The Hidden Costs of a Fragmented Athletics Tech Stack

High school athletic departments are being asked to do more than ever, often with the same (or shrinking) budgets and many are relying on a fragmented athletics tech stack to do it. Streaming games, selling tickets, managing schedules, tracking stats, engaging fans, and supporting coaches all require technology. But when each need is solved by a different vendor, the hidden costs start to add up. 

On paper, a fragmented athletics tech stack may look manageable: a ticketing platform here, a streaming service there, a stats provider somewhere else. While each tool may solve a specific need, together they often create more cost, more work, and more complexity than athletic departments are ready to handle.  

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• More Vendors, More Time Spent Managing
• Redundant Training and Onboarding Across Platforms 
• How Fragmented Systems Create Data Silos 
• What an Integrated Athletics Tech Stack Looks Like 
• The Hidden Cost of Fragmentation 
• How Integrated Athletics Technology Creates Budget Freedom

More Vendors, More Time Spent Managing 

At first glance, adding a new platform can feel like a quick fix, but in reality, an additional vendor adds ongoing management overhead. Bringing on a new vendor means another contract, another system, another point of contact, and another set of processes to manage. Athletic departments already operate lean. When technology is fragmented, valuable time is spent:  

• Coordinating with multiple account managers 
• Troubleshooting issues across different systems
• Tracking different contracts, renewals, and invoices on different timelines

Time spent chasing answers or reconciling systems is time not spent improving the game-day experience or supporting coaches and athletes. 

Redundant Onboarding and Training Across Platforms 

Every platform comes with its own workflows, permissions, and learning curve. With multiple vendors in place, onboarding never truly ends. 

This leads to: 

• Repeated training for staff, coaches, and volunteers 
• Inconsistent usage across teams and seasons
• Increased reliance on a few "power users" who know how everything fits together 

When staff turnover happens, the burden resets. New athletic directors and event staff must learn several systems instead of one. 

How Fragmented Systems Create Data Silos

Athletic departments generate meaningful data every season — but fragmented systems prevent schools from using it effectively.  Ticketing data lives in one place. Streaming engagement lives in another. Stats, schedules, and fan communication live somewhere else entirely. 

Without connected data, schools struggle to: 

• Understand attendance and sales trends 
• Prove program impact to administrators and communities 
• Make informed decisions about staffing, scheduling, and investment 

The result is manual reporting, disconnected insights, or decisions made without the full picture. 

What an Integrated Athletics Tech Stack Looks Like 

An integrated athletics tech stack brings core functions together. Ticketing, streaming, schedules, stats, and fan engagement talk to each other in one ecosystem.  

Instead of managing multiple vendors, athletic departments operate from a shared foundation where: 

• Data flows across systems  
• Staff use consistent tools and workflows 
• Fans experience a seamless journey from discovering a game to attending or watching it 

PlayOn was built around this exact need. By connecting solutions like GoFan, the NFHS Network, and MaxPreps, schools reduce administrative burden while gaining visibility across their entire athletics program without adding cost or complexity. 

The Hidden Cost of Fragmentation 

When evaluated individually, platforms may appear affordable. But stacked together, the real cost becomes clear: 

• Time lost managing systems 
• Redundant training 
• Missed opportunities due to disconnected data

How Integrated Athletics Technology Creates Budget Freedom

Budget freedom is more than just dollars. With PlayOn’s integrated approach, schools don’t have to choose between controlling costs and delivering a great experience. Ticketing, streaming, stats, and fan engagement work together, helping athletic departments keep more revenue, reduce overhead, and reinvest savings where they matter most. 

When schools rely on multiple vendors, costs add up quickly — annual platform fees, add-on tools, service charges, and overlapping functionality that quietly drains tight budgets. Even when individual solutions seem affordable, the combined spend often exceeds expectations.  

An integrated athletics tech stack helps reverse that trend. By consolidating core functions into a connected ecosystem, schools can: 

• Reduce or eliminate redundant software costs 
• Avoid paying multiple vendors for overlapping capabilities
• Simplify budgeting with fewer contracts and predictable pricing
  

Final Thoughts 

Just as important, operational savings translate directly into financial impact. Less time spent managing vendors, reconciling reports, and retraining staff means fewer labor hours lost to administrative work — and more capacity to support events, programs, and athletes. 

True budget freedom isn’t just about line items and invoices; it’s about getting more value from every dollar and every hour. 

Discover how an integrated athletics tech stack can help your high school gain true budget freedom with PlayOn.