Baylor Announces New Streaming Platform: Baylor+

The Baylor athletic department announced on Wednesday, August 9th, the upcoming release of a new, Baylor specific, streaming platform named Baylor+. The platform will be home to exclusive content around Baylor athletics, including original programming and behind the scenes views fans have never had access to before. The platform will be based on a paid subscription model, with options to buy monthly ($7.99 per month) or annually ($79.99 per year).

Per the official release from the school, “Launching this Fall, Baylor+ is the official content platform for Baylor Athletics, offering fans an insider’s look into the experiences of student-athletes and coaches as well as the compelling stories that shape Baylor Athletics. Baylor+ will feature exciting coverage of the current teams in Waco, while celebrating beloved Bears’ Legends and pivotal moments from the past.”

Baylor will partner with Sport & Story, “the leading provider of creative storytelling content in college athletics.” Sport & Story were a part of the Our Time series that followed the Baylor basketball programs for a series on ESPN+, and have worked with schools like Arkansas, LSU, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and others.

The official announcement included words from Baylor Leadership and Coaches. “With the launch of Baylor+, our dedicated fans and supporters will have unprecedented access to exclusive content and storytelling from within our Athletics program,” said Mack Rhoades, Baylor Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. “As the media landscape around college athletics evolves, we are pleased to launch a platform that shines a spotlight on the dedication of our student-athletes, the passion of our mission-driven coaches and staff, and their role in embodying our vision of Preparing Champions for Life.”

“The Baylor+ initiative will give fans an inside, exclusive look into all of the programs within Baylor Athletics and I think this is an excellent opportunity for our department,” women’s basketball head coach Nicki Collen said. “We enjoyed having Sport & Story come in for ‘Our Time’ during my first season and showcase not only what I was trying to build but who our staff and players were as people outside of basketball. This is exciting as we head into the upcoming school year.”

“The Sport & Story Team has unique insight into Baylor Athletics and our respective programs though their prominent work covering our basketball programs for the ESPN+ ‘Our Time’ series in 2022. They have a proven passion for helping us authentically tell our story.” Jovan Overshown, Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Revenue Officer said. “This extraordinary collection of content, coupled with a best-in-class viewing experience, is a game-changer for those who love the Green and Gold and are invested in our treasured Baylor community.”

The team at Our Daily Bears was able to sit down with Justin Hoff, Associate AD for Creative Services at Baylor. You can find that interview, in a Bonus edition of Our Daily Podcast, below.

Justin described Baylor+ as “Netflix, but for Baylor Athletics.” The focus will be “not only on the current teams... but also to go back in the past.” We spoke at length about different things fans can expect to see on the new platform, and many will be excited to hear that it will include not only new content, but archived footage from the past. Things like past bowl games, never before seen interviews from past players, all the way to episodes of a show hosted by Coach Grant Teaff back in the 80s. Said Hoff, “content like you’ve never seen before. There’s pieces, there’s elements of content that quite honestly has never before been seen, content from 30-40 years ago that maybe was seen just briefly. I was going through our archives, which we’ve beefed up over the last several years, Grant Teaff mic’d up and moments you’ve never heard before. You think about the 2021 National Championship, there’s moments inside the locker room, there’s moments the court after the win... It’s exclusive access.”

“We have worked towards this date for many years”, said Hoff. Per our conversation, the human side of Baylor athletics is at the forefront here. Letting fans see behind the curtain and learning more about who our athletes are as people, rather than just the athlete we see on our televisions.

A questions many Baylor fans have is around live content. “In terms of the live broadcast, that is still going to be with ESPN+... ESPN+ is still the home to Baylor athletics live broadcast. A&T is on there, volleyball, soccer, softball, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, and right now there’s one football game, generally one or two football games a year on there. That’s going to continue, nothing is changing there, but in terms of archives, yeah that’s an opportunity for us to jump in... If you want to watch the 1979 peach bowl and see Walter Abercrombie in the locker room after the game get interviewed, that maybe very few people ever saw, that’s going to be available here in the full broadcast... Sometimes we’ve held footage like this for a rainy day.”

While Justin couldn’t spill all the information about what will be on the platform, the Baylor release did give us some things to expect, including:
The Follow: An all-access pass that lets you go behind the scenes with your favorite Baylor teams before, during, and after the games.

My Time: Storytelling content that spotlights the biggest names and personalities in Baylor Athletics both on and off the field.

Baylor Film Room: Baylor+ analysts break down the plays and players that make the difference on the field and court.

Baylor Rewind: Celebrate the greatest games, plays, and moments from the storied history of Baylor sports.

Baylor Films: Documentaries featuring the stories and personalities from Baylor’s storied history.

It’s an exciting time to be a Baylor fan, as we have an ever growing amount of ways to interact with, and consume media around Baylor Athletics. Baylor+ will be released this fall, and as we get more information, be on the lookout for updates from the team at Our Daily Bears, and don’t forget to check out the full interview with Justin Hoff below!

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