Bismarck Larks, Lakeshore Chinooks and St. Cloud Rox recognized for excellence

BISMARCK, ND – The Bismarck Larks have been named the Northwoods League’s Webcasting Team of the Year, and the Lakeshore Chinooks in the South Division and the St. Cloud Rox in the North Division have each been recognized for having the Best Webcast of the Year in their respective divisions.

“This year was without a doubt a very successful year for Northwoods League webcasting and television production, and that success was due in no small part to the efforts of the webcasting teams at each ballpark,” said Northwoods League Executive Producer George Giles. “Bismarck’s webcasting team consistently excelled in every area of the webcasting operation throughout the season, and that type of effort will help drive the Northwoods League’s evolution going forward,” said Giles.  “And, the Best Webcast of the Year award is presented to a team in each division that is considered to have the best on-air coverage of a game, which typically means that their camera work, audio, graphics, and attention to detail is excellent,” said Giles.

John Bollinger, General Manager of the Larks, said, “I can’t give enough credit to our in-house team. These young men took so much pride in producing a quality product each night for our viewers and also understood the power of repurposing this content out for our media partners and fans. Video is used in so many productive ways! From highlights for the late night news, to live streaming games at local restaurants like the Blarney Stone and the Elks Lodge, and most importantly providing game highlights on our social media platforms – video content is a crucial part of our marketing and these guys proved to be the best.”

“What we find very gratifying is that the pursuit of excellence in this category is not limited to just one location, but is also the goal of all of our teams as you can see by the work of the Bismarck Larks, the Lakeshore Chinooks, and the St. Cloud Rox, all of which were recognized this year,” said Northwoods League President Gary Hoover.

“The Northwoods League streams all of its games during the season, amounting to over 720 games during the approximately three-month long summer season, an impressive number for any organization and by any measure,” said Vice President of Operations Glen Showalter, who directly oversees the Northwoods League’s webcasting operations. “In 2017, the games that the webcast teams produced and streamed out to the subscription paying public could be watched utilizing Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Chromecast, in addition to viewing on PCs, tablets, and mobile phones.  No other summer collegiate league offers this kind of quality across so many platforms,” said Showalter.

“Another exciting area for growth is more broadcasted games across the state. Last year, the Larks teamed up with KFYR-TV and broadcast two games live on NBC,” said Bollinger. “The Larks have proven to be great local sports content and we’re excited to see how we can continue to grow this relationship and get more games into more households each summer.”

The Northwoods League has twenty teams in ballparks throughout the Midwest and each has a webcasting team consisting of at least two directors and three camera operators to cover each game. The webcasting teams streamed the games using a four camera HD configuration and upgraded webcasting equipment at all twenty of its ballparks in 2017, a project which had started in 2015 with the conversion of approximately half the teams to HD for the 2016 season.

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The Bismarck Larks are a proud affiliate of the Northwoods League, the proven leader in development of elite college baseball players. The Larks mission is to use FUN to make a difference in the lives of our families, businesses, players, and communities we serve. This is accomplished with a commitment to putting fans first and providing high quality family entertainment at affordable prices. In 2017, the Larks sold out 27 of their 36 home games in Bismarck Municipal Ballpark, home of Dakota Community Bank and Trust Field, and were named the Northwoods League’s Organization of the Year. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 180 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (LAD) and Lucas Duda (TBR). All league games are viewable live via the  Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.larksbaseball.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play, and set the Larks as your favorite team.