Channel setup #

Before you schedule your first match, set up how your channel looks to fans and how it handles money and time. This guide covers the settings you configure once and rarely need to change.

Everything here is under Settings, pinned at the bottom of the sidebar. Its Channel section holds General, Teams and leagues, Tags, Categories, Integrations, Theme and Support Templates.

Before you start #

Set up your channel #

1. Open Theme

   Go to Settings > Channel > Theme.

2. Set your display name and logo

   Enter the Channel display name. This is the channel name fans see. Upload your Channel Logo.

3. Set your look

   Use Select colour for your brand colour and pick a Theme font. Add a Cover image desktop and a Cover image mobile, and choose whether to Show welcome text on cover. You can also add up to two sponsors. Select Save.

4. Open General

   Go to Settings > Channel > General.

5. Set currency, time zone and statement text

   Choose your Currency and Time-zone, and enter a Statement descriptor. Switch on Enable the sale of plans if you will sell plans. Select Save.

6. Check your channel

   Open your public channel in a new tab and check that it looks the way you want.

Theme settings #

Found under Settings > Channel > Theme.

Channel display name text

The name of your channel as fans see it. Usually your club's name, for example "Riverside FC TV".

Channel Logo image

Your club's crest or logo. The recommended size is 256 x 256px.

Select colour colour

The colour used across your channel's theme.

Theme font choice

The font your channel uses.

Cover image desktop and Cover image mobile image

The cover images shown on your channel, one for large screens and one for phones.

Show welcome text on cover switch

Shows welcome text over your cover image.

Channel display name, Channel Logo and Cover image desktop are required. Save sits next to Cancel and only becomes active once you change something. The "Fan centre preview" gives a rough idea of how your channel will look; check the real channel after saving.

Sponsors #

"If added, two sponsor logos will be visible in the top right corner of your fan centre." Each sponsor has:

Sponsor image 1 and Sponsor image 2 image

The sponsor's logo.

Text text

Text shown with the logo, for example "Sponsored by".

URL link

Where the logo links to, usually the sponsor's website.

Text position choice

Where the text sits relative to the logo.

General settings #

Found under Settings > Channel > General. Save changes with Save.

Currency choice

All prices, transactions and financial records on your channel use this currency.

Time-zone choice

The time zone the dashboard's date and time pickers start from when you set up streams and scheduling profiles. Set it to your club's local time.

Statement descriptor text

A suffix of up to 9 characters that appears on fans' bank statements.

Enable the sale of plans switch

Turns plan sales on for your channel.

Enable maintenance mode switch

Shows fans a holding screen instead of your channel, with a title and text you set.

General has no channel name, description or language field. The name fans see is the Channel display name in Theme.

Organising your content #

Two settings help fans find their way around once you have a few matches and replays:

• Categories group your on-demand content. Every replay needs one.
• Tags are labels you can attach to streams and media.

You do not have to set these up before your first broadcast. See On-demand for how categories apply to replays.

Tags #

Go to Settings > Channel > Tags. The list shows each tag with its Tagged items count and Date created, and has a "Search tags" box.

• Add a tag: select Add new tag.
• Rename a tag: click its name, or the pencil icon, type the new name and press Enter.
• Delete tags: tick one or more rows. The bar shows how many items are selected; select Delete and confirm.

Categories #

Go to Settings > Channel > Categories. The page works the same way as Tags: "Search category", Add new category, the Items in Category count and Date created, rename by clicking the name ("Category updated"), and tick rows to delete several at once.

Under "Default", use Select default category to pick the category live streams get when they become on-demand replays. You cannot delete the default category.

Tags and categories in use #

You cannot delete a tag or category that still has media attached. The dashboard tells you it could not be removed and asks you to move the media first. Select Go to media to open Your media filtered to that tag or category, change each item's category or tags, then try again. To move one item quickly, use Change category in its row menu; see Editing and sharing media.

Channel information #

Go to Settings and, under Account, open the page titled "Channel information". Fields marked as required must be filled in before you Save.

Channel name text Required

The name shown in the dashboard's channel switcher, at the top of the sidebar. Fans see the Channel display name from Theme instead.

Website URL link

Your club's website. Your fan site uses it as its home link.

Support email email Required

Under "Contact information": "This information is used for your audience to contact you in case of issues."

Support number text

A phone number for support.

Terms and Conditions link and Privacy Policy link link

Links to your club's own terms and privacy policy.

Address text

"This information is used for legal matters." Address Line 1 is required; Address Line 2, Suburb, City/Town, Province/State, Country and Postal code complete it.

Data and bandwidth #

Go to Settings and, under Account, open the page titled "Data and bandwidth". It shows how much of your allowance you have used.

• "Your usage" has three gauges for the current billing period: Bandwidth, Stream time (hours) and Data storage, each against your limit.
• Below them, monthly bar charts show Bandwidth, Stream time and Storage for each of the last 12 months. Any use over your limit shows separately in each bar.

If you are close to a limit, contact Matchday Live support.

Google Analytics #

You can send your fan site's traffic to your own Google Analytics 4 property.

1. Open Integrations

   Go to Settings > Channel > Integrations. The page lists "Active integrations" and "Available integrations". Google Analytics is the integration available.

2. Add Google Analytics

   On the Google Analytics card, select Add. The "Google Analytics 4 Configuration" page opens.

3. Enter your Measurement ID

   Enter your Measurement ID (it starts with G-), then select Save.

4. Check that it is on

   The first time you save, the integration is switched on and the page shows a Disable button. If it shows Enable instead, select it. The button only appears once an ID has been saved.

Disable switches the integration off in the dashboard, but it does not remove the Measurement ID from your fan site's settings. To stop your fan site reporting to a Google Analytics property, contact Matchday Live support.

Adding other admins #

To let colleagues help run the channel, go to Settings > Account > User management, select Add user, enter their First name, Last name and Email, choose a role, and select Invite. What each person sees in the dashboard depends on their role. See Team members and roles.

What comes next #

With your channel set up, add the teams and leagues you stream, then decide how fans pay to watch. A fixture asks for your team, league and opposition team, so set those up before you schedule one.