to one of the leading regional sports networks in the nation,” Kiswe Mobile CEO Mike Schabel said in the press release.
Leonsis is the son of Ted Leonsis, the founder and CEO of Monumental Sports and Entertainment. The elder Leonsis is also an investor in Kiswe, whose creator and chairman, Jeong H. Kim, is a partner at Monumental. Both men have a history in communications and Internet companies — Leonsis was an AOL executive (with Kiswe vice president Jimmy Lynn), and Kim presided over Bell Labs.