Curling Streaming Service Shutting Down

After more than a decade, the 12th End Sports Network is closing its doors.

The dedicated U.S. curling livestream service made the announcement on its social media accounts.

“For eleven years, we (Brian D. Anderson and Joe Calabrese) have been motivated by one goal, elevate the level of curling viewing in the United States,” the post read. “We are proud of what TESN.US has been able to accomplish from a shoestring budget and with so many ideas that were and have yet to be fully realized.

“We are sad to say we will be shutting down TESN.US in the next couple of months. We don’t take this decision lightly and understand the potential ramifications this decision may have on future coverage of national curling events.”

The 12th End Sports Network was named after a Calabrese curling mishap. The recreational skip from the Rochester Curling Club once threw a winning attempt at an open house in the 11th end of a playoff game, only to see the stone slide through the house, forcing a 12th (second extra) end of play.

TESN became known as the official webstream supplier to USA Curling. This was particularly valuable in years where television partner NBC did not elect to cover the final playoff weekend of the major (men’s and women’s team) championships.

In years where NBC did televise the playoffs, TESN was still on site from the start of the men’s and women’s nationals, providing live streaming coverage of the round robin.

In addition to coverage of other U.S. championships, TESN created and maintained multiple regional channels, giving streaming and hosting opportunities to recreational club leagues in New York, Indiana, Washington, Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina and other states—plus international locations such as Dumfries, Scotland.

TESN’s farewell post paid tribute to past commentary talent, producers, production crew members and other volunteers. It also gave a nod to Price Atkinson, a football radio host with an interest in curling who became a key contributor. Atkinson and Calabrese also teamed with Dustin Tomasetti to delivered the 12th End Sports Network’s Extra Extra End podcast, which has partnered with The Curling News/Sports Illustrated over the past two seasons.

Reaction from the U.S. curling community has been swift, with both recreational and high-performance curlers expressing disappointment and profound thanks.

“This is a sad day,” posted TCNSI contributor John Benton. “I was recently retelling a story about the amazing evolution of streaming in the sport and how instrumental you guys were for USA Curling. In so many ways, the sport would not be where it is without you two.

“Thanks again for the countless hours in the booth, setting up, tearing down, and innovating for us all. Thank you for all that you have done to bring curling to the masses.”

“What I’d like to say is how humbling it is to hear from so many curlers all over the country who took something from our efforts,” Calabrese told The Curling News. “Curling is a great community.”

“I’ll echo Joe’s sentiment about the curling community,” said Anderson, a fellow curler at Calabrese’s Rochester facility and the technical side of the partnership. “I’ve always been proud to say I mingle with the best curlers in the U.S.

“On a technical note, there are so many ideas I had that I hope get realized someday,” Anderson told The Curling News. “I wanted to automatically detect rocks and track them. Then use that data in the broadcast. There is so much potential out there and I hope people are working on it and we will see the continued growth over the years.

“TESN has given me so much over the years, and I hope that the curling world continues to improve their broadcasts and fully utilize the technology and talent that is out there.”

TESN’s post indicated uncertainty over a future relationship with USA Curling, which led to their decision to close shop.

“(But) to be totally honest, we’ve seen too many decisions at the highest levels of USA Curling that questioned our desire to continue,” the post read.

“We’ve seen a trusted partner do a number of things that directly affected our webcast quality in a negative way and the lack of commitment and communication with us over the last year and a half did not give us the confidence we needed to take the financial risk moving forward.

“Without being able to get a clear commitment, it seems we aren’t what USA Curling is looking for going forward at this time, and that is OK. We are proud of the work we did over the years. No regrets.”   

The 12th End Sports Network won the PTZOptics Streaming Award for Best Sports Stream in 2017.