Is high school football becoming too commercialized?

By: LOREN NELSON - Sports Editor NO
The day is coming when ESPNHigh46 will televise Billy "Swoosh" Jones scoring the winning touchdown for the Littletown Reeboks as they beat the Smallsville Adidas in the State Class 1Advil Championship Game Sponsored by Powerade at Clearasil Stadium. | Saturday, September 1, 2007 9:46 PM PDT ∞

Is high school football becoming too commercialized?
By: MARC FIGUEROA - Staff Writer

YES
Never bite the hand that feeds you. That's the golden rule, especially for guys with a weight problem and sports writers who got their start covering high school football. Of course, I fall into both categories.

But at the risk of committing professional suicide, I feel a voice of reason is needed to control this hyped-up high school football machine that keeps getting bigger and bigger every season.

To be clear, I love high school football. I played it, I've watched it, I've covered it. I get it. There's nothing more pure than the crack of helmets, a marching band and a tight-knit community of fans coming together under the Friday night lights. It's what high school football is becoming that bothers me.

Through extensive newspaper, TV, radio and Internet coverage, prep football is turning into the NFL's little brother, minus the dogfighting, of course.

There are more than 40 regular-season games that North County fans can watch on cable TV this year, including games on ESPNU and Fox Sports West. Carlsbad, the defending CIF San Diego Section Division I champs, will appear six times on local television this season. That's practically more airtime than "Law & Order" marathons on TNT.

On Friday, our newspaper ran a 64-page special section previewing the 2007 season. The section was double the size from last year. It was a quality product, indeed, and our reporters worked their tails off to deliver in-depth stories and features. And I hear the boys are already planning for 2008, which will feature an interactive DVD, a video yearbook and an hourly web blog.

Geez, the next thing you know we're going to be putting out a special section on the Pop Warner season.

Friday night TV news is no different. KUSI's "Prep Pigskin Report" blankets the county, even recruiting regulars from the news desk to cover games. It has become so popular that other stations are now following suit. There's even word that Channel 10 will be moving its sports desk to the Torrey Pines press box for the next 10 weeks.

The buzz around high school football has grown so much it seems only a matter of time before Las Vegas gets a hold of the game and instills Oceanside as a 3-point favorite over La Costa Canyon this week. You laugh now, but if Sin City is willing to put lines out on WNBA games, anything is possible.

The commercialization of the game is turning many players into larger-than-life characters. The cameras are on them. The microphones are in their face. It's exciting, yes, but let's not forget that these superstar athletes have math homework to do.

We're putting many young teens, kids not even old enough to vote yet, on a pedestal so high that it's forcing them to grow up fast ---- too fast, as far as I'm concerned. Isn't finding a date for the homecoming dance enough pressure for these guys?

Contact staff writer Marc Figueroa at marcfig@aol.com.

Won't bother me a bit.

Sports, right down to Little League fields with Snickers banners hanging in the outfield, are akin to garage sales. Everything's available ---- for the right price.

Remember the outcry when naming rights to stadiums first were being sold? I was keyboard-to-keyboard with those bellowing outrage at the idea of selling out our great sports venues to corporate America.

Now? Who cares. Jack Murphy becomes Qualcomm, but the structure doesn't change. The memories, the history of the place, don't just suddenly fade away when they hang new letters on the side. And, alas, the weatherstained concrete, despite all those millions being ponied up, doesn't magically transform into marble.

Dot coms and banks and orange juice companies all have their names affixed to big league venues. Shoot, the Tampa Bay Lighting play in an arena named after, of all things, a newspaper.

Fallbrook High has a deal with Nike that gets them cut-rate gear from the apparel giant. Vista has a similar setup with adidas. Those companies are saying, in effect, "Wear our stuff, and our stuff only, and we'll give you a good deal."

Works for me. Heck, Fallbrook assistant principal John Hayek said the school asked Nike officials if they were interested in sponsoring the Warriors' sparkling new field. Nike took a pass.

But they'll be back. And one day there will be a giant swoosh or some other logo painted on the turf.

High school football games are being shown on national television with increasing regularity. Torrey Pines and Poway will square off this season in a game shown nationally on ESPNU.

TV, newspapers, radio stations, Web sites ---- high school sports coverage is being delivered in more ways with more regularity and volume than ever before.

That growth explosion wouldn't be happening if there wasn't a captive audience. If commercialized means satisfying a need and making a profit, then yes, you could say high school football and Little League and the National Spelling Bee are too commercialized.

But I wouldn't.

I say Clearasil Stadium has a nice ring to it.

Contact sports editor Loren Nelson at (760) 740-3551 or lnelson@nctimes.com.

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Gimmeabreak wrote on Sep 3, 2007 12:26 PM:Yes, too commercialized and too expensive. It is supposed to be about building teamwork, character, values, at least that's what we were told about "great" coaches of the past. Why are High Schools now travelling across the country, over oceans, for games? Don't tell me it's "for the kids" and "they'll never get this opportunity again" and nonsense like that. The programs doing it used to be Private (read Catholic) schools, which is stupid enough - as in how is God glorified by Concord de La Salle coming to Torrey Pines and battling it out - but now even the public schools (see Valley Center for instance) have been getting into the act. Aren't there enough "quality" opponents available locally? Why try to wring more cash out of parents - who already plunk down way more for outside activities than used to be true before Howard Jarvis came to town. All the *&%$ programs at the high schools that used to have decent funding (performing arts, music, sports, band, you name it) all go begging now for scraps. Unless these 'advertising deals" with big companies make the football programs completely self sufficient - they should be sent packing.

duh wrote on Sep 5, 2007 10:03 AM:becoming????? how about any youth sport? anyone over 18 should not be allowed to talk at the games or practices, just watch.

Steve wrote on Sep 8, 2007 3:00 PM:All those programs that you mention get the majority of their money from the tickets that high school football programs sell. The NCT should do an article about how high school football supports ALL high school athletics.

FBMom wrote on Sep 11, 2007 4:56 PM:Steve is right - football gate revenues go to the schools ASB, NOT the team! Music, Theatre, Student Govt, should thank their stars for Football - Its FB revenues make other programs happen. Parents should be a little more than annoyed at their athletes being used as a revenue generating product for their school.

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