Rock Island Today

This season, all Rock Island football games will be available to listen to via live streaming.

QCSportsNet will broadcast the complete Rocks slate after doing a partial schedule last season. According to a news release on the Rock Island Schools website, QCSportsNet also will broadcast all the Rock Island boys' basketball games and at least nine girls' basketball games. The network will also carry complete football playoffs, and boys' and girls' basketball state tournament games,  Ken Jacoby, play-by-play announcer for Rock Island games, said in an email interview with Rock Island Today.

It's another sign of the fast expansion of QCSportsNet and live streaming in general.

QCSportsNet began in December 2013 with coverage of the Mississippi Athletic Conference, focusing on boys' and girls' basketball for Pleasant Valley, Bettendorf, North Scott and Davenport Assumption for that school year. For the 2014-15 seasons, QCSportsNet also began covering the Western Big 6 Conference and football.

Then, last year, QCSportsNet added United Township, Pleasant Valley and Rock Island basketball, with Rock Island football coverage starting a few games into the season.

“Last season, we put together the logistics and the sponsors in time to begin carrying Rock Island football, starting with the fourth game of the season,” Jacoby said. “The business community has been very supportive.”

So have listeners. According to QCSportsNet.com, the United Township-Chicago Simeon Super Sectional boys' basketball game in March drew 2,170 unique visitors. That was a single-game record for QCSportsNet's online-hosting provider, Network1Sports, which has carried more than 40,000 games since starting in 2005 and has 247 channels in 33 states, per QCSportsNet.com.

Jacoby, who was the radio play-by-play announcer for the Quad City Mallards in 2001-04, will be in his fifth season of calling Rock Island games. He started with WYEC with the 2013-14 boys' basketball season. He then called mostly Rock Island, plus other Western Big 6 Conference schools, in football and boys basketball the following school year.

Christensen will handle the call of Pleasant Valley games, while Joe Winkel and Tanner Rowe will announce for United Township. That's the same lineup as last season, according to QCSportsNet.com. In addition, Quad City River Bandits play-by-play announcer Jake Levy will join the team this season.

“I think as people discover that there is a source for quality, professional play-by-play coverage of their favorite schools in the Quad Cities, they have continued to gravitate to us,” Jacoby said. “Plus, people are getting more comfortable with a more non-traditional means of listening, and more people have mobile devices they can use to tune in anywhere. We're certainly expecting further increases in listenership this season.”

Jacoby said expansion of coverage will depend on sponsorship and size of the on-air talent stable.

“We would like to expand to cover more schools, but we also don't want to get too big, too fast.,” he said. “We don't want to risk the quality of the play-by-play by stretching our personnel too thin. We also don't want any risk of not giving our sponsors the full service they deserve.”

The Rocks open the season at Alton at 7 p.m. Aug. 28. To follow games this season, go to www.QCSportsNet.com, or facebook.com/QCSportsNet.