Broadcasting B

You know what State B is.

That’s when small towns from all across the state of Washington descend upon the Spokane Arena for a shot at a state basketball championship.

But now you don’t have to wait for the state tournament to get all the B classification action as the Pacific Northwest Broadcasting Network (PNBN) is now running streaming Internet radio for their games in several sports. This gives small schools a chance for their sports to be exposed on the internet since not many stations pick up the rights to these games.

“The response has been unbelievable,” said Broadcast Director Seth Dunlap.

He said that people have been listening from all over the country, from places like Virginia, South Bend, Ind., and Iraq.

“It’s been really touching to hear their stories,” said Dunlap.

Based out of Ritzville, Wash., with 23 workers currently employed, the five-year company offers people a chance to listen and sometimes watch their favorite high school team.

“It was a central location; we’re an hour from Spokane, we’re an hour from the Tri-Cities,” said Dunlap. “And we are involved in the community of the B schools.”

The towns of Ritzville and Lind combine to field a B team in the Northeast 2B League. The town of Ritzville has 1,700 inhabitants, while Lind has just under 600.

Started by Chad Denkins, who began a chat forum based on B basketball and eventually secured the radio rights for State B, the company also does radio broadcasts for Northwest University based in Kirkland, Wash.

“Everything that we do is free,” said Dunlap.

By going to Bsports.org, an individual can browse the schedule for upcoming broadcasts, listen to ongoing games and also relive past games in the archives section. The Web site keeps the games archived for a full year after they’ve been played.

“Obviously, it’s a lot of travel,” said Dunlap.

Along with the B schools, PNBN is also looking into securing the rights for bigger districts, namely the Great Northern League and the A schools that are prevalent in Eastern Washington.

“That’s where we’re going next,” said Dunlap. “We know this is kind of new and we’re one of the first ones to pop up.”

Bsports.org will be broadcasting state B playoff games over the Internet, and could be calling even more games in the future, possibly your hometown.

“Right now it’s just seeing where our expansion leads us,” said Dunlap.

Story by Brandon Hansen, you can reach him at brandon@htsports.org.