High School Sports Power Signs Eight-Figure Rights Deal in First

A California high school sports power made history Wednesday, selling its media rights to a marketing company for millions of dollars.

Mater Dei, a Catholic school in Santa Ana, agreed to a 10-year deal with Playfly Sports, a marketing and media company. 

Playfly Sports president Christy Hedgpeth told Front Office Sports the 10-year deal will pay the school “roughly $1 million” each year and increases in amount over its life. 

The Monarchs are one of the country’s top high school athletics departments and boast famous alums across multiple sports. They are perhaps most known for football, producing former Heisman winners Bryce Young and Matt Leinart as well as Lions star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. 

The deal further professionalizes high school sports and raises the obvious question of who will be next. There are plenty of schools with résumés to Mater Dei’s, and high school football is even more popular in Texas and Florida.

Hedgpeth said the company has already heard from other interested high schools since the Mater Dei deal was announced. 

“There has already been outreach, and we were certainly in touch already before that, but it’s clear that it’s gotten the attention from a lot of schools,” Hedgpeth told FOS. “We’re ready to engage.”

Playfly describes itself as a “revenue maximizer.” Hedgpeth said she hopes the money “drives additional educational programs” at Mater Dei, in addition to supporting its athletic programs. 

One thing the deal is not is a name, image, and likeness agreement. California high schools can’t negotiate NIL deals for athletes; they must do so themselves. Mater Dei players won’t be required to participate in promotions on behalf of the school. Hedgpeth said its possible student-athletes net NIL deals as a result of Playfly’s agreement, but the company won’t be involved in such arrangements. 

The deal comes shortly after Playfly acquired Paragon Marketing Group, which has a history in high school sports events and marketing and has a two-decade relationship with the school.