The Marian Sports Network, the official live-video platform for Marian University Athletics, posted record viewership during the 2025-26 academic year.
“We can’t thank our supporters enough for the record setting viewership we had this season,” said Director of Athletics Tony Draves. “This confirms Marian Athletics is expanding our footprint all over the globe, and we’re grateful that you chose to support our amazing student-athletes throughout the year. I’d also like to thank Assistant Athletic Director Brandon Bodart, broadcasters Wade Bates and Nick Van Nocker as well as our students that helped make the broadcasts such a success. I’m happy we’ve had such a response to their great work on a daily basis.”
The Marian Sports Network (MSN) streamed 126 live events during the 2025-26 academic year reaching more than 39,000 total viewers. The average viewership for MSN eclipsed 300 viewers for the first time in its history and surpassed the previous record set in the 2023-24 year. Baseball and NCAA men’s ice hockey continued to lead the way on MSN with each sport nearly averaging 500 viewers per stream. Field hockey was the top sport on the women’s side in terms of average viewership falling just short of 400 viewers per game. Three sports had record average viewership in men’s volleyball, softball, women’s volleyball, along with women’s flag football making its debut.
“Seeing the Marian Sports Network reach record viewership is really a reflection of how much our fans want to stay connected to Sabre Athletics,” said Wade Bates, the Voice of the Sabres. “Whether they’re on campus, back home, or alumni following from across the country, the network has become a way to bring people closer to our student-athletes and the energy surrounding our programs. I’m proud to be able to help connect the fans to the games and build active relationships with those fans.”
There were 10 individual games that had more than 500 viewers led by the opening game of the NCAA men’s ice hockey series against No. 3/3 Adrian that had 931 viewers tune in. The top event for the year was the opening day of the men’s volleyball Sabre Classic that brought in 954 viewers throughout the day. MSN also had the privilege of hosting two conference tournaments this past year in the CFHC Tournament for field hockey and inaugural NACC Tournament for women’s flag football. The championship of the CFHC Tournament between Rhodes and Mary Washington proved to be the second-highest viewed field hockey game of the season at 550. The inaugural NACC Tournament for women’s flag football also had a strong performance with 507 viewers tuning in throughout the day.
“Our promise to our supporters is even though we had a great year, we’re still looking to get better,” said Draves. “So thank you for a great 2025-26, and here’s to an even better 2026-27!”
On-demand games from this past year can be found at https://sabreathletics.com/watch/, while highlight packages from select home and away games can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@SabreAthletics/videos.
Date posted: June 4, 2026