Media Buying Briefing: High school sports media looks to graduate, but doesn’t yet have the national profile for big brand buy in

By Michael Bürgi

Remember how fun it was to go to a high-school football or basketball game, and how wildly into their home team all the fans were? That passion, it seems, is getting tapped into more and more by media agencies, media companies and brands, all of whom are looking for any edge in winning over new consumers.

In fact, high-school sports media coverage and advertising feels like it’s at a point where college sports was 20 years ago — and look at the marketing machine around March Madness or the college bowl series today.

But it remains a regional business — a sampling of major holding-company media agencies all took a pass on commenting, saying the efforts to organize high-school sports haven’t yet hit a level that attracts top-shelf national advertisers. Indeed, it’s hard to even find a stat indicating total high-school sports ad revenue, although a best guess is in the hundreds of millions of dollars still at this point. And not every state allows for multi-media rights deals to be cut with their high school sports associations.

That hasn’t stopped the companies looking to take media coverage to a more sophisticated level, most of which have been around for more than a decade, including PlayOn! Sports, PlayFly Sports Properties and others. And they’re beginning to attract a bigger caliber of advertiser, from Toyota regional dealerships connecting with high-school sports associations, to a Department of Defense deal through PlayFly that serves as a recruitment effort for academically and athletically above-average kids.

Not unlike media agencies’ increased efforts to connect with influencers who may not have huge followings but whose relationship with their fans runs deep, buyers are looking to tap into the passions and loyalties around high-school sports.

“What’s been the most important is being able to connect with the communities, those families and supporters of the sports,” said Sydney Lathrop, management director at Saatchi & Saatchi, who has placed Toyota dealer associations into deals with high-school sports associations in Oregon, Idaho and elsewhere. “What we are seeing with the new kind of opportunities that exists at the high school level is really allowing us to do that. It’s not about forcing our branding our message on anyone but really being able to enhance that experience. For us, it’s really been about a community play.”

Many of the sponsorships go beyond traditional media placement. Lathrop said other elements like showing a Toyota key fob to get free parking or a better seat at a game, or having dealers celebrating student athletes of the week on their social channels, “allows our local dealers to support kids and families in their community. I’m really just taking it beyond those spots and dots to the event, the activation and engagement level.” She added that she’s seen her client increase spend by 25 percent, although she wouldn’t say how much that entails.

Even though Pennsylvania doesn’t currently allow multi-media rights deals for its high-school sports associations, Marc Brownstein, president and CEO of Philadelphia-area agency …read more

Source:: Digiday