How to Market High School Sports

High school sports need money for equipment, uniforms, transportation and coaches salaries. School budgets often cover only are part of these costs. Marketing high school sports is often the only means of meeting budgetary demands.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Focus on one sport. This allows for greater recognition of sponsors and more effective use of parents of athletes.
2. Work closely with the high school athletic director and the sport’s coach. This is important to define what is considered acceptable and what needs a sport has.
3. Become familiar with rules and regulations established by the appropriate state high school athletic association.
4. Form a booster club if one does not already exist. Do an inventory of members of the booster club to see what contacts and resources are available.
5. Center marketing plans around available resources whenever possible. Often there may have been a past marketing plan that worked well.
6. Utilize past athletes who have achieved success, particularly if they continued athletically following high school.
7. Check with local media to see if they have specific needs for reports, special interest stories, schedules, or even a weekly coach’s show. There are also national companies that focus on high school athletics. Check their websites.
8. Keep an open mind to every possible sort of promotion.
9. Document all finances and be completely transparent about all marketing.

Tips & Warnings

• Checking with high school athletic associations or league representatives is crucial because these entities have sometimes entered into exclusive contracts with advertising agencies or telecommunications companies.