Title Sponsorship High School Sports by Jackie

Some days the glass is half full, other days half empty; today it’s half full. It’s my turn to blog and I’m always hoping to get inspired and have something interesting to talk about. I struck gold today, or at least I think I did. Pick up a copy of today’s USA Today and check out the Sports Section, page 16C- there is a great article by Jack Carey and Michael McCarthy about title sponsorships for high school tournaments. Just last month the California Interscholastic Federation, the nation’s largest high school association, voted to begin offering title sponsorships for all state and regional championships beginning with tournaments held next fall. I see this as a great moment for high school student athletes and corporate sponsors.

Back in the days before I worked at Home Team Marketing, I worked for one of the nation’s leading wireless providers. My job was to find ways to invest sponsorship dollars, earning the maximum ROI, while supporting the community. It was tough sometimes to find just the right opportunity. At that time either my dollars could go towards professional franchisees or the local 5K race, there wasn’t a whole lot in between. Right before I left the wireless company I was approached by Home Team Marketing and asked if I would be interested in purchasing signage at high school football games in my target markets. I thought it was a tremendous opportunity and wondered why no one had thought of it sooner; to get from that point in 2003 where signs where being sold at football games to the point now where a corporation can be the title sponsor of a state tournament is incredible to me. If I were still on the buying side I would jump at the opportunity.

To me high school sports are grassroots. They are the heart and soul of the community. Prior to my wireless career I worked for a professional sports team that packed up and left town. That doesn’t happen with high school sports. During the summer HTM produces a high school charity game at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The crowds for the games are incredible. The students and alumni that come to support their teams makes my heart swell. It’s cool - it’s loyalty - it’s support for the community. And now corporations have the opportunity to reach that audience and give back to the schools, if I were a buyer, I would ask where to sign up.