Q&A: Hudl VP Media Adam Talks High School Sports Streaming, Hyperlocal Fan Loyalty, and Burgeoning Brand Support
Lincoln, Nebraska-based Hudl first caught the attention of the amateur sports world as a tool for assembling DIY highlight reels and recruitment videos for football players and analyzing game footage to help coaches make informed, data-driven decisions. In recent years it has emerged as something else entirely: the nationwide go-to platform for the hyperlocal pastime of following high school sports, delivering live and recorded games and highlights to dedicated fanbases that count substantial Gen Z viewers among their growing numbers.
More than 1 million games per year stream on the Hudl TV platform, with in-house crews working with their own camera gear or Hudl Focus PTZ autotracking cameras and leveraging Hudl’s Production Truck studio software for live switching and streaming, layering graphics and titles, replays, highlights, and more.
Hudl Production Truck
As high school sports fandom has coalesced around Hudl broadcasts and viewership has grown, capturing key demographics of younger viewers and racking up 20-minute-plus session times rarely seen with Gen Z audiences typically drawn to short-form, snackable content, the Hudl platform has become increasingly attractive to advertisers. Major national brands like T-Mobile and Under Armour are getting in on the action through ambitious campaigns.
In this Q&A, Hudl VP of Media Adam Gouttierre discusses the growth of high school sports as a streaming niche, the dedication of hyperlocal fan bases, the opportunities brands are seeing and seizing on the Hudl platform, and how he believes those monetization opportunities will evolve in the coming years, particularly as the role NIL deals play in amateur sports continues to expand.
Hudl VP of Media Adam Goutierre
Monetizing Live Games and Highlights
Are most of the views on the Hudl platform live and archived games, or highlights as well? Are the highlights clips monetized, particularly with Gen Z’s highlights-first inclinations?
Hudl’s audience is deeply engaged across both live games and highlights, creating multiple touch points for brand activation. Schools and fans stream over 1M games annually, while athletes, teams and families produce and consume more than 12M highlights each year.
Hudl integrates brand presence through dynamic overlays, custom themes, pre-roll and mid-roll ads on highlights, allowing brands to be part of those highly shareable moments that often extend well beyond the Hudl platform itself.
From recruitment to skill development, Hudl highlights and game film play a central role in each athlete’s journey, making the platform a premium environment for brands to engage with Gen Z in the moments that matter most.
Direct vs. Programmatic
It seems like Hudl is working mostly with national brands. Are brands buying programmatically, or seeking direct partnerships? Are any brands looking to target specific local audiences, or buying spots with specific high-profile teams or conferences?
Hudl offers both programmatic buying and direct brand partnerships, allowing advertisers to choose the approach that best fits their strategic goals. While many brands begin with programmatic campaigns to test and scale quickly, our unique value prop lies in crafting tailored activations that integrate creatively and authentically into the sports viewing experience.
This flexibility means that national brands can take over gameday content across the entire platform, while regional or local advertisers can focus on livestream ads specific to states, connecting directly with the communities where they want to have a presence.
For example, Union Bank activation in Nebraska focused on connecting with high schools in and around Lincoln, NE. This allowed UBT to engage deeply with a passionate local audience, demonstrating how Hudl’s scale combines with precise targeting to deliver meaningful impact.
And brands like T-Mobile are strengthening their FNL5GLights campaign at a national level, connecting their brands to high-traffic moments and heightened fan engagement for Friday Night football games.
T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights on Hudl TV
Production Values and Gameday Gear
Not surprisingly, with locally/in-house-produced content, there seems to be some variation in the production values and quality of some of the game broadcasts. Does this create any friction with advertisers—attaching their brands to more poorly produced game videos—or does the commitment level of the local fan base tend to mitigate these issues?
Of the 1M+ games streamed live on Hudl each year, a majority are captured automatically through our Hudl Focus cameras. These devices are AI-powered automatic tracking cameras that can be installed in facilities or taken on the go, making high-quality streaming accessible to schools of all sizes. Even without traditional production crews, these feeds deliver the moments that matter most to communities driving emotional connection and audience loyalty.
Our partnership with Dolby and TheoPlayer is taking that experience to the next level for both fans and brands. Features like the L-Bar and Side-by-Side ad units allow brands to integrate seamlessly into the action without disrupting the game. This creates a premium, broadcast-like environment for our audiences.
For advertisers, this means reaching a deeply engaged, “leaned-in” audience of athletes, parents, and fans who tune in with high intent. These fans engage due to the relevance of content, and high-quality experience they can rely on through Hudl.
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Revenue Sharing
How is the advertising revenue shared? Do the participating high schools share in the sponsor revenue?
The Hudl Fan Experience is free to all schools, which is a different model than others in the marketplace.
From there, Hudl’s Fan Experience is built around giving schools full control of their live sports content. Every program has the flexibility to choose the monetization path that fits their community. From pay-per-view access for highly anticipated matchups to securing local or regional sponsorships that run alongside each of their broadcasts.
The majority of games are streamed automatically via Hudl Focus camera, meaning even the smallest schools can deliver consistent, high-quality coverage without added production costs. When they choose to monetize using Hudl’s livestreaming tools, there’s a 60/40 revenue share on PPV streams. This gives each of those schools the opportunity to fund new equipment, support their athletic programs from the reserve to varsity levels and reinvest in the student-athlete and fan experience.
This approach strengthens the economic sustainability of high school sports at scale. Hudl is not just delivering streams, but is focused on building the infrastructure that keeps high school sports thriving in local communities.
Ad Formats, Analytics, and Campaigns
What ad formats (e.g., pre-roll, overlays, halftime spots) are proving most effective in Hudl streams?
We’ve found that ad formats which integrate seamlessly into live and on-demand sports experiences deliver the strongest performance. With our partnership with Dolby and TheoPlayer, our livestreaming experience will offer broadcast-quality placements like L-Bar and Side-by-Side views, keeping the game front and center while maintaining constant brand presence in a way that feels natural to fans.
Display banners on profiles, highlights, and livestreams provide 100% share-of-voice with guaranteed above-the-fold placements that are ideal for brand visibility. In highlights and livestreams, pre-roll and mid-roll ads consistently deliver high completion rates and maintain brand safety above 99% due to Hudl’s controlled content environment and media service team.
For livestreams specifically, pairing these video formats with companion display banners sustains brand presence across the full game window, a strategy national advertisers have embraced for its deep engagement and long dwell times.
See the Fan Journey Demo video to see how the fan experiences brands on the Hudl app.
What unique value does Hudl offer to local and national advertisers compared to traditional or other digital platforms targeting youth sports audiences? What kinds of analytics do you collect and provide to sponsors?
Hudl sits at the intersection of sports performance, sports tech, sports admin, and community connection, something no other platform in youth sports can match. We’re not just where fans go to find the game; we are where athletes train, review film, share highlights, and build their sports identity from youth through college and often back again as coaches and parents.
That embedded role creates deep, multi-layered relationships with athletes, families, teammates, and the broader community. It’s why Hudl delivers over 7M monthly active users, an average session length of 11+ minutes and 99% penetration of U.S. high schools. Fans aren’t casually scrolling; they’re leaning in to watch meaningful moments of people they care about.
For advertisers, that trust and engagement translates into a premium environment with precise targeting across geography, sport, season, and event type. Campaign reporting goes beyond basic reach and impressions to include engagement metrics that reflect true fan attention, helping brands measure not just exposure, but brand impact.
How do you tailor campaigns to the highly localized nature of high school sports?
The hyper-local nature of Hudl’s content is one of its most powerful advantages for advertisers. Campaigns can be targeted by geography, school, sport or gender, allowing brands to align directly with the communities and teams they want to reach.
That local connection is effective: 80% of fans say they are more likely to trust, purchase from, and recommend brands that support their local teams, according to the National Retail Federation. For national brands, Hudl makes it possible to scale across thousands of markets simultaneously, while still delivering a message that feels personal to each community.
Surge in Women’s Sports
One of the biggest trends we’ve seen in professional sports such as basketball is exponential growth in attention to women’s sports. Has there been a trickle-down effect with girls’ high school sports, and if so are brands approaching Hudl looking to leverage that?
The surge in attention to women’s sports at the professional level is absolutely reflected in high school athletics, and we’re seeing it across multiple sports like basketball, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse, and softball. Each one of these have seen significant year-over-year gains in livestream viewership, highlights shared and overall fan engagement on Hudl.
Nowhere is that more visible than in our own backyard of Nebraska, where high school matches can fill arenas and rival the energy of Husker games. Athletes like Nebraska Volleyball player Andi Jackson, now a standout player, credits Hudl with helping her get recruited, underscoring the platform’s role in connecting her talent to an opportunity to play at the next level.
The roots of this trend run deep. Athletes like Caitlin Clark first used Hudl to share her high school highlights, and today’s generation is following suit to build their brands and fan bases before they reach college. Our role is to give each female athlete the tools they need to achieve their goals. What this looks like is 157% growth in engagement, 295% increase in highlights shared and 8,083% livestream growth since Catilin Clark’s first highlight eight years ago.
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Brand Safety, NIL, and Future Opportunities
It seems like contextual relevance would be critical issues in a live high school sports environment. How do you address contextual relevance and brand safety issues, and what controls do sponsors have over placement and targeting?
Context is everything in live sports, and we pair brand messages with content that aligns with the game. This includes family-friendly, community-focused and celebratory content.
Our ad delivery is designed for positive moments and our in-house media services team enables our platform to be 99% brand safe. This is due to their ability to control placements, frequency cap and strategically place ads based on each brand’s goals. This way, brands can maintain positive brand sentiment and precision when engaging with our audience.
Looking ahead, how is Hudl evolving its monetization strategy—are there plans for branded content, athlete NIL integration, or expanded analytics for sponsors?
Hudl is continuing to expand into branded content and NIL opportunities. The Futures Forum is one example, an annual event bringing top football prospects together for recruiting guidance, brand-building workshops and direct interaction with sponsors.
This year’s event was supported by GNC and Opendorse. Hudl’s ongoing partnership with Opendorse will make it easier for brands to connect with high school athletes for NIL opportunities.
These initiatives give advertisers more ways to create authentic, athlete-driven campaigns that resonate on and off the platform.
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