Ballpark Broadcasting(tm) has been streaming live fastpitch games for over twenty years.
Ballpark Broadcasting, began as “Ballpark Radio”, and was founded in 2003 by Jim Flanagan, inspired by his work with friend, the late Dave Blackburn, who brought streaming media to the world of men’s fastpitch with his groundbreaking broadcasts of the ISC World Tournament in 2001.
BallparkBroadcasting.com is a website created for fans of men’s fastball who enjoy watching or listening to broadcasts of games live on the internet. We provide our own live broadcasts, archival broadcasts, and a gateway to online broadcasts of men’s fastball.
It is the simple answer to the oft asked question:
“Where can I catch the game live ?”.
Rather than surfing the internet, or hunting through your email for that link you can never find, simply log in here, the easy-to-remember website: Ballparkbroadcasting.com, where you will always find the game.
In 2001, the late Dave Blackburn invited Jim Flanagan to sit in on his test broadcasts, the prelude to Dave’s successful project to bring live streaming audio broadcasts to men’s fastball. The invitation proved to be a fateful one, as it inspired the creation of Ballpark Radio.
In 2003, with little more than a laptop and a headset, Jim Flanagan’s broadcast from the North American Fast Pitch Association (NAFA) World Series from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, the first ever broadcasts on Balllpark Radio.
In 2004, thanks to the strong support of Ken Hackmeister, things really took off for Ballpark Radio. Jim took the Ballpark Radio show on the road to Orlando Florida, for the first-ever broadcast of the AAU International Tournament and also the Red Rock tournament in Utah. Later that summer, Jim teamed up with fastpitch friend Blair Setford and others to produce more than two dozen broadcasts from the 2004 ISC II Tournament of Champions in Fargo North Dakota. Jim and Blair teamed to broadcast hundreds of games from the ISC II and ISC World tournament along with Joe Todd. Blair expanded the size and reach of the broadcasts by recruiting guest broadcasters, including some of the games top players and most knowledgeable voice.
In 2005, BallparkRadio’s broadcast expanded to St. George Utah for the Red Rock tournament and to Portland Oregon for the Rose Cup tournament, culminating with a return appearance to the ISC II Tournament of Champions back to the town where it all began, Chippewa Falls Wisconsin.
2006 saw the addition of a couple of broadcasting pros to Ballpark Radio, Lance Winn, of CBC.ca and Kyle Smith, who has covered professional baseball and hockey. Kyle Smith expanded the reach of Ballpark Radio greatly, covering tournaments in the east, while Jim Flanagan held down the fort out west.
Ballparkradio broadcasts of men’s fastpitch continue to expand, with return appearances to the AAU International Tournament, Red Rock, Rose Cup and ISC II Tournament of Champions, as well is new tournaments, all across North America, and beyond.
2007 saw the Ballpark Radio banner go up to broadcast live games from the Bahamas, at the invitation of Haziel McDonald and his Texaco Pirates.
In 2008, Jim Flanagan and Kyle Smith traveled to Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, to broadcast a dozen games from the VIII ISF Jr. Men’s World Championships, with twelve different countries in attendance. The broadcasts reached nearly 7000 listeners for the weekend.
In 2009, Ballpark Radio added the prestigious Monkton Tournament to its list of events, and later that summer, co-directed the streaming video broadcasts of the ISC World Tournament.
2010 brought an expanded broadcast program back to Jim’s home state of California, with broadcasts of the Best of the West tournament in Santa Barbara and California Classic in San Diego. Ballpark Radio continued its involvement with the ISC World Tournament, adding its first ever Spanish language broadcasts from the tournament, in partnership with Cristian Lacout and his Argentina-based “Softbol Radio”.
In 2011, thanks to the efforts of Kyle Smith, Ballpark Radio signed on as the exclusive broadcaster of the Senior Canadian Men’s Fastpitch Championship in Owen Sound, Ontario.
In 2014, Ballpark Broadcasting took a big leap forward, partnering with SportsCanada.tv to broadcast 54 games in live streaming video in 10 days, at the ISF Jr. Men’s World Championship at Whitehorse, Yukon, sending the games worldwide in high definition video. The pairing of the two streaming ventures was the brainstorm of Softball Yukon’s George Arcand. Argentina won gold, it’s first ever.
In 2015, Ballpark Broadcasting travelled to Saskatoon Canada where it broadcast the WBSC Men’s World Championship, before the largest live crowd ever, over 7000 fans. The host team, Canada won gold that year.
2016, the WBSC Jr. Men’s World Championship brought Ballpark Broadcasting stateside to Midland MI. Japan captured gold.
In 2017, Ballpark Broadcasting, and the WBSC Men’s World Championship was back in Whitehorse, Yukon, where the New Zealand Black Sox won gold.
2018 brought Ballpark Broadcasting back to Canada, this time, just up the road from Saskatoon to Prince Albert, which hosted the WBSC Jr. Men’s World Championship. Australia won gold.
2019 was a busy year for Ballpark Broadcasting, which traveled overseas for the first time, to Prague in the Czech Republic to broadcast the WBSC Men’s World Championship, where Argentina won gold . Upon its return, later that summer, Ballpark Broadcasting broadcast women’s fastpitch for the first time, carrying the WBSC Women’s U19 World Championship in Southern California, at Irvine, CA
Ballpark Broadcasting was dormant in 2020-2021 like the rest of the world due to Covid.
In 2022, Ballpark Broadcasting’s crew was “down under” to New Zealand, at the WBSC Men’s World Championship. Australia won gold
In 2023, Ballpark Broadcasting was in Europe where its crew handled the WBSC Women’s World Cup Qualfiers at three different locations.
Ballpark Broadcasting has broadcast hundreds of games from the USA, Canada, and beyond.
The popularity of Ballpark Broadcasting has created a large community of loyal listeners, who actively engage with the broadcasters during the games, peppering them with comments and questions often shared with other listeners.
“For those times when you can’t get to the ballpark, we’ll bring the ballpark to you. “