College athletes already have practice, classes, and games on the calendar. At the University of California, Berkeley, there’s now a place to fit in a Twitch stream, too.
Cal has opened an on-campus production studio where student-athletes across all sports can go live on the school’s StreamU channel. Announced Oct. 12, the space has 10 hours of weekly programming planned, including workouts, teammate challenges, gaming sessions, cooking contests, and campus tours.
The goal is to help athletes turn their personalities and interests into an audience — and potentially new business opportunities.
From the field to the livestream
The studio is the first on-campus facility from StreamU, a college athletics livestreaming network created by NIL platform TheLinkU in partnership with Twitch. UnlimitedIRL built the space, while TheLinkU handles contracts, fund distribution, and reporting for the network.
Athletes have access to professional cameras, lighting, audio, and a video switcher for multi-camera broadcasts. There’s also a PlayStation 5 gaming lounge and portable equipment for streaming around campus.
"Every athlete has a story worth streaming, and the barrier shouldn't be technical," said Taylor Webb, chief of operations at UnlimitedIRL, in the announcement. "We designed the Cal studio so student-athletes can share their story with fans and go live with a professional, multi-camera show. That's the model we're bringing to every StreamU campus."
Why a Twitch audience matters for college athletes
The business opportunity sits within NIL, short for name, image, and likeness. It allows athletes to earn compensation through sponsored posts, endorsements, and promotional appearances, among other activities. The NCAA adopted its interim NIL policy in 2021.
Some athletes have already demonstrated the value of an online following. Livvy Dunne built a huge social media audience while competing for LSU and signed partnerships with brands including Vuori. Basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder similarly paired their college careers with social media success, signing a multiyear Under Armour deal in 2024.
"College athletes are content creators," said StreamU chief revenue officer Landon Goesling in the announcement.
For StreamU, that overlap could even bring college rivalries into gaming. "Eventually, what we want to get to is: If Berkeley is getting ready to play UCLA, their starting wide receiver may be streaming against the football player over at UCLA and promoting to all fan bases," Goesling told NBC News.
Regular streams also offer a way to introduce fans to new players. "There’s new kids every year [in college sports]. There’s turnover," he added.
Cal is the starting point, with studios also planned at the University of Arkansas, Texas A&M University, Baylor University, and the University of Houston, according to the announcement.
That expansion raises a question about where content creation fits alongside athletes' existing commitments. Molly Harry, an assistant professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Sport Management, put it this way to NBC News:
"When does it become an opportunity and something that can be woven into more developmental components of who an athlete is, and when does it become this expectation or an informal norm that you have to be engaged in these spaces?"
Cal isn’t the first school to help athletes get comfortable in front of a camera. Clemson opened its Athletics Branding Institute in 2023, with photo and video studios, an audio suite, and space for media training. LSU's NILSU program offers "Content Days" where athletes learn to create for their social platforms.
Cal's approach puts that support into a regular livestreaming operation, with a dedicated Twitch channel and 10 hours of programming planned each week.
As more schools build out these spaces, it’ll be worth watching who takes the mic: athletes who already wanted to stream, or those who feel they can’t afford to sit it out.