Every now and then, I’ll hear from people, “Why does CatchMark SportsNet cover Whitehall so much? Why does Ravenna softball get so much coverage?”

Well, for starters, their teams have been pretty darn good.

The real answer is two-fold. In some ways, it’s fairly simple. In other ways, it’s a little more complicated.

Simply put: We try to cover it all, but our priority is investing in those who invest in us.

Part 1: Coverage priorities

When a school or group commits to CatchMark SportsNet with a content deal — be it year-long or with media days or any other type of special content — CatchMark SportsNet commits back to that group with some “bonus” coverage.

This is where things are a tad complicated: The bonus coverage is not in writing. It’s not part of a contract. Rather, it’s a goodwill gesture. It’s a way to thank schools and groups for supporting us financially. It’s coverage that CatchMark pays for itself by investing time and resources.

Several generous sponsors in the area support CatchMark SportsNet in its traditional content lineup, including such series as the CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Player of the Year, Player of the Week, Podcast, On the Mark, Scoreboard, Weekly Standings, Stat Leaders, Ice Breaker, Hot Seat, Ad Hoc content, and more. All of those series are either supported by sponsors or covered completely out of CatchMark’s own pocket.

The biggest investment that CatchMark makes in any given sports season, however, is with its Game Coverage. This is completely covered by CatchMark. When you see in-game and postgame social media updates on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, and content on our TikTok, it’s part our Game Coverage. When you see photos, videos, and stories on the aforementioned social accounts or on our website, CatchMarkSports.com, it’s part of our game coverage.

We aim to cover the biggest games and events in the West Michigan Conference and Muskegon area, and we try to spread the coverage around to various schools the best we can.

But, we do prioritize the schools, teams, and groups that support us. That includes Whitehall and Montague with their year-long content deals, and teams or programs such as Ravenna softball, which has paid for several pieces of content the last two seasons.

Part 2: The SportsNuts program

In my opinion, the most encouraging development for CatchMark SportsNet in the 2023-24 school year has been the creation of the SportsNuts program. It’s a team of students and other volunteers from West Michigan Conference schools and other neighboring districts that we recruit, train, and empower to assist in our coverage.

If you’ve wondered why Whitehall athletics have been covered so much this school year, it’s partially because Whitehall District Schools supported us with a year-long content deal but it’s primarily because several Whitehall students have signed up to become CatchMark SportsNuts and help us with said coverage.

Montague also signed a year-long contract with us this school year. We’ve given the Wildcats quite a bit of coverage, but we could give them even more if their students and other volunteers signed up to become SportsNuts.

This is an open invite for any school in the West Michigan Conference or neighboring districts. Sign up here to become a CatchMark SportsNut. We have the platforms to showcase your content. We will teach you multi-media skills and you will grow.

Help us produce content. Be part of the solution.