ESPN's broadcasts of high school basketball games

[trublue 939]

Thought some of you might enjoy this read. Norcross is a local high school in Gwinnett Co.

 

ESPN2 game cost Norcross big bucks

Some coaches wish networks would give back to high schools

 

By TODD HOLCOMB

 

Published on: 01/29/08

Atlanta Journal Constitution

 

To showcase its state championship basketball team on ESPN2 three weeks ago, Norcross High School spent $2,600 to fix up its gym and surrendered $10,000 in gate receipts to cover the game expenses, which included airfare, hotel and meals for an out-of-state opponent.

 

For national exposure, it was worth it, Norcross principal Jonathan Patterson said.

But with college and professional sports teams making millions of dollars from networks, why aren't high schools cashing in? Or is it crossing a line to commercialize high school sports?

 

"I wish these networks would look at giving back to these schools, because it's something that would be a good investment," said Courtney Brooks, boys coach at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, which played three televised games when NBA player Dwight Howard was the team's center four years ago. "They should grant both schools a check to help with academics or just the general athletics fund."

 

ESPN found an audience for high school basketball in 2002, when LeBron James was a senior at St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio.

 

Recruiting services and national rankings have continued to fuel interest in the prized prospects and super teams, and ESPN's coverage has expanded from two games in 2002-03 to 15 this season, mostly on ESPN2 and ESPNU, including Norcross' home game on Jan. 10 against Helen Cox High of Louisiana.

 

Rashid Ghazi, whose company, Paragon Marketing Group, promotes and organizes ESPN's games, says not enough money is made from sponsorships and advertising to warrant higher payouts. He wouldn't disclose details of Paragon's contract with ESPN.

 

"From a TV and advertising standpoint, high school sports is still in its infancy," Ghazi said. "It's expensive to put games together, and sponsorship is evolving, but it's still not close to where it is with college and pro sports."

 

ESPN spokesperson Tilea Coleman said her network had no plans to negotiate directly with schools and would leave that to Paragon.

 

"We understand concerns of exploiting players, but it might be the only time in their careers where they get national TV exposure," Coleman said.

 

 

'We're on our own'

 

Ghazi said schools can make substantial money — if they sell enough tickets.

 

Norcross sold about 1,020, only one-third of capacity, according to athletics director Kirk Barton. At the $10 price set by Paragon, that generated about $10,000.

 

Paragon said the game expenses – the cost of officials, ticket-takers, cleanup and accommodations for the Louisiana team – came to $12,000. Paragon absorbed the $2,000 loss, Ghazi said.

 

To get the gym ready, Norcross bought light bulbs for $900 and varnished the floor for $1,700, using booster club money and athletics funds, Barton said. Norcross got $1,000 from Paragon.

 

Typical attendance at Norcross home games this season has been around 700-800 paid, bringing in $2,500-$3,000.

 

"The problem is high schools are not organized through conferences that deal with TV rights, so we're on our own, like the wild, wild west," Patterson said. "High school athletics are like college sports 30 years ago. It's a matter of time before there are larger compensations."

 

But most high school administrators don't want increased national exposure for athletics, especially when it's for only a handful of high-profile sports programs such as Norcross, said Ralph Swearngin, executive director of the Georgia High School Association.

 

Swearngin said many principals and athletics directors are concerned about too much emphasis on athletics and the trend of elite athletes transferring to schools strictly for better sports opportunities and exposure.

 

All of Norcross' starters last season moved into the Norcross district after the ninth grade. The team has won the Class AAAAA championship the past two seasons and is nationally ranked by several polls. The top player is Al-Farouq Aminu, a 6-foot-8 post player who has signed with Wake Forest.

 

"For a lot of people, the high school game has been the model of amateurism, and we get those claiming that we're ruining it by commercializing high school athletics," Swearngin said.

 

Louise Radloff, a Gwinnett County school board member, said she rarely gets complaints about how much or where schools spend money on athletics.

 

"Depends on who raises the money," Radloff said. "If parents work and sell tickets and raise a ton of money, then it's up to the booster club to choose how to spend it. If it were taxpayer dollars, it would be a different story."

 

 

No 'big pot of gold'

 

David Boyd, the boys coach at Milton, was among the first Georgia coaches to court national exposure when he pitted his Berkmar teams, which would win two state titles, against national competition while luring shoe and apparel contracts.

 

"ESPN should pay," Boyd said. "They [the network and Paragon] are benefiting. Money should be shared."

 

"But ESPN has got the sledge-hammer," said Dave Hunter, retired athletics director at Brookwood. "Like it or not, they've still got the thing everybody wants — exposure. ... If you could put your program on a national stage and not cost you more than $2,500, I'd do it."

 

Norcross is not complaining.

 

"To pay for two hours of advertising on ESPN2, I don't know any high school in Georgia that could write a check for that," Barton said. "The exposure the kids and the school got was top-notch. We've had a lot of compliments ... on how good they made the school look."

 

Camden County athletics director and football coach Jeff Herron said schools must draw the line somewhere. His football team from the coast is playing at Hoover, Ala., next season. One enticement was possibly playing on ESPN, although no TV deal has been reached.

 

"The first time, maybe the second, I wouldn't be worried about the finances, but [about] what it could do for our team and community," Herron said. "But that's not something we'd continue to do. There comes a point where they'd have to make it worth our while, financially."

 

Last season, Norcross rejected an opportunity to have its region championship football game against North Gwinnett on Comcast cable's network CSS because Patterson didn't believe the $500 donation was worth the potential drop in attendance.

 

Matt Stewart, the play-by-play announcer for the CSS games, said production costs for football are about $15,000 per game, and ad sales don't come near covering it. Comcast uses the game as marketing, to attract subscribers, he said.

 

"There's this misconception that there's this big pot of gold out there for high school football, but I'm sure all those booster clubs who are simply trying to sell ads on their scoreboards and their programs will tell you that there isn't," Stewart said.

 

A school's chance to make money is the way it always has been, Ghazi said — by selling tickets. For ESPN games, gate receipts that exceed expenses are split among Paragon and the two schools.

 

According to Ghazi, Huntington High of West Virginia, with top recruit O.J. Mayo, and St. Patrick's of New Jersey each made $25,000 last year from their game at Marshall University. It sold 9,000 tickets at $10 apiece.

 

In 2006, more than 3,000 paid to see Norcross against Oak Hill of Virginia at Georgia Tech in a ESPN2 game between USA Today's No. 1 and No. 2 teams. It was a double-header that included local powers Wheeler and Columbia.

 

Ghazi said each school earned about $2,000. Had the game sold out, Ghazi projected the four schools would have made $10,000 each.

 

"For Norcross, they got to be on national TV, had their home gym on national TV, had exposure for the band, cheerleaders, school and for all their athletes, not just the [blue-chip] players," Ghazi said. "We provided them with an upside if we make money off the game and if they sell enough tickets, but [we] also work to make sure their risk is zero."

 

 

FINDING AN AUDIENCE

 

ESPN networks started covering regular-season high school basketball games in 2002, when NBA star LeBron James was a senior in Akron, Ohio. The number of televised games is rising:

 

2002-03: 2

 

2003-04: 2

 

2004-05: 3

 

2005-06: 9

 

2006-07: 10

 

2007-08: 15

[GetMoney55 11]

Norcross is nasty and should be a top 3 team in the country. Al-Farouq is the man. Way better than his brother.