3 Reasons Why Your Sports Program Needs a Media Guide
There are an unlimited amount of expenses when it comes to running a high school sports program. There are however essentials that every program needs like uniforms, transportation and equipment. Would you put a media guide on that essentials list? While it might not be your first thought when budgeting for the season, it shouldn’t be thrown to the wayside. Here’s why: a media guide can do a lot more than you think for your program. Read on to find out the 3 main ways a media guide can help grow your program!
1. Building Your Brand
Media guides are a cost effective and easy way to elevate the brand of your program. While yes, looks aren’t everything, your high school program will benefit from establishing a professional appearance. All college sports programs have websites that contain up to date information on rosters, schedules, coaches etc. This shows the college program is an established, organized and respected brand. Since most high school athletic departments don’t have the resources to create a comprehensive website and keep it updated, a media guide can take its place. This is where your team can display all its important information in a professional and sleek way. It gives parents and fans a great resource and allows the team to be presented as a put together program. Media guides should be more than just varsity, JV and freshmen rosters. We encourage our teams to include a coach’s letter or coach’s philosophy, history of the program, stat leaders, championships, game schedule and whatever makes that program unique. Niskayuna Lacrosse’s Story of the Season media guides included a page dedicated to their motto, “26 Win”, that has been an integral part of their team culture. It’s no wonder that their program’s brand is known and respected all across the Northeast. By visually connecting your current team to a philosophy and history, you establish a perennial program that players and their families want to be a part of.
2. Level Up Your Fundraising
Your media guide does not have to drain your budget or become an added expense. If you leverage your media guide properly you can turn it into a fundraising opportunity and make money. Selling advertising space in the media guide is pertinent because helps you raise money while also connecting businesses to local consumers. Businesses can choose from a variety of different ad sizes and prices depending on how large they want their ad to be. You can include media guide ads in sponsorship packages or even trade advertising space for a postgame meal from a local restaurant. Here at Story of the Season we pride ourselves on our ability to turn media guides into lucrative fundraisers. Our media guides provide both digital and print ad space. This doubles the value of these ads since our web links can be shared and garner more views than a regular print media guide. Lakeville North Football (MN) raised $24,000 by using our Story of the Season media guide a fundraiser. If you’re not sure how to administer an advertisement fundraiser on your own, we can help! Story of the Season has a tried and true fundraising method as well as fundraising resources for our media guides. We know first hand that it is possible to make a lot of money for your program with a media guide. Don’t miss out on the financial gains of a media guide!
3. Celebrate Every Player
While branding and raising money is an important part of your media guide, nothing is more important than the engagement and inclusion that your media guide can bring. The pages within a media guide provide the perfect blank canvas to showcase all of your players, not just those that are scoring goals or throwing touchdown passes. The media guide provides a way for all players to be seen (literally) and also to be celebrated. Each player can be displayed with a short bio and headshot like the ones that are commonly used on college athletic websites. We have worked with teams that give each senior a special dedicated page to highlight their career. This is special for each player as it gives them an opportunity to feel like a part of the program even if they don’t see the field. Parents LOVE to see their kids in the publication and may even want to submit personal ads. Not just varsity parents but parents at every level can submit a special message to their student-athlete. This could be another way to make money as parents could be charged a small donation fee to submit a personal ad. Legacy Football (CO) used Story of the Season to highlight two different seniors each and every chapter with a graphic and short bio. Because we offer a digital platform they also included video interviews with each senior as an added bonus. The Legacy Football parents also loved submitting messages and images of their sons that we then designed into custom personal ads. Media guides provide a great opportunity for parents and fans to engage with the program and celebrate all players. When all players feel included and a part of the program you get buy in from them and their families. Buy in and commitment from players turns a team into a program.
To wrap things up media guides are an essential part of your program as they can make you money and build your team into a respected brand. Most importantly, they make all players and families feel included and a part of the program. While yes, media guides take some dedication and investment, it doesn’t have to all fall on the head coach or one team mom. With Story of the Season we do all the design work for you. We also share, print and help you fundraise. We make media guides a no-brainer as we do all the work and let you reap all the benefits! Want to get started on your media guide? Schedule a demo with us to learn more!
