Access to NYU Athletics livestreaming now costs $9.99 per month for students and $19.99 per month for all other households, commencing a five-year contract between the University Athletic Association and streaming service FloSports that was agreed upon in June.
The partnership, FloSports’ sixth with a Division III conference, went into effect at the start of the fall season and gives subscribers full access to both home and away livestreams, replays and team standings for all eight of the conference’s member schools. FloSports will also invest more than $50 million in “rights fees, production, content, product technology and marketing” to support member schools’ broadcasting, according to the June press release.
“We want to give student workers more opportunities to learn about production, broadcasting and content creation,” NYU athletics director Jake Olkkola said in an email statement to WSN. “FloSports brings in some extra resources, and we’ll build on that by training our students and giving them real experience they can carry into their careers.”
While the streaming service’s offerings are similar to those previously offered for free by NYU, Olkkola hopes the partnership will create a “learning lab for students interested in sports media.”
NYU Athletics’ last few years have been nothing short of historic — since 2023, the men’s volleyball team earned two straight United Volleyball Conference titles; men’s and women’s swimming & diving finished two record-breaking seasons at the NCAA championships; the women’s basketball team won its second national title after back-to-back undefeated seasons; and many players have earned conference titles and national honors.
“UAA schools are among the most well-known institutional names in the world, but the UAA did not have a consistent voice nor did we have a centralized streaming platform like many of our peer conferences,” UAA Commissioner Sarah Otey told WSN in an email. “This can have a detrimental impact on our sports and the ability to sustain many of the programs that we support.”
Steinhardt senior and women’s soccer team captain Hunter Hoelscher recalled struggles with the quality of other schools’ livestreams for away games.
“My family sometimes would complain and be like, ‘We couldn’t see you’ … ‘It was hard to watch the game,’” Hoelscher said.
The UAA began searching for a streaming platform in June of 2024, and chose FloSports “based on its ability to help us elevate our profile and enhance our production quality,” Otey said. A FloSports subscription is now the only method of watching NYU sports games online, though students can still attend any home game for free.
“[Being a family in] sports has been … expensive, no matter what,” Hoelscher said. “I do think that NYU has kind of stepped up their game in getting more people to watch … They’re trying to get more of a community around athletics.”
NYU’s D-III status means that it cannot offer athletic scholarships to students, though athletes can still receive regular financial aid. For some families, the new paywall is an additional financial strain, especially for those who rely solely on streaming to watch the Violets.
“I’m really disappointed in the decision,” Leah Peper, whose daughter plays basketball for NYU, told WSN. “I come from a huge family, and my husband and I have a lot of friends that we call family, and they all support watching Caroline play. This is her senior year, and we don’t feel that there should be a charge.”
Olkkola expects the FloSports platform to bring more attention to NYU athletes and said that the university will “keep working to make sure families, alumni and anyone who can’t be here still have good access to our games and feel connected to NYU Athletics.”
“I love NYU, and I love the sports,” Peper said. “We’re gonna support it no matter what. It’s just an unfortunate situation for those who can’t be there to participate, in a way, from the living room.”
Contact Kiran Komanduri at [email protected].
