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Noah Katz is the founder of The Umpire Channel, a sports-media brand built around a perspective fans rarely see: the officials working behind the game.
Katz started umpiring as a teenager and founded The Umpire Channel in 2022. What began as baseball-umpiring content has since expanded into a much larger project covering officials across professional sports.
As of 2026, The Umpire Channel’s official website reports more than 430,000 followers and 350 million views worldwide. An April 2026 profile reported the audience had grown beyond 450,000 followers and 400 million views across platforms.
Katz has also gone from documenting umpires to working high-profile games himself, including Savannah Bananas events at Major League ballparks.
So who is Noah Katz, and how did an umpire-focused social account become a large sports-media platform?
Who Is Noah Katz?
Noah Katz is a baseball umpire, content creator and the founder/CEO of The Umpire Channel.
His connection to umpiring started before the channel existed.
Katz grew up playing baseball and began umpiring in the same local Little League where he had played. He has said that he started working games at 16 years old, alongside some of the same umpires who had officiated his games when he was younger.
The experience exposed him to a side of baseball that most fans rarely think about.
In a 2023 profile, Clark University reported that Katz became fascinated by umpiring’s distinct culture and community and wondered why more people did not know about that world.
That eventually became the idea behind The Umpire Channel.
When Did Noah Katz Start The Umpire Channel?
Katz founded The Umpire Channel in the summer of 2022.
According to the channel’s official website, Katz had experienced umpire shortages both as a baseball player and as an umpire. He created the channel partly to bring more attention to sports officials and their work.
The early operation was considerably smaller than what exists today.
Katz later described starting with an iPhone and his younger brother, filming a video at his local baseball field encouraging people to become umpires. Within months, the project had given him opportunities to create content with officials at levels ranging from Little League to Major League Baseball.
The idea had a clear differentiator:
Instead of building another baseball account around players, highlights or statistics, Katz focused the camera on the people making the calls.
How Big Is The Umpire Channel?
The growth has been substantial.
The numbers also provide a useful timeline of how quickly the project expanded.
| Period | Reported reach |
|---|---|
| October 2023 | 130,000 followers / 60 million views |
| March 2024 | 100,000 followers / 60 million views |
| June 2024 | 200,000 followers / 100 million views |
| Official site in 2026 | 430,000+ followers / 350 million views |
| April 2026 report | 450,000+ followers / 400 million views |
The figures come from contemporary Clark University coverage, Katz’s own channel descriptions, The Umpire Channel website and a 2026 profile.
Because these figures refer to audiences across social-media platforms, they should not be confused with YouTube subscribers alone.
The Umpire Channel currently describes itself as a sports-entertainment platform telling the stories of officials behind the game.
What Does The Umpire Channel Actually Cover?
The original article overcomplicated this.
The easiest way to understand the channel is that it gives viewers access to the world of officiating.
Katz has filmed and interviewed umpires and players from youth baseball through Major League Baseball. Clark University described his work as taking cameras into ballparks around the country to interview officials and players at different levels of the sport.
The channel also publishes behind-the-scenes material.
For example, Katz’s video about umpiring at Fenway Park follows his experience working a Savannah Bananas event in front of approximately 37,000 fans, including his arrival at Fenway, locker-room access, pregame preparation and the game itself.
That first-person access is a major difference between The Umpire Channel and a generic baseball-rules website.
The viewer isn’t only being told what umpires do.
The viewer gets to see parts of the officiating environment that are normally off camera.
Noah Katz and the Savannah Bananas
One of the clearest examples of the channel crossing over into Katz’s own umpiring career is his work with the Savannah Bananas.
After initially connecting with the organization to create content, Katz eventually had the opportunity to umpire Bananas games himself.
On June 8, 2024, he umpired a Savannah Bananas game at Fenway Park in front of roughly 37,000 people.
His involvement continued.
A 2025 report described Katz umpiring Savannah Bananas games in Richmond, while Clark University’s 2026 commencement profile said he had also worked a Bananas game in front of 100,000 fans at the University of Tennessee’s football stadium.
That progression is notable because The Umpire Channel didn’t remain purely commentary about officiating.
Its founder increasingly became part of the officiating experiences he was documenting.
The Channel Has Expanded Beyond Baseball
The name “The Umpire Channel” reflects its baseball origins, but by 2026 the project was no longer limited to baseball.
Katz told Williamsburg Yorktown Daily that the channel had worked with:
- NBA referees
- NHL referees
- Professional soccer referees
The April 2026 report described collaborations involving the NBA and NHL as Katz expanded the channel’s coverage of officiating across sports.
Clark University’s 2026 profile similarly reported that Katz was collaborating with leagues including the NHL and NBA.
That makes the current entity broader than the old article suggests.
The Umpire Channel started as an umpiring project.
It is increasingly an officials-focused sports-media brand.
Does Noah Katz Teach People How to Become Umpires?
Yes.
Education remains part of the project.
The Umpire Channel offers a nine-part course covering subjects including:
- Why someone might become an umpire
- How to get started
- Umpire equipment
- Dealing with parents, coaches and players
- Improving and moving up
- How the path toward MLB umpiring works
The official site currently lists the nine-lesson course at $29.99.
Katz has also said that encouraging new people to become umpires was part of the original motivation for the channel.
This matters because the project isn’t simply built around controversial calls or umpire mistakes.
Recruitment and education have been part of its identity from the beginning.
Why Did The Umpire Channel Stand Out?
The strongest explanation doesn’t require speculating about algorithms or claiming Katz has a particular teaching style without evidence.
The concept itself is unusual.
Most mainstream sports coverage focuses on:
players → coaches → teams → results
The Umpire Channel shifts the perspective to:
officials → preparation → decision-making → careers → behind-the-scenes access
Katz described his ambition in 2024 as covering major sporting events from the perspective of umpires and referees and telling stories that had not traditionally received that attention.
That gives the project a clear content niche.
It also helps explain why expansion into basketball, hockey and soccer makes sense without abandoning the original idea.
The sport changes.
The central subject—the officials behind it—does not.
Noah Katz’s Growth From Student Creator to Full-Time Operator
The channel also developed while Katz was attending Clark University.
Clark profiled him repeatedly during his time there, including his work with The Umpire Channel and his involvement in the university’s cross-country program.
He graduated from Clark in 2026.
After graduation, Katz said he was moving to working on The Umpire Channel full time. His plans included more Savannah Bananas work, MLB All-Star Week coverage and continued expansion into other sports.
That marks an important change in the story of the channel.
What started as a teenage side project became Katz’s full-time professional focus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Noah Katz?
Noah Katz is an umpire, content creator and founder/CEO of The Umpire Channel, a sports-media platform focused on umpires, referees and other officials.
When did Noah Katz start umpiring?
Katz has said he began umpiring at age 16 in the same local Little League where he had grown up playing baseball.
When was The Umpire Channel founded?
Katz founded The Umpire Channel in the summer of 2022.
How big is The Umpire Channel?
The channel’s official website currently reports more than 430,000 followers and 350 million views worldwide. A separate April 2026 profile reported more than 450,000 followers and 400 million views across platforms, illustrating that the totals continue to change as the channel grows.
Has Noah Katz umpired professional games?
Katz has umpired Savannah Bananas games at major venues, including Fenway Park. His own 2024 video describes the Fenway game as taking place in front of 37,000 fans.
Is The Umpire Channel only about baseball?
No.
Although the project began around baseball umpiring, by 2026 Katz was also producing or collaborating on content involving NBA, NHL and professional soccer officials.
Does The Umpire Channel offer umpire training?
Yes. Its official website offers a nine-lesson umpiring course covering entry into officiating, equipment, communication, career development and the path toward higher levels of baseball umpiring.