Iowa High School Athletic Association and Iowa High School Sports Network come to a resolution

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Iowa High School Athletic Association announced Tuesday that it has settled a lengthy dispute with the Iowa High School Sports Network over media rights to boys’ state tournaments.

The IHSSN will be allowed to livestream and telecast state tournaments through the 2024-25 sports season, with the IHSAA then gaining all rights to them.

The Association filed litigation against the IHSSN in June 2023 after learning the network had decided to provide its tournament content on a pay-per-view basis. The IHSAA claimed that violated terms of an agreement between the entities, which had been amended on multiple occasions, the last time in 2020.

The Iowa High School Sports Network was founded in 2006 by West Des Moines businessman Ken Krogman and sold in 2021 to Chat Mobility, a telecommunications service provider in Western Iowa. Alan DeBolt of Emerson, Iowa, was named its executive director.

The IHSSN paid $80,000 to the IHSAA for exclusive rights to livestream boys’ state tournaments in the 2023-24 sports season. The parties disagreed on whether IHSSN had the right to charge for its content and on how long the current agreement between them actually was: the IHSSN asserting it was good through 2029.

“We went through multiple rounds of mediation and finally came to an agreement in October,” Cuellar said. “Then it took a little time for the final drafts of the agreement, little details, to come through.

“They operated in good faith on that.”

Cuellar said the IHSAA will explore its options for televising and livestreaming future state tournaments imminently. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has a deal with Iowa Public Television to telecast its state tournaments for free.

“We obviously wanted and do want our events to be as accessible to people as possible, so we can highlight high school sports in our state,” Cuellar said. “I know that’s what many spectators expect in our state.”

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