Huntsville General Committee postpones decision about using LiveBarn for arena sports events

It was revealed that the free service would cost the town $4400 per year

Huntsville General Committee postponed a decision about using LiveBarn for sports events, in the November 26, 2025, meeting.

Last September a representative of the Huntsville Girls Hockey Association approached the Town about installing the LiveBarn video streaming platform for recording sports events at both arenas in the Canada Summit Centre, at no cost to the municipality.

LiveBarn, based in Montreal, is a subscription-based service allowing the public to watch live games through their app, according to the staff report. It adds that it’s “is the world’s largest broadcaster of youth and amateur sports,”

If approved there would be a video camera placed in each arena and controlled by staff to ensure it’s not left on. This is imperative because of an incident in the City of Waterloo where cameras were left on from May until July and recorded other events such as their Youth Day Camp.

Today, in addition to staff requesting permission to enter into a 6-year agreement with LiveBarn, they indicated it would require 154 hours of staff time and cost the Town $4400, which would be included in the 2027 P/T Customer Service Representative budget.

LiveBarn also stipulates that the Town promote the company in exchange for a 20% commission of public memberships, on the condition that their code be used for it to be applicable, reported staff.

The report adds, “The highest revenue from a municipality to date has been approximately $2,000/year. Some Towns do not receive revenue. The more you market the greater chance of a return for LiveBarn.”

Councillor, Monty Clouthier, pointed out the requirement of staff time needed for the service and at a cost to taxpayers. He asked, “Why are taxpayers paying for a service that another company sits back and gains revenue from it, when the Town is doing the work turning it on and off?”

Council members also indicated that the $2,000 revenue reported was likely from a large city like Barrie with more potential for memberships than a small Town like Huntsville and agreed that the cost shouldn’t go to taxpayers.

Councillor, Helena Renwick, expressed concern because the September presentation indicated “it wasn’t going to cost us anything, and now it is.”

She added that the staff hours indicated is “a ballpark – we don’t know for sure.”

Committee agreed to postpone a decision and directed staff to investigate a cost recovery model.