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November 9, 2018

Information about Boys High School Football Semi-final & Championship Games

We would like to congratulate the Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley NightHawks and the West Sioux Falcons on their impressive seasons and participation in the State Semi-Final games. 

The Schedule is as follows:

2018 Boys High School Football Semi-Final Schedule
Date Time Teams
11/10/18 1:00 PM Class 1A Semi-Final #2: West Sioux, Hawarden (10-1) vs. Van Meter (11-0)
11/10/18 4:00 PM Class 2A Semi-Final #1: Waukon (10-1) vs. BH/RV (10-1)
11/16/18 11:00 AM Class 1A Championship
11/16/18 2:00 PM Class 2A Championship

Unfortunately, just like the last two years, Premier doesn’t have the opportunity to broadcast any of the Iowa Boys High School Semi-final or championship football games. If you remember - three years ago IHSAA (Iowa High School Athletic Association) decided to “sell” the Iowa boys’ game coverage to the IHSSN (Iowa High School Sports Network) an independent, for profit entity, which in turn sold exclusive TV distribution rights to NBC Sports Chicago. 

As a result, the only way Premier would be able to broadcast these games is if we signed a 3-year contract to add NBC Sports Chicago to our cable TV line-up. Though this sounds like an easy solution, adding NBC Sports Chicago would cost Premier, and our customers, roughly $1 million+ for the next 3 years. For those that aren’t interested in Chicago sports, this is is a poor value for all Premier Cable TV customers to pay so much just to watch a few days of high school sports.

In addition to selling all the TV broadcast rights, when the Iowa High School Sports Network sold exclusive rights to NBC Sports Chicago, they also sold the on-line streaming rights. Consequently, most of Iowa won’t be able to stream the games from the Iowa High School Sports Network website.

Premier has been in frequent contact with NBC Sports Chicago and the IHSAA asking them to consider some creative alternatives to allow our customers to watch this content without adding the channel to our channel lineup (and the big price tag that comes with that action) but they have been unwilling to compromise or come to any sort of agreement.

How to Listen to the Games (Radio):

Live coverage from KSOU or KIHK FM will be available for some of the games. You can view the schedule here.

How to Voice Your Concerns to IHSAA:

Premier understands, we are upset about this decision as well. If you are upset about not being able to watch the games on Cable TV or stream the games online and you would like to voice your opinion, please contact the Iowa High School Athletic Association at http://www.iahsaa.org/contact or contact our state representatives.