Whether it’s a high school football game – varsity or junior varsity, middle school, or college football (D3, D2, or even D1) – there’s are complicated and basic ways in which you can create an official live streaming football broadcast for your team or school.

This brief article lays out what we would do if you had a small budget of $200-300 but big plans to have a nice live stream of your team’s games. On this setup you stream to YouTube, Facebook, NSASA or any other online live platform.

Broken down, there are three basic components to live streaming a football game:

• The right equipment
• The right platform (YouTube, Facebook, etc.)
• The right technique or plan for football – it’s has it’s own special tricks and tips (most important part)

Most importantly, PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION. That is, take this seriously and the live stream during the game is a breeze with no problems. Having a great football live stream broadcast is all about planning and preparation. Once you get to the game, it’s about simple execution.

The Right Equipment (BUY USED if you can)

Without exception, no cutting corners here, for the most simple broadcast you will need:

VIDEO

1. A camcorder  – something simple like you find on Amazon or Ebay used – $150-$200 – better yet, see if the team is already using a camera to film game film.
   1. Make sure it has an HDMI OUTPUT or Mini HDMI OUTPUT
2. A tripod – something simple from Amazon – $15
   1. A fluid head tripod is a good upgrade if you splurge on that – also on Amazon
3. A laptop or computer with at least 2 usb3.0 inputs – need to already own this
4. HDMI Mini to HDMI converter – $15
5. 6-15 foot HDMI cord – $15-30
6. HDMI Input to USB 3.0 capture device – $20-50
   1. These can be very cheap but can go as high as $800. Check out our post on How To Find The Right HDMI Capture Device

AUDIO – very important to not overlook

• 1-2 basic dynamic USB microphones (for the announcer and for the crowd noise) – also on Amazon – get the cheapest microphones with the highest rating. Anything below $99 is all the same for our purposes. So a $15 mic is a great choice if it has over 4 stars in ratings on Amazon. – $15-$30

The Right Platform

This may have already been chosen for you via your school. We know some schools have a live stream setup with NFHS Online. Go with that if you already have it. You’re set.

If you don’t have NFHS, then you can use either YouTube or Facebook for free.

You cannot “just stream it on your school’s website”. You can eventually embed the stream into your school’s website, but there is no mechanism to simply stream from the site. You need to use an outside website/software to make it work.

Visit our post on how to stream a sports game on YouTube. It’s very easy to setup but with a few carveouts.

Visit our other post on how to live stream a sports game in Facebook.