Nov 5 Business Practices and Public Policy Issues in High School and Youth Sport Objectives Governance Business and management practices Legal issues Public policy tensions Interconnections between these Governance Rules and Enforcement Governing bodies o National Youth League Organizations National Federation of State High School Associations NFHS o Membership is athletic associations from each state Sometimes more than one association per state Role of NFHS o Deals with most extracurricular activities The arts band dance debate etc Sports competitive cheerleading to football to fencing o Establishes rules and standards for above Unlike NCAA it is a FEDERATION It cannot and does not enforce the rules o This is done at the state level by athletic associations State Athletic Associations o Organize and help administer competitions Operate by rules standards put forth by NFHS Organized into regions districts and conferences Also has a divisional structure based on school size o Associations operate differently by state In some states they are part of the Department of Education In most states they operate independently Governance of both public and private schools depends on the state sometimes these are independent o Typically a small staff mostly devoted to operations communications and marketing o Challenges in governance Difficulty balancing with rules enforcement and compliance Competitive balance parochial vs public schools Athlete eligibility and home schooling Emergence of independent charter schools Education vs creating recruiting dream teams o Can face legal challenges from parents schools o If association is in state s Department of Education Defended by state s Attorney General s Office If not association can incur major legal fees State Athletic Association Small staff depends upon active membership Athletic Directors Role is somewhat like college AD o They are active members in state association Vote on rules issues relevant to state association Help with organization of post season competitions Reports to school district administration o Ultimately responsible for athletic programs conforming to policies and practices Responsible for school compliance with state laws rules Typically responsible for logistics budgets schedules equipment facilities transportation coaching staff Can also help with fundraising booster clubs o Can be fulltime job managing entire school district o Can also be PT job operating at a school The Business of High School Athletics Increasing costs equipment travel etc o Decreasing federal and state funding to schools o Need for additional revenue streams o Participation and equipment fees Can create financial barriers for some families kids o Some schools have large active booster clubs Donations and fundraising sales drives Pay to play Fundraising Concession sales o Not lucrative Outfitting deals o Not as lucrative as with college and pros Typically means getting uniforms below retail Tradeouts partnerships o Free scoreboards donor sells ad space o Websites provider sells ads and of sales Are high school sports big business Like college athletics high school sports generate revenue o Just not enough to pay for athletic programs Who is target market of most endorsement and outfitting deals by Nike UA and Adidas o Why do they also want uniforms on high school athletes Helps develop brand loyalty when you re younger with variety of people There are no national championships in high school sports Why have rankings o Newspaper companies who sell advertising Who else benefits from the early development of highly skilled athletes o Society or the 60 of the kids that don t play o Scouting recruiting and related media infrastructure o The highly paid college coaches o The multi billion NFL NBA NHL and MLB What about the venues and cities that host tournaments and championships The national media and advertisers o Buying and selling eyeballs Public Policy and Public Health Issues Economic downturn and austerity measures o States getting less federal funding Has led to cuts in funding education Cuts affect basic curriculum math science etc Cuts affect funding for PE programs Cuts can affect budgets for all extracurricular activities Fielding athletic programs is expensive o Misplaced priorities sport vs general education Do benefits to 40 outweigh the costs Would money be better spent promoting physical activity Are we out of step with the rest of the world o Is it time to end marriage of education and sport Does it withstand cost benefit analysis Is it too deeply institutionalized to change And too profitable for some What about the 60 that don t participate Sport Physical Activity and Public Health Physical inactivity as public health issue o Obesity one of most pressing public health concerns Rethinking importance of physical education Rethinking importance of organized sports Physical activity as a public health issue Emerging focus on sports injuries head trauma o Can being active actually be bad for you o Would money be better spent promoting physical activity Sport Physical Activity and Public Health NFL and NCAA have changed rules o Difficult given governance of high school sports Also differences in resources for sports medicine Need for training and certification o Coaches and trainers Who absorbs costs Almost every state has enacted legislation o Return to play rules can vary from state to state Will school physicals soon require an MRI Application of Tort Law Intentional tort o Deliberate harm Unintentional Tort o Negligence Striking or pushing someone who then gets injured Coach medical staff equipment companies Concussions heat stroke or other serious injury coach or trainer School board They had duty of care with regards to above Suing a company team league or school district Equipment companies product liability o Defective product o No warning labels Vicarious tort o Deliberate or negligent harm by employer school Suing a company team league school district Sports Agency and Athlete Representation Nov 7 Introduction Many sports agencies began by representing athletes Large multiservice agency firms have evolved to include sport marketing and event management Law of agency imposes fiduciary duties on the sports agent A highly competitive business History of Sport Agency Industry Until the 1970s it was extremely rare for a pro team sport athlete to have an agent o Teams generally refused to deal with agents o No free agency until 1976 so