A village cricket club in Reading, England recently appealed to their followers for funds to go towards a kit that would let them live stream their entire 2021 season. Within 7 days they reached their goal.
After his wife came across an article in the paper on cricket live streaming, Kidmore End’s Chairman Jeff Sheldon reached out to fellow members at the club who quickly decided the new technology was a must have for their next season. After having already explored other live streaming methods that proved to be expensive and difficult to use, the club discovered the “inexpensive, portable and easy to deploy” FrogBox solution, which had the added bonus of being completely integrated with Play-Cricket Scorer.
Described by Digital and Events Officer and 4th XI captain Alex Berry as “a small club without the resources to buy a FrogBox outright” they set up a JustGiving page and raised the money for a FrogBox kit, streaming pass and data sim within a week. The club promoted the link through emails, Facebook and the team availability app, appealing to the players’ desire to watch their best performances, or capture their hilarious failures. The donation request was met with much enthusiasm, with contributors excited to see the team play live and on television.
The 1st XI Skipper and Kidmore End CC Vice Chairman James Frost said “we wanted people to be able to share their matches with friends and supporters who might not be able to view the game live. Along with that, the players desperately wanted to feel like pro cricketers able to watch back their achievements. The excitement around being able to watch their own games is palpable!”
Ahead of the 2021 season, Kidmore End have already secured a main sponsor, and are looking for more partners to jump on board and support their junior and Sunday cricket. Now they have the additional asset space on the stream for partner logos, and the club’s dedicated local and global audience, they’re hoping to have this all locked in by Christmas.
“I simply love the idea of everyone being able to watch our teams in action. We have ex players and friends all over the world and it is a great way for them to keep in touch. The commercial opportunities and exposure FrogBox will provide can only be positive for a growing village cricket club like ours,” said Sheldon.
With FrogBox as a key part of their ongoing digital strategy, the club aims to increase their digital footprint in the local area and leverage this to attract new players according to Berry.
“After reading about FrogBox online, we felt that having a video stream of games would help to enhance the digital output of our club and allow us to recruit more players at every level.”
One of the oldest clubs in the Thames Valley, Kidmore End Cricket Club have utilised their supportive community through the modern method of crowdfunding to ensure that everyone – regardless of where they are in the world – can tune in to their cricket. Their FrogBox pass provides sponsorship and revenue opportunities, highlights (and by the sounds of it plenty of bloopers), and most importantly will be a great way to bring the club closer together.
“I strongly believe that FrogBox will allow all of our members to enjoy watching each other play and will help to foster a strong club spirit. We plan on streaming games from our second ground to our main pavilion bar so all our spectators will be able to enjoy both teams performances,” said Berry.
“I can't wait to use FrogBox, and look forward to seeing how it can strengthen our club and breathe new life into village cricket".
We’ll check back in with the team at Kidmore End in 2021 when they start streaming. For now, congratulations to everyone who got involved to support their club’s aspirations. We’re so happy to have you all as a part of the FrogBox family.
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