Students, parents, alumni and all Hilltopper fans looking forward to following their favorite St. Edward’s University team this year will have a new and more interactive way to do so.

The St. Edward’s Athletics Department has entered its fourth year of partnership with Stretch Internet, a company that provides services in online streaming.

This year, Stretch Internet has introduced an updated service called Game Central, an all-in-one interface with live stats, audio, chat and video. In past years, Hilltopper fans would have to open up two different windows for live stats and live audio.

Even though there are many services that Game Central provides, St. Edward’s has chosen to utilize live stats, audio and chat.

“The idea is to eventually go to video,” Sports Information Director Logan Lawrence said. “For now, we are setting the foundation to make that move.”

Another feature available through Game Central is the ability to access it using an iPhone.

However, the new interface and features come with a price. It costs five dollars to follow a single game live. Season passes can be purchased for $40 to $75 depending on the sport a fan wishes to follow, and fans can also buy an All Sports All Year Pass for a one-time fee of $125.

Lawrence says fans are charged to access live stats and audio to offset costs for providing coverage of away games.

Game Central will be currently available for all home games and a select number of away games.

Although Game Central is available to everyone, St. Edward’s parents make up a large portion of its users.

In addition to Game Central, the Athletics Department is utilizing other media and social networking sites. They have a Facebook fan page on which they post events for athletics home games. Fans can also post comments on their wall.

The Athletics Department also uses Twitter and YouTube in an effort to interact with fans.

On YouTube, the athletic department posts videos of not only game clips, but also interviews and profiles of St. Edward’s athletes.