Omaha Storm Chasers

Background

Nicholas Badders, Broadcast and Media Relations Manager for the Omaha Storm Chasers, plays a central role in shaping the team’s fan experience. Like many professionals in minor league baseball, his responsibilities span play-by-play commentary, public relations, communications, and team operations.

With over a decade of experience in professional baseball-including international broadcasting in Australia, Nicholas brings a clear philosophy to his work: deliver a product that feels as close to Major League quality as possible.

While Nicholas has used Mixlr since 2018 in previous roles, he has been instrumental in bringing the platform to the Storm Chasers, where it has been used since 2023 to enhance the team’s broadcast offering.

The Challenge

For the Storm Chasers, success is driven both by performance on the field and the quality of the experience they deliver to fans. While the team can’t control the outcome of every game, they place a strong emphasis on creating a polished, professional broadcast that reflects the highest standards of the sport.

Key challenges included:

• Creating a top-tier broadcast experience at the AAA level
• Reaching fans beyond the stadium and local market
• Providing a seamless listening experience for both remote and in-stadium audience
• Finding a platform that enables real-time interaction with fans

Traditional radio and legacy streaming solutions offered limited flexibility, minimal discoverability, and lacked the tools needed to truly engage a modern, digital-first audience.

The Solution

Mixlr provided a flexible, digital-first broadcasting platform that aligned perfectly with the Storm Chasers’ goals.

With Mixlr, the team was able to:

• Stream games globally with no geographic limitations
• Offer a dedicated, easy-to-use listening experience via web and app
• Improve discoverability through Mixlr’s platform and search features
• Deliver low-latency audio, ideal for in-stadium listeners
• Create a more interactive broadcast through live chat

Seamless Implementation & Key Features

Transitioning to Mixlr was straightforward, building on Nicholas’s previous experience with the platform.

Implementation highlights:

• A dedicated channel URL (stormchasers.mixlr.com)
• Embedded player integration on the team’s website
• Game-specific events created for every broadcast
• Custom artwork for each event, making it clear, engaging, and easy for fans to follow the schedule
• Promotion through social media and in-stadium messaging

Creating individual events for each game significantly boosted listenership compared to simply going live, even when games were also broadcast on radio.

Professional Setup, Simplified

Despite the complexity of live sports broadcasting, Mixlr keeps things simple on the technical side.

The Storm Chasers run a single, streamlined broadcast per game-covering pregame, live play-by-play, and postgame analysis-all within one event.

Benefits of this approach:

• Minimal engineering overhead
• Consistent listener experience
• Easy broadcast management for small teams

This simplicity is especially valuable in minor league environments, where staff often juggle multiple roles.

Key Features Include

Mixlr’s feature set plays a crucial role in enhancing both production quality and fan engagement.

• Low latency streaming - providing audio for both fans unable to attend and those listening in the stadium
• Live chat functionality - enabling direct interaction with fans
• Listener analytics - including audience size and geographic data
• Cross-platform access - via web and mobile app

The chat feature is particularly impactful in baseball, where natural pauses in play create opportunities for live Q&A and deeper fan connection.

Game-Changing Impact

Since adopting Mixlr, the Storm Chasers have seen meaningful improvements across both audience growth and engagement.

• Increased listenership driven by event-based broadcasts
• Stronger fan interaction through live chat
• Valuable audience insights for sponsorship and sales teams
• Expanded global reach beyond local radio limitations

Listener data - such as volume and location-is now used directly in sponsorship pitches, adding measurable value to the broadcast.

Conclusion: Why Mixlr?

For the Storm Chasers, Mixlr isn’t just a streaming tool - it’s a core part of delivering a modern, fan-first experience.

Mixlr stands out for its:

• Ease of use for both broadcasters and listeners
• High-quality, low-latency streaming
• Built-in engagement tools like chat
• Ability to scale reach globally
• Strong value compared to traditional radio