Putting together a crew to livestream a sporting event can sometimes be challenging, what with the number of people it takes to do one well and the amount of time it takes to pull off the whole operation. With that in mind, there is another option that gives your audience the feel of actually being there, without any of the set up, tear down, or potential tech landmines of a full live broadcast.
Obviously this category of sports coverage is kind of a misnomer these days, but can you really call it “X’ing” a game? So in our program, we’ve stuck with calling it “Tweeting” a game, but the nice part is the same storytelling skills apply regardless of the platform of choice. Case in point: we’ve recently extended this to Instagram, since such a large portion of our audience “lives” there.
This type of coverage is similar to the gamer in that the reporter is looking for key moments, trends, and athletes, but is vastly different in that it is told sequentially. Simply put, if the reporter thinks something is newsworthy, they put together a quick post, often including a photo or short video. This usually means key scoring plays, turnovers, highlight-reel type moments … you get the idea.
Our biggest advice for this type of storytelling is to live by the old adage of “less is more.” If you post about every shot made in a basketball game, for example, you’re going to annoy your audience, possibly to the point of losing followers rather than gaining them. This is not play-by-play coverage! Just give them the best parts so they feel like they aren’t missing anything major.
Note: This post was originally part of my MJE Project, “Beyond the Box Score: A Multimedia Approach to Comprehensive High School Sports Coverage,” which I completed in the Fall of 2025.
Written By: Jason Block
