So here we go again.
Another career challenge in a 36-year sportscasting run that has been full of them.
The launch of VSN Space Coast came about in a unique fashion, but I’m comfortable in saying that I’m where I need to be.
Let’s start by introducing our new followers to Varsity Sports Now. We began VSN in late 2018 as a culmination of several projects that we had going on at the time in Louisiana.
We were running two prep websites (River Parish Football and NOLA Catholic League) and producing several shows/docuseries for Cox Sports Television in New Orleans.
With the help of lead investor Ben Bordelon (LSU/San Diego Chargers and now President and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards) we combined all of our projects into one network covering high school sports in Louisiana, VSN.
The last docuseries we produced “The Pursuit” which chronicled the 2018 U-High football team was nominated for a Regional Emmy. But in 2019 we quickly learned the term “pivot” which many startups experience as we began broadcast live streaming games across the state.
The move was driven by the success VSN was showing in both subscriptions and sponsorships and we became almost exclusively a subscription based sports streaming service.
The pandemic changed our look even more in 2020 when schools no longer thought of live streaming games as a luxury but rather a necessity. When prep sports returned in Louisiana they did so with attendance limits, sometimes only permitting one parent to watch games in person. That’s when the VSN affiliate was born.
Through the years VSN has partnered with many of the top schools in Louisiana to broadcast live stream their games. Each school had different live streaming needs and VSN was able to conform to each school’s individual plan with almost all of the plans including a revenue share as a percentage of the profits would go right back to the schools.
Newman hires VSN to produce and live stream games for almost all of their sports year round.
Ascension Catholic provides most of the production crew themselves and hires a VSN director and uses VSN equipment to live stream.
St Thomas More, Cecilia, and most recently Pope John Paul II have purchased their own equipment and send their RTMP feed to VSN as the distribution point and to handle the subscriptions.
Catholic High in Baton Rouge produces some of their own games and brings in VSN for football and select baseball and basketball games.
Mt. Carmel just does volleyball.
Holy Cross just does football.
Whatever the need, VSN has the flexibility to make it work for each school.
There have been many monumental moments for VSN since its inception including:
Broadcast live streaming AVP Beach Volleyball in New Orleans and Atlantic City
A season’s worth of LSU Beach Volleyball in 2022
C-USA, ASUN, and CCSA beach volleyball conference tournaments in Huntsville, AL
The exclusive broadcast partner of the Louisiana High School Lacrosse League’s Final Four since 2019
Partnering with The National Federation of Collegiate Club Sports Leagues as the distribution home for National Championships in Football/Baseball, and Men’s and Women’s Basketball
Becoming the broadcast partner for Loyola University of New Orleans
When the LHSAA needed us, VSN has always answered the call producing state championships in cross country, volleyball, and powerlifting in the past.
We take pride in our professionalism and positivity.
Our broadcast live streams feature multiple cameras, replays, graphics, and announcers giving each game the look and feel of a small television production. The recent purchase of wireless camera transmitters has been a game-changer for us especially in baseball, giving us the ability to add a centerfield camera.
Increased coverage in underserved sports like volleyball, lacrosse, and most recently wrestling has been huge for VSN.
In 2025 we added a new home page (VSN-home.com) to offer both written journalism and photo galleries to our list of broadcast live streams.
So why VSN Space Coast?
The truth of the matter is that the goal from the very beginning was to expand VSN outside of Louisiana. For a host of reasons, that has never occurred up to now.
The main reason I have moved to Palm Bay, Florida has everything to do with my parents.
Mom and Dad moved to this area in 1989 when Dad’s job with Harris transferred them to Melbourne, FL. That was the same year I graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and began my sports broadcasting career.
Over the years no matter where my career had taken me (Youngstown, Toledo, Indianapolis, Mobile, New Orleans) I would of course always visit them a few times a year. From reading their local paper “Florida Today” I could tell the area was loaded with great high school and college sports.
I even had a short stint in 1990 doing sports updates and a few high school basketball games as a play-by-play announcer for their local station at the time WAYK.
Jim (88) and Terre Lynn Richey (80) have always been a healthy robust couple who brought joy wherever they went.
My friends used to ask me, “Your mom can’t be that nice all the time?” I would simply smile, nod my head and say, “It’s unbelievable-yes she is.”
Mom got her real estate license shortly after arriving to the Space Coast and had a successful 35-year career and even won the inaugural “Space Coast Makeover” back in 2004. With the amount of people she helped selling/buying condos over the years I told her she should run for Mayor of Palm Bay.
Then there was the time she talked her way into a sold-out hip replacement event in Melbourne hosted by Johnny Bench to get an autographed baseball from my all-time favorite player.
Dad is simply the smartest and strongest man I ever met.
He received his forestry degree from Purdue (the reason I’m a Boilermakers fan to this day is because of Dad and my brother Jimmy who also went to Purdue) and his MBA from Bowling Green.
He has authored several books on genealogy and the history of our family. He is as comfortable talking about fixing cars as he is sports or world travel.
While working for RCA during the 1970’s and 80’s Dad moved our family several times including a two-year stint in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when I was in 7th and 8th grade.
They made one move from Wappingers Falls, NY in 1984 specifically so I could return to Lancaster, PA to play my last two years of high school baseball at Hempfield.
It was a lifetime full of their support and sacrifice which gave me an incredible childhood and planted the seed for a strong work ethic as an adult. I would do anything in the world for them in their senior years.
It was last October that I realized they needed some help.
In typical Jim and Terre Lynn fashion of doing everything together, their health failed at the same time. They couldn’t drive to get groceries or pick up their meds. It was at that time I approached Ben Bordelon about making the move full-time to Florida. I needed to help take care of my parents and I also saw it as an opportunity to finally expand VSN into another state.
With Ben’s blessing and the assurance that VSN would continue to thrive in Louisiana, I made the move.
Just after Christmas my parents health took a significant decline. With the help of my brothers and sister-in-law and much trial and error, we now have them settled with 24/7 care.
That has enabled me to turn my attention back to launching VSN Space Coast.
With the tremendous help of (in order of meeting them) Ajay Ulmer (AD at Heritage), Kevin Baute (AD at Calvary Chapel Academy), Kevin Robinson (District AD), and Michael Parsons (Director of Athletic Communications at Eastern Florida State College) I have had a great start.
Our plan for VSN Space Coast is very transparent.
We will continue VSN’s philosophy of covering sports with professionalism and positivity.
Video features and highlights, along with written journalism and photo galleries will populate our new VSN Space Coast homepage and social media platforms with free content while adding exposure for area teams, players, and coaches.
As we begin to identify a production team we are hopeful to be broadcast live streaming games by the end of March.
After living in the same house just outside of New Orleans for the past 18 years, the Space Coast is my new home.
The good news is I’m closer to my youngest daughter Emma who is a freshman on the beach volleyball team at Jacksonville University. And even though I’m now farther away from my oldest daughter Chelsea and my awesome grandchildren Gracie, Jean Like, and Anna Marie, Paw Paw will be making plenty of trips back to Louisiana to see them during business trips for VSN.
I look forward to meeting more area coaches, players, and AD’s in the coming days, weeks, and months. If you have an idea for a feature story or would like to find out about VSN Space Coast live streaming a game please reach out to me at eric@varsitysportsnow.com.
There is no question I am reinvigorated to make VSN Space Coast a success and hopefully build the blueprint for further expansion by VSN.