In a year that featured women’s soccer’s thrilling championship run, a resounding 20 home victories by the men’s and women’s basketball teams inside the Dedmon Center, and an exciting slate of spring matchups, Radford University’s ESPN broadcasts were there to capture every minute.
Radford’s ESPN+ production crew captured a total of 75 events across the 2022-23 season. Across those broadcasts, the Highlanders totaled 101,513 unique viewers and 2,876,092 minutes of watch time for an average of 28.33 minutes per stream. Radford’s total average minutes per viewer (28.33) was second-most in the Big South.
The Highlanders also garnered national attention with three broadcasts on ESPNU last season as the men’s basketball team hosted Longwood, Gardner-Webb and UNC Asheville to electric crowds. When Radford hosted in-state rival Longwood on January 26th, 49,929 unique viewers tuned in for a thrilling 63-59 victory over the Lancers. Just a couple weeks later, Radford was back on ESPNU and hosted a conference-high 53,385 viewers for their tilt with Gardner-Webb.
Radford pulled in 1,000+ unique viewers in 36 different contests last season. Radford’s fall coverage of men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball saw eight of those streams. Women’s soccer’s top-viewed stream came in an exciting 5-1 win over Marshall. Men’s soccer lit up viewership numbers and had their top stream in a 2-0 win against VMI. Volleyball drew over 3,000 unique visitors for its top-viewed match of the year against Charleston Southern on September 30.
Radford’s men’s and women’s basketball streams averaged over 1,000 viewers a stream again this season. Outside of the national stage, the men grabbed a season-high viewership for their game against North Carolina Central, an 80-78 win. Women’s basketball set their season high when they renewed an old conference rivalry with Liberty on December 4.
The highest viewed stream of the year for the Highlanders came on April 18 where the baseball program piled on the runs against NRV foe Virginia Tech for a 16-8 victory. The baseball program overall on the year owned three of the department’s top-five viewed streams. Women’s Lacrosse joined baseball in the top-five with a 16-11 victory over Delaware State on March 23. Softball rounded out the top five as their alumni-weekend victory over USC Upstate 6-5 on Aril 15 took the spotlight.
Among Big South members, coverage across the conference’s eight broadcast sports was led by the Highlanders. Radford streamed top-three stream totals for women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball, and lacrosse. Radford’s three ESPNU broadcasts for men’s basketball were also tied for a conference high.
Radford plans to ramp up its ESPN broadcasts going into the 2023-24 season as work on the department’s new production trailer has neared completion. With it, Radford can expand its coverage to even more events for the 2023-24 season. The Fall ESPN+ schedule gets kicked off August 17th as the defending Big South women’s soccer champions kick off their regular season against Emory & Henry at 7 p.m.
A full list of the Fall broadcast schedule is included below.
Radford Athletics Fall ESPN+ Schedule
8/17 WSOC vs. Emory & Henry at 7 p.m.
8/27 WSOC vs. Mount St. Mary’s at 2 p.m.
8/29 MSOC vs. Mount St. Mary’s at 7 p.m.
9/1 MSOC vs. James Madison at 7 p.m.
9/3 WSOC vs. Hampton at 7 p.m.
9/8 MSOC vs. Old Dominion at 7 p.m.
9/10 WSOC vs. Appalachian State at p.m.
9/23 WSOC vs. Presbyterian * at 7 p.m.
10/2 MSOC vs. High Point * at 7 p.m.
10/4 WSOC vs. UNC Asheville * at 7 p.m.
10/6 VB vs. UNC Asheville * at 6 p.m.
10/7 VB vs. USC Upstate * at 4 p.m.
10/11 MSOC vs. USC Upstate * at 7 p.m.
10/14 WSOC vs. Winthrop * at 7 p.m.
10/17 MSOC vs. George Mason at 7 p.m.
10/21 MSOC vs. Longwood * at 2 p.m. (DH)
10/21 WSOC vs. Gardner-Webb * at 7 p.m. (DH)
10/27 VB vs. Winthrop * at 6 p.m.
10/28 VB vs. Gardner-Webb * at 4 p.m.
11/3 VB vs. Presbyterian * at 6 p.m.
11/4 VB vs. Charleston Southern * at 4 p.m.
11/10 VB vs. High Point * at 6 p.m.
RU Athletics
