UAA commissioner Sarah Otey (left) announced the UAA’s partnership with FloSports on June 20. (Bri Nitsberg | Managing Photo Editor)

The University Athletic Association (UAA) announced a five-year exclusive streaming partnership with FloSports on June 20. Starting in the fall 2025 season, most WashU athletic competitions will move behind the FloSports paywall. Historically, these events were broadcast on the WashU athletics website at no cost to viewers.

The UAA is one of four Division III conferences to join the FloCollege network this summer. UAA Commissioner Sarah Otey said she believes the FloSports partnership will most effectively promote the UAA brand to a wider audience, while also improving the quality of game livestreams. 

“UAA students are some of the most marketable student-athletes in the country, regardless of division. The combination of academic success, extracurricular engagement, and athletic success is second to none,” Otey said. “From a conference standpoint, the partnership will help us significantly to promote the success of our student-athletes.”

A subscription-based streaming service, FloSports markets itself as a “streaming platform for underserved sports.” FloSports currently hold the exclusive media rights to 18 collegiate conferences across Divisions I, II, and III on their FloCollege network. Beyond collegiate sports, FloSports also hosts an array of other sports on its network, ranging from NASCAR racing to minor league hockey. 

The deal has garnered lots of criticism from fans across Division III, many of whom cite the paywall as being annoying for families of student-athletes and prohibitive for students. D-III social media personality Bob Quillman, who is a superfan of Illinois Wesleyan University and the host of the Q-Cast podcast, is one of the leading voices against FloSports on X.

“Division III is not Division I. We don’t have the same kind of automatic, positive brand,” Quillman said. “I feel strongly that this is a huge mistake for D-III schools and conferences that have chosen to go the paywall route because it limits exposure to their athletic programs and to the universities themselves.”

For most potential subscribers, FloSports offers a $19.99 monthly plan or a $107.88 annual subscription. Anyone who signs up for the platform using an email address ending in “.edu” from a school that partners with FloSports receives a discounted rate, with the annual plan discounted to $71.88. As of the time of publication, no discounts are available for the families of players who register using an email address unaffiliated with the university. During the last two weeks of August, FloSports will offer 15% off annual subscriptions purchased through UAA schools, according to Otey. 

“The UAA boasts some of the most accomplished universities at both an academic and athletic level in Division III,” FloSports Senior Vice President of Global Rights and Acquisition, Michael Levy, wrote in a press release. “Our partnership with them is a direct investment into the success of their conference and Division III athletics.”

FloSports says it will provide more comprehensive coverage of the UAA than the previous, decentralized model. The streaming platform will provide more non-live and feature-style coverage of UAA athletics, which Otey described as a “guarantee” from FloSports throughout the negotiation process. Otey also said that UAA games on FloSports will be available on demand, without a paywall, 24 hours after a game ends. 

In the year leading up to the announcement, the UAA and its members explored multiple options to increase the conference’s brand visibility and market the UAA to a wider audience. The UAA partnered with LEONA, a media rights consulting firm specializing in collegiate sports, to explore branding opportunities. After considering multiple options, including the development and creation of a UAA-specific network, the UAA decided to partner with FloSports. While the deal provides a financial incentive for the conference and its schools, Otey emphasized that the primary focuses of the deal were branding and production quality.

“I know there’s rhetoric out there that FloSports is a money grab, and anyone is delusional if they think money isn’t a part of the conversation,” Otey said. “But for our administrators, it was not the most important part of the conversation.” 

While the UAA and LEONA concluded that FloSports was the best option to improve the UAA’s branding, some, like Quillman, are concerned that the UAA will struggle to extend its reach outside of the relatively small community of D-III fans.

“What paywalls do is they restrict viewership,” Quillman said. “Parents will buy a subscription. Die-hard fans like me will. But is the average WashU student going to buy a FloSports subscription? No. And when that student’s friend has a big game, they won’t be able to watch because they’re not subscribed.”

Katie Boldvich, commissioner of the Landmark Conference, wrote in a comment to Student Life that her conference saw an increase in viewership in their first year with FloSports. On the other hand, Jennifer Dubow, commissioner of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, admitted in a comment that their conference experienced a 25% decrease in viewership, but the decrease was only seen across certain sports. 

Boldvich said that their FloSports partnership has paid off for its member schools, both financially and by reducing strain on schools’ sports information offices.

“These broadcasts were never truly free — our institutions and understaffed departments were absorbing the cost in the form of personnel, equipment, and time,” Boldvich said in a written comment to Student Life. “Through Flo, we’re not only generating revenue, but also reinvesting in better technology, additional student workers, and more support for our athletic communications teams.”

Citing conversations with coaches, Quillman believes the impact of FloSports on viewership is negative and much greater than previously reported.

“I’ve had 22 D-III basketball head coaches, men’s and women’s, who are saying that their viewership is down,” Quillman said. “They’re saying, ‘We hate this because we want people, especially recruits, to watch.’”

The change will officially go into effect for the 2025-26 school year. The first FloSports broadcast will likely be WashU women’s soccer season opener against Westminster College on Aug. 29. WashU football, the University’s only athletic program that does not compete in the UAA, is exempt from this deal and will continue to stream their games for free on the WashU website. 

There will still be ways for fans to watch WashU sports live without the paywall. Most non-conference away matchups will have free livestreams available on the host team’s website, and select WashU home games will be broadcast over radio on WashU’s student-run radio station, KWUR. However, fans who choose not to subscribe to FloSports will be unable to watch most WashU sports games.

For fans who do choose to subscribe, Otey is optimistic that the better content quality will be worth the subscription cost.

“I certainly understand that there’s going to be frustration,” Otey said. “We feel pretty good that this will have an overall positive impact, so [fans] should reserve judgment until the proof is in the pudding next year.”