The head to head format went over pretty well. The issue for a location doing this is then they have to have 2 machines of the same title. I'd like to try this format in my area at some point. You don't have to have a group of brand new machines, or at least I don't think you have to. We have 2 High Speeds that are both waiting on hardtops and then they will be finished up. We also have 2 Star Trek 25th games locally, which would also work, regardless of how well the game is liked. So just there I could put on a head to head event. One more set would be nice, but with 4 machines I could make it work.

If you want to get beyond the fact that each game has a unique layout and ruleset and dumb things down a little, again a heads up format looks pretty appealing. Not saying that is the only way to try and present the game, but it is a pretty low hanging format to try to explain.

I'd love for someone to take one of the heads-up streams I've done and compress them down to 30-45 minutes to see if something viable is there. I believe there is with the right commentators and setup.

Iron Maiden:

GotG:

IFPA 2017 Heads-Up Championships:

I've also got a short heads-up Paragon tournament but looks like I never uploaded it to YouTube. Oops.

You think there are "10s of millions of" lumberjack fans out there too? Me neither. Yet the competitions are still on TV.
It's sponsor driven to some extent. Stihl and Poulan can sell enough chainsaws to viewers, so they sponsor the show. Get sponsors interested in pinball and the dollars will start flowing. IFPA has a plan, we'll see how well it works in a year or two. Dos Equis https://www.dosequis.com/ sponsored the Bat City Open this year, GFUEL https://gfuel.com/ sponsored the New York City pinball championships this year.

Yes, I do it regularly, it's one of my passions. Competitive video game playing is a bigger part of my life than pinball (Street Fighter specifically).

I've written up my thoughts on what pinball could learn from video game streaming over on Tilt Forums before, since that's where people discuss tournament play more seriously. I would highly recommend watching eSports coverage if you're involved in pinball streaming and interested in looking for tips.

Edit: Troz is consistently doing great work and really at the forefront of good streaming ideas IMHO

Neither

Honestly, I think making pinball similar to esports presentation wise is a mistake. Pinball presented much in the way and editing that poker or Crossfit present themselves would fit the narrative much better. I'd even take it a step further, to have no more than a single caster that knows what they're talking about and can keep up with the action. The presentation would be much cleaner and crisp for the viewer compared to 2-4 people talking over and stumbling over each other when the action is very fast under the glass.

Watching through the first few pairs on Iron Maiden, I think there would be a little less than an hour there of content. I might see if I can give it a try in the next few days.

One of the things missing from pinball streaming is the sound. Also, ever notice how modern pinball machines shown in movies all have chimes like an EM instead of the real sounds. Putting 2 and 2 together, there might also be problems showing any tournament games with licensed themes on ESPN. Imagine the C&D letters coming from Planetary on that one?

Just from watching TONS of pinball broadcasts and having a background in theatre and TV, I believe the ONLY guys good enough to commentate "professionally" are Levi, Bowen, Jon Replogle and Adam Lefkoff ( sorry for the name butchering Adam).

Watched World Series of Poker over dinner. Two players were left in a hand and all five community cards were dealt face up. One had a straight and the other a 2 pair flush and guaranteed to win. The first player considered their bet for almost three minutes, just thinking and lots of tv close ups. They bet and then the flush holder thinks for two minutes - no action - and then raises. Back to the first player who thinks about it four minutes. Excruciating! More "action" in pinball

When I saw this thread a couple days back I immediately thought of the almighty Cornholio

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I like your philosophy. Model after success. That's a proven strategy. There's got to be other ideas to deconstruct about what works in esports and apply it to pinball.

Likely the biggest issue would be some of the music if its licensed. But that can be turned off.

Stern, and other pinball companies, would likely be well served with a public broadcasting policy. Basically remove the issue. Say "you can do this". Or, "you can do this, but AC/DC cannot have its music playing, but our sound fx can be on for television". Create a white list of pinballs cleared for broadcast.

Those guys are definitely good. Levi is probably my favorite to listen to, hilarious and has a ton of gameplay knowledge. But there are so many others outside of your list that are really good at commentating pinball.

I'm sure there are a lot of talented people, but if we are gonna get pinball televised we are gonna have to focus on just a few people, like " the voice of pinball" type of thing. But whatever works I'm all for. I just think people like familiarity and when they hear the same voices doing commentary, ( when done well) it's a good thing).

FORTNITE SEASON 4 STARTING SOON, DON'T GET TILTED (Towers)!

I blame you guys.

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Maybe the easiest solution would be to make a ROKU Pinball channel.

Every TV made in the last few years has Roku built in (and if your TV is old, you can buy the Roku box for $40). Roku is free to use, there is no cost to activate it, or watch all the thousands of free channels.

Just about every church on earth has it's own Roku channel, as does every other interest (Detroit Reality TV, Blind Cat Rescue, 70s Porn, Inside Jew, Fire Juggling, Live Bug Stomping, Mink vs. Rats, ......).

Have live show coverage from each weekend's expos.

Live competition coverage.

Have weekly shows on repairs or restorations.

Interview Steve Ritchie about dimples.

Give TNT Todd a hour a week.

Show people's cool collections.

Shows on rare games.

Weekly 1/2 hour news show of the latest pinball startup prepay scam.

Try to get footage of every pinball title ever made in action.

If you have content, it costs $29 a month to host/stream it out to the masses.
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How cool would it be to record in 4K (all the new TVs and Roku boxes are 4K) a weekly pinball show about servicing games?

Games out on route, games in people's houses covered in cat hair, or garage finds that have not been powered up in a decade.

Show the step by step process of deduction to get the game diagnosed.

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If you still have an old TV, get this 49" 4K TV with Roku $259:

https://www.costco.com/TCL-49%22-Class-(48.5%22-Diag.)-4K-Ultra-HD-Roku-LED-LCD-TV.product.100340002.html