If your school streams on the NFHS Network, you probably already have a film platform, and it costs nothing. PlayOn Sports, which runs the NFHS Network and MaxPreps, says MaxPreps Advantage is included at no additional cost for NFHS Network schools: coaching film, telestration, athlete access, highlight playlists and unlimited storage. The paid piece is basketball Advanced Breakdowns at $600 per team per season, logged by human operators and delivered within about 12 hours. The catch is not the price. It is the film-exchange network your conference already uses.
| MaxPreps Advantage, basketball | What it costs |
|---|---|
| All Access film (coach and athlete film, telestration, playlists) | Free for NFHS Network schools |
| Film storage, games and practice | Unlimited, included |
| Cameras | Provided to NFHS Network high schools at no charge |
| Advanced Breakdowns (shot charts, plus-minus, stats linked to clips) | $600 per team per season |
| JV and other levels | Same $600 rate per team |
| Per-game fees | None listed |
Checked 17 September 2026 against the MaxPreps Advantage basketball page, PlayOn's June 9, 2026 announcement and the NFHS Network school FAQ.
Why most coaches have never heard of it
The NFHS Network is the thing parents pay for to watch games. Most coaches think of it as a streaming service that happens to live in the gym. What changed in June 2026 is that PlayOn repositioned the whole bundle around the athletic director: streaming, ticketing, MaxPreps stats and now MaxPreps Advantage film under one roof, with the film side included for schools that already stream on the network.
The distribution is the story. Pixellot, the camera maker behind most NFHS Network gyms, says its partnership with PlayOn covers more than 16,000 systems at more than 9,000 US high schools, extended for five more years in November 2025. The NFHS Network FAQ says it provides the camera head, computer, scoring device and installation to high schools at no charge. Middle schools pay $5,000 per camera. If your gym has a Pixellot camera bolted to the wall, your games are likely already being recorded to a place you have never logged into.
What is free, exactly
The All Access tier is the free part. MaxPreps lists:
- Full coaching film access, on multiple devices
- Telestration and annotation tools
- Film access for athletes
- Shareable highlight playlists
- Unlimited storage for games and practice
- Manual uploads from other platforms, camcorders and iPads
Unlimited storage deserves a second look. Hudl's cheapest high school plan now includes 150 hours, and storage is the ceiling multi-team programs hit first. A free tier with no storage ceiling changes what a JV coach can keep.
PlayOn also announced AI-generated recaps. Varsity basketball programs get a SportsCenter-style game recap and a team highlight reel featuring every made basket. That is a marketing and community asset for the program's social accounts, not a scouting tool, and it should be evaluated as one.
What $600 buys
Advanced Breakdowns is the paid layer, and the feature list is closer to Hudl's breakdown service than most coaches assume:
- Shot charts with zone efficiency
- Plus-minus tracking by player
- Auto-generated stats: field goal and three-point percentage, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers
- Quarter and game-situation filtering
- Opponent stats
- Stat numbers that click through to the video clip
MaxPreps says the stats are logged by human operators, not AI, that it targets 95% or better accuracy, and that film, stats and breakdowns are ready within 12 hours for NFHS Network games. PlayOn's announcement put it at 8 to 12 hours. There are no per-game fees, and JV teams are billed at the same $600.
The math against Hudl and QwikCut
Here is what a single program pays for film plus breakdowns of its own games, using each vendor's published prices.
| Scenario | MaxPreps Advantage | Hudl Silver+ | QwikCut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varsity, film only | $0 | $1,500 | $349 |
| Varsity, film plus own-game breakdowns | $600 | $1,500 (included) | about $1,298 ($349 plus $949 breakdowns) |
| Varsity and JV, both with breakdowns | $1,200 | $1,500 or $3,000, depending on what Hudl counts as one program | not compared |
| Storage | Unlimited | 150 hours | 125 hours |
| Opponent scouting breakdowns | Opponent stats listed | Gold+ at $2,500 | Higher breakdown tier |
On price alone, MaxPreps wins every row for a school that already streams on the NFHS Network. That is not a close call. The reason it does not win every vote is in the next section.
The catch: film exchange
In August 2026 the Forest Grove School District in Oregon priced both options for its high school. The staff memo in the board packet lists a MaxPreps and NFHS one-year agreement at $600 per sport per season plus $2,000 a year for cameras, approximately $8,600 for one year, against a Hudl three-year agreement at $18,000 a year, $54,000 total. The board approved Hudl, 4-0 with one abstention.
The memo's argument was not features. It was that Hudl is the industry standard for the 6A level and the tri-county area, ensuring compatibility with all conference and non-conference video sharing needs. The approved minutes also record that MaxPreps was determined to have a higher projected three-year cost, a conclusion the memo's own one-year figures do not obviously support. Either way, the lesson for a coach is the same: the exchange network decides, not the price sheet.
If your conference trades opponent film on Hudl, dropping Hudl does not save $1,500. It costs you opponent film. Before you pitch MaxPreps to your AD, answer one question honestly: where does your opponent film come from today?
The other catches
1. The free tier is for NFHS Network schools. If your school does not stream on the network, the pricing above does not apply as listed. Ask your AD before you plan around it.
2. Away games still need a camera. Games in gyms without an NFHS Network camera have to be recorded some other way and uploaded manually. MaxPreps accepts camcorder and iPad uploads, but somebody still has to film and upload.
3. It is a contract, not a checkout. MaxPreps says access follows a signed agreement, with the training team providing platform access within one to two days. Build that into your preseason timeline.
4. Your stats become public. MaxPreps is a public stats site. For most high school programs that is a feature, since conferences often expect stats there. If you guard your numbers, know where they end up.
5. Opponent scouting is thinner. "Opponent stats" is on the list, but we could not confirm how opponent film access works across schools on the platform. If scouting film is the job, ask for a demo that shows an opponent's game, not your own.
Who should use it
- Your school streams on the NFHS Network and your conference does not require Hudl: start here. It may be the best-value film setup in high school basketball this season.
- Your conference exchanges on Hudl: keep Hudl for exchange, and ask whether MaxPreps can take over JV and freshman film, where unlimited storage and $600 breakdowns beat buying more Hudl capacity.
- You have no camera and no budget: ask your AD about the NFHS Network before you buy anything. The camera may be free.
- You need tagged opponent scouting at depth: this is not that product yet. Price Hudl Gold+ or a dedicated scouting service.
Where HoopBrief fits
HoopBrief does not host or tag film and is not a substitute for any of the above. Film platforms give you video and a box score. HoopBrief answers the question they leave to the coach, what to do about a specific matchup, from public statistical and play-by-play data, with no film to upload.
If your film bill just dropped, put a small part of the savings where the decisions are. Starter is $9.99 a month for unlimited scouting questions with attack and guard plans. Pro is $99 a month for all 12 coaching lenses, positioning IQ cues and unlimited saved reports. See plans and get started, or try the free scout first. If you are weighing platforms, read what changed in Hudl's high school plans and the cheapest basketball film platforms.