CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (Jun. 5, 2017) - Last week, the East Coast Conference announced a partnership with BlueFrame Technology to create the ECC Network, a conference-wide video streaming platform. The three-year deal will encompass all live-streamed video content for the ECC and each of its 10 member institutions.

"We are thrilled to announce our partnership with BlueFrame, as the ECC and our member institutions move to expand the web streaming of our events," said ECC Commissioner, Dr. Robert Dranoff. "One of our main goals as a conference is to promote and increase the visibility of ECC student-athletes and our schools, as well as the conference and NCAA Division II." 

Each ECC member institution will have their own video portal available through their website in which live streamed video content will be available. Each broadcast produced by member institutions will also be available to view on the ECC's portal. In addition, as part of the agreement, BlueFrame will develop over-the-top (OTT) apps, allowing ECC Network content to be viewed on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku devices.

The ECC is no stranger to BlueFrame Technology, as the league has used the company's Production Truck software to live-stream over 50 conference championship events, spanning 122 hours, since the beginning of the 2015-16 academic year. The Production Truck software will allow each ECC school the capability to produce multi-camera, high-definition broadcasts with scoreboard graphics and other features, such as instant replay and social media sharing.

The ECC Network will be partially funded by the Division II Foundation for the Future Grant. The grant was awarded by the NCAA during the 2016-17 academic year to each Division II conference with one of the intended purposes to increase broadcasting support.

Dranoff also stated, "With the help of the NCAA Division II Foundation for the Future Grant, we look forward to working with our schools to provide regular and post-season game coverage as well as other types of video content."

"This partnership is the culmination of a multi-year effort by the conference office and administrators at the league's member schools to improve webcasts throughout the conference," added ECC Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Communications, Casey Rafferty. "We've seen firsthand the quality of broadcasts that can be produced using BlueFrame's Production Truck and we're extremely excited that all of our schools will now be able to use this state-of-the-art software."

The ECC Network will debut in the fall of 2017. The ECC's 10 member schools will be required to stream all volleyball and basketball games during the 2017-18 season. Member institutions will also be encouraged to stream as many other sports as possible throughout the year. The league and its member institutions will also be able to utilize the ECC Network to produce other programming, such as coach's shows, graduation ceremonies, and student-athlete profiles.

"BlueFrame is ecstatic to partner with the ECC to build their digital network," said Josh Braun, Director of Sales and Customer Service of BlueFrame Technology. "We've worked with the ECC in the past by providing our Production Truck software, but we are excited to see the entire conference and its member institutions utilize our streaming service tools, and I believe they will be an excellent example of what a conference can accomplish using our end-to-end platform."

More details, such as website URLs for the ECC and member institution's video portals, as well as OTT apps, will be released throughout the summer.