The Thunder Bay Border Cats are this season’s winner
Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League has announced that Thunder Bay Border Cats have received the 2025 Northwoods League Video Production Team of the Year Award.
Northwoods League teams provide what many consider to be one of the best developmental sports broadcasting opportunities offered. The teams hire video production crew members who have aspirations in sports broadcasting, many of whom are seeking their degrees from excellent college broadcasting and media programs in pursuit of a successful career in the broadcasting industry.
“Congratulations to the Thunder Bay Border Cats organization on receiving this award and the League would like to thank them for all the hard work they put into their video production,” said Ryan Voz, President of the Northwoods League. “Thunder Bay’s video team met every deadline that was asked of them, they were incredibly reliable and did not have a single technical issue throughout the entire season, which is quite impressive. The Northwoods League video production is extremely competitive, and it’s a massive achievement to separate yourself as an organization above the other teams in the League.”
Excelling in Northwoods League team broadcasting operations and performing at a level which results in winning one of the annual webcasting awards, typically requires a team to be proactive throughout the year, from the start of the hiring process late in the year through the training months and weeks prior to the season start. It requires great teamwork, collaboration, creativity, and engagement throughout the season to continuously improve broadcasting operations as well as to correct deficiencies and issues quickly. The Thunder Bay video production team shined in all phases of these processes.
“Wow, what an honor! Huge shoutout to the Border Cats for letting us be a part of their 2025 season,” stated Jordae Drouin, who oversaw the entire Thunder Bay Video Production operation. “It was a blast capturing all the action, the highs, the lows, and everything in between. A big thank you to my amazing crew for bringing it all together. This one’s for the team, the fans, and everyone who helped make it happen!”
Thunder Bay Border Cats President David Valente commented “Huge congratulations to our amazing Video Production team for being named Best Production Team in the Northwoods League for 2025! Your talent and hard work make every Border Cats moment unforgettable. So proud of you all!”
The Northwoods League continued to partner with ESPN+, streaming over 170 games on the platform this season. The League saw over 1-million unique viewers tune in for live game coverage and totaled over 40-million minutes watched between the League’s NWL+ platform and ESPN+ throughout the summer.
In addition to games on ESPN, the Northwoods League offered its streaming service Free to the viewing public once again in 2025, which included games streamed live and on-demand.
Fans can watch Northwoods League games on their own televisions using Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku and Android TV, in addition to being able to watch them on their PC, mobile device or tablet.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 32nd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 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, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 410 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com) and ESPN+.
Leveraging the 32-year success of the Northwoods League, the first for-profit Summer Collegiate Baseball League, Northwoods League Softball (NWLS) is the first for-profit Women’s Summer Collegiate Softball League which began play in the Upper Midwest in the summer of 2024. The purpose of the League will be to develop players for their college, Olympic and future professional play. Teams will be promoted similar to minor league baseball teams, playing games in front of fans in a fun, friendly, family-oriented environment.