Tiger Central Live brings Tiger football to Princeton fans, near and far

The Princeton Tigers have one of the top football teams going in the state.

They surely have the best TV production behind them.

Tiger Central Live is a top-notch production, streamed on YouTube, headed by Princeton High School IT Director Steve Morton, complete with multiple cameras and instant replay with veteran radio man Norm Vandermoon and Jason Smith providing the commentary from the press box.

TCL even brought in PHS grad Kyle Arnett, a professional camera man, who has shot games from Wrigley Field, the United Center and Solder Field for the Marquee Network, to run the sidelines camera for the Peotone playoff game and tutor the PHS students.

Princeton Tigers fans at home and across the country have been tuning into the football games all season with sponsors offsetting the IHSA broadcast fees during the postseason. Last week’s second-round playoff broadcast had 5,300 Live views alone.

It has brought the games as far away into the home of a former Tiger football family in Florida and for the Bryant Field PA man and his wife on vacation in Hawaii and to as close as the wife of a sports editor watching at home, just a half mile away.

Smith, who doubles as the PHS varsity boys basketball coach, is having a blast.

“Honestly, I’m having so much fun with Norm. He is such a good guy,” Smith said. “All the guys up there are fun to work with. Steve Morton does a great job. The technology that we have at a high school level is absolutely phenomenal.

“It is just so nice for everyone to embrace it as much they have. I love doing it so much.”

Tiger coach Ryan Pearson said it’s nice to have that avenue for relatives who can’t make the games or live out of state. He said the TCL production is so good that it may hurt their attendance at games because when it’s as cold and windy as last week’s game, some fans are electing to stay home and watch from the comforts of home.

TCL comes with three cameras during a football game broadcast.

The main game play camera, Camera 1, is on top of the press box at the 50 yard line. PHS staffer Steve Gray runs this camera 90% of the time.

Camera 2 is on the side of the press box, run by PHS student Austin Gordon. He zooms in on the Tiger player after the play, or perhaps a ref or coach, Morton said.

Camera 3 is remote and able to get some great crowd and sideline shots in the hands of PHS student Cail Piper.

Morton said the equipment takes about two hours to set up and checklist before each broadcast. This includes what Morton calls the “The Beast.” It’s a custom PC Morton put together over the summer which allows them to run the stream smoothly at 1080p 60 frames per second from multiple angles, Morton said.

“Steve is the linchpin of the organization. Without his computer skills in running the programs for the broadcast, editing graphics, working communications and organizing the shots, we wouldn’t be able to do this,” said TCL team member Brody Anderson. “I really think our on-air personalities make people come back time and time again. "

Morton said Arnett, a 2012 PHS grad and one-time Tiger gridder, offered to come down from Chicago to train the students.

“He spent the entire Peotone game getting Piper and Gordon up to speed on what it’s like to run shots for Marquee Sports network among other things,” Morton said.

“I was beyond excited to see what what (Morton) had created,” said Arnett, who is hopeful to make it back for Saturday’s production of the 3A quarterfinal at Bryant Field with IC Catholic. “Essentially, my vision was to have some of the students see some tricks I’ve picked up in my career and peak their interest in sports production.”

Originally, Morton ran a student group called “Tiger Central” which created video skits and content for students each week. In 2016, he wrote a grant request to the Princeton Public School Foundation to start a live student broadcast club, which eventually evolved into Tiger Central Live with a focus on covering live events, both athletic and academic.

It has streamed well over 800 events, including athletic events, school plays, etc. and accumulated over 153k views. TCL also includes replays of past Tiger basketball game classics, including the 1955 fourth-place state team.

TCL was a Godsend for families unable to attend PHS events during the restrictions due to COVID-19 and still benefits to those who are unable to attend today.

“We’ve been fortunate that we’ve been able to use and re-use technology to improve our broadcasts a little each season,” Morton said. “What you’re seeing currently is a concert of equipment that has been purchased over the last few years to bring together a broadcast that is feature rich. We’re having a great time learning and improving and we’re excited to see what we’re able to accomplish next.”

Anderson was a senior at PHS when Tiger Central started and was on the original Tiger Central team. He said, because of the work he did with Tiger Central, he was able to get a job in college working for a radio station as an on-air personality.

“Tiger Central Live is something that is really important to me,” Anderson said. “I was honored and blown away by how much it had grown. It makes me extremely proud to see how it has grown over the years and how much our community supports us. Seeing many local restaurants putting the game on in their establishments, it really has shown how much the community cares about our school and our broadcasts. It makes me proud to be a Tiger.

“It’s really great to hear from members of the community that they enjoy the broadcast. People give us a lot of praise on social media, but also out in public. I have complete strangers at restaurants and grocery stores come up to me and say how fantastic our broadcast is. It’s truly amazing and humbling. It is a great service to our community.”