There was a time not too long ago when all the uproar was over whether or not televising high school athletics was putting young athletes on too high a pedestal, with too much pressure. Were broadcasters exploiting the young, still developing athlete for personal and professional gain, and what were the schools sacrificing by putting their young people out there on a stage that they may not be ready for. Then slowly came the advancement of travel teams, followed by national rankings, the success of “Friday Night Lights,” the advances of digital technology and the ease of cost effective broadcasts. All of which showed the interest and value of local sports events to a community which was almost as interested in those events than they were with professional sports. The televised events exposed the good side of athletics and showcased schools in a positive manner it was argued. After all in many small towns across the country these athletes were already out on display as the “in thing,” so why not use technology to expand the reach?
The next step were micro sites dedicated to not just football and hoops on the high school level, but to all sports. Newspapers found more interest in coverage of local sports, and hyper local websites and outlets found the coverage of the local athlete to be very lucrative, and not as exploitive as once thought. Then came the large digital carriers like ESPN and others, who launched high school specific sites and expanded coverage to a regional basis. Scores of companies popped up looking to broadcast local events, not just on access cable channels but on regional networks as well. the interest grew and grew. Against this backdrop was the increasing lack of funds for extra curricular activities, including athletics. Schools in some areas went the pay to play route for kids to be involved in sports at local high schools as a way to offset cost. Many local districts still held off brands from coming in to supplement expenses, but the tide was turning.
In the New York area, Cablevision launched its own high school channel, MSG Varsity, as a way to increase interest in local high schools and in the end, grow their footprint with hyperlocal sports. The channel and its digital partner covered the large New York area 24/7, increasing the footprint that was started on pro-dominated MSG Network by veteran broadcaster Mike Quick, who had his very popular “High School Weekly” show. A need was filled, coverage was ample, interest was high and advertisers followed.
Into that mix is the ultra competitive battle for subs between Cablevision and Verizon’s Fios service, a daily war waged across advertising platforms and neighborhoods for subscribers. This past week the two worlds of cable competition and high school sports collided, when FioS announced an exclusive deal with the New Jersey High School Athletic Association to broadcast high school sports. The deal will probably help the big picture of funding for New Jersey athletics, but it also fired a huge shot at Cablevision and its subscribers. Some of MSG Varsity’s most popular events were showcasing New Jersey High School athletes, especially in football and basketball. Now Cablevision families will face a choice they never anticipated…junk their service and switch to Fios to watch junior play, or stay with their service and follow son or daughter the old fashioned way, by going to games. In the end the battle puts the athletes and administrators in a tough local bind. The athletes still may not see an increase in services or facilities, and now parents may have to weigh larger charges just to see their kids play. Now will every state or city athletic organization have to make a choice on which service to sign with and why? More importantly, is the marketplace actually big enough to support not one, but two networks covering high school sports, even in a market as large as the New York area?
In the end the market will decide how effective the new competition is, and in the short term families who are cable subs will have to make tough choices. However one thing is for sure…hyper local programming continues to be more of a driver than ever for media companies, and getting that key programming is key. Will this type of battle now move on to other municipalities? hard to say. One thing is for sure, the simplicity of high school sports is again challenged, and another area that at one point was slightly immune to big business is immune no more. A battle worth watching for brands and the media.
