The Big Business of High School Sports

High school football all-star games become big business

By Jim Halley, USA TODAY

Chad Voytik had to make a choice between three attractive offers. The recruiting pitches were impressive, including warm-weather locations and plenty of perks, and he was starting to feel a little pressure to make a decision soon. Regardless of his choice, somebody would be disappointed when he aligned with a new team.

In addition to choosing a college, Cleveland (Tenn.) quarterback Chad Voytik will have to make a decision on what all-american game to play in this winter.

Voytik, who will be a senior quarterback this fall at Cleveland (Tenn.) High School, decided six weeks ago he would play January in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl national high school all-star game rather than the Under Armour All-America Game the same month.

That was bad news for ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill, who helps find and direct players to the ESPN-televised Under Armour game, a relatively recent challenger to the 10-year-old U.S. Army game, which is shown on NBC.

But Voytik's father, Gary, says that when he called Luginbill to deliver his son's choice, Luginbill "said he understood and was very professional about it."

Which makes sense because national high school football all-star games have become very professional and part of the big business that surrounds college football recruiting. Knowing that college football fans have a huge appetite for recruiting news, analysts and recruiting services rank players who pay to be seen at combines associated with the various all-star games. The games are advertising vehicles for various enterprises seeking to reach an elusive demographic, 18- to 22-year-old males.

"It's amazing where this has all gone," says Adam Liberman, a spokesman for All American Games , a New Jersey-based sports marketing and event company that operates the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. "I didn't start with this company until August and I had no idea how big this has gotten. It's kind of sickening that all of these companies can make their living off of high school kids and their recruiting interest."

The games also have become a way for players to draw national attention by announcing their non-binding college intentions usually by displaying a cap or jersey of the favored school during a break in the action. They also get plenty of free gear.

‘Sponsorship drives these games’

Before 2001, there were no national high school football all-star games. Next January, the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl backed by the U.S. Marine Corps, scheduled for Phoenix's Chase Field and aligned with CBS Sports for not only the game but also a televised selection show will make it five. Plus, there's the USA Football vs. The World game, which matches U.S. high school seniors against a team of top under-19 players from outside the USA.

"Sponsorship drives these games the right sponsor who is looking to make an impact in the high school space," said Drew Russell, an associate vice president for sponsorship and events marketing for Intersport, which promotes the Under Armour All-America Game.

The games also make money off underclassmen combines that draw future players. The combines measure prospects' height, weight, 40-yard dash times and their ability to perform sport-specific drills.

Since Voytik entered high school, he's attended at least 16 camps and combines and five two-day camps or combines. He also trains with an off-season quarterback coach. His father says the typical combine or camp costs $200, not counting travel expenses. He said the exposure helped his son, who received 15 offers from top schools and recently narrowed his choices to Mississippi State and Pittsburgh.

"Participating in national and regional camps and combines levels the playing field," Gary Voytik said. " If you are from Tennessee in a small high school, you will more than likely be overlooked by players from larger states. (Combines) allow the recruiting experts to compare a Tennessee quarterback and a Texas quarterback without the other football variables."

Hermitage (Richmond, Va.) football coach Patrick Kane said he accompanied one of his players, linebacker Curtis Grant, to the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and found the game a good experience. However, he doesn't have the same respect for the combines associated with these games.

"I don't put a lot of value in combines, period," Kane says. "They're part of the marketing scheme. A lot of times, they'll tell the top players they don't have to pay for a combine to attract other players to the combine. A player like Curtis (who signed with Ohio State) didn't need to go to a combine (and didn't)."

Participating in an all-star game's combine is no guarantee of making the game. Shaon Berry, director of the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl , says he expects 400 underclassmen for its combine. The roster for the game is 90.

High school coaches also are concerned about a new form of recruitment that has accompanied the all-star games growth. NCAA rules limit seniors to two postseason all-star games (USA Football's game is exempt). The competition among game organizers for top players is fierce. Some players begin committing to the games as early as a year in advance.

"Some of these high-profile games have already locked in these players before their senior season," said longtime Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) coach Bruce Rollinson. "You already have this intense-pressure filled recruiting process and then all of a sudden, there's this process of which game do I play in? It is a little bit out of control."

Rollinson also has little tolerance for the way the games fit into the traditional college recruiting process.

"I just cringe with all this signing and picking your college at the games," Rollinson said. "I think that's an exploitation, an embarrassment. It puts kids on TV who are not media savvy, some of them don't know how to act appropriately."

This year, the USA vs. The World Game was Feb. 2 signing day and video of the signings, along with the game, was shown live on highschoolsports.net, a web site owned by USA TODAY's parent company Gannett.

‘Kids are wheeling and dealing’

Because some scouting services have a financial connection to the games, players' recruiting rankings could be skewed. Columbus East (Indianapolis) quarterback Gunner Kiel, who has committed to the 2012 Under Armour game, is ranked No. 2 by CBS Sports Network recruiting analyst Tom Lemming and No. 12 by ESPN's Scouts, Inc., but No. 19 by Rivals.com, which helps select players for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

"Quarterback is the hardest position to evaluate," said Rivals national analyst Mike Farrell."He's our No. 1 quarterback in the country. We don't care what game he's going in. There's not much to not like about him other than he's not an overly athletic kid."

Last year, Grant, a linebacker who played in the Army All-American Bowl, was Rivals' No. 2 player but only listed as the No. 48 player by ESPN's Scouts, Inc., which helps select players for the Under Armour Game.

"We loved Curtis Grant," said ESPN's Luginbill. "He was still in our top five linebackers. Where we may see him and (other recruiting services) may seem them can be two completely different things."

"The games are competitive with each other," said Kane. "Curtis considered doing both (the Army and Under Armour games) but that wouldn't work out and I didn't think it was a good idea. If you have a top player, they all want him and his decision can effect his rankings, not that the rankings mean anything."

While colleges may only use the rankings as a way of making sure they're not forgetting about a player, the players take great pride in their rankings. The rankings also are how various alumni keep track of how their school is doing at recruiting, a hot stove league that's a year-round interest.

Intersport's Russell said the games' true measure won't be known for years.

"Everybody wants to pound their chest and say, 'We got this kid, or that kid,' but in the end, there's such a slim margin of error and it's so opinion based, from the No. 1 kid to the No. 10 kid or the No. 100 kid, for that matter."

Lemming, who has helped select teams for the Army All-American Bowl and is helping pick players for the new Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl, said players often go where they think they'll get the best free equipment and clothing.

"These kids don't care that much about prestige," Lemming said. "They all want to know what kind of gear they're getting. Because of the big bowls, the kids are wheeling and dealing."

South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier said that having his recruits play in a national game is an honor that can come with a price.

"We tell the players who commit to us, it's up to you," Spurrier said. "It's just a free trip. A lot of these guys haven't been anywhere outside the state. There are all kinds of ways these players get wooed and told they're the greatest in the world. Every now and then, they come thinking they're going to play right away and it doesn't work out and you have some problems. I heard one guy say once they come to your campus, you start de-recruiting them. "

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