MHSAA.TV Joins NFHS Network
September 12, 2013
The Michigan High School Athletic Association is one of 32 members of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) that has joined the NFHS Network, the new all-digital network devoted to coverage of high school sports and performing arts through the Internet at MHSAA.tv and NFHSnetwork.com.
The NFHS, in association with PlayOn! Sports (PlayOn), announced the official launch of the NFHS Network on Aug. 1. With coverage of boys and girls sports and activities initially in at least 32 states during the 2013-14 school year, the NFHS Network becomes the largest aggregated destination for coverage of high school sports in the country. Through a digital service that is at least partially subscription-based available at MHSAA.tv and NFHSnetwork.com, more students, parents and fans will be able to watch high school sports than ever before.
In addition to the MHSAA, NFHS member associations in the following states have finalized agreements and will be a part of the NFHS Network as the 2013-14 season begins: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
In addition, member associations in a number of other states are expected to join the NFHS Network soon.
“We believe this is one of the greatest opportunities in the 94-year history of the NFHS as we are able to take advantage of new technology and showcase high school sports and performing arts across the United States,” said Bob Gardner, NFHS executive director. “We are excited to provide viewership opportunities for fans of high school sports that have never existed before. The NFHS Network will help showcase our primary mission of expanding participation and opportunities for involvement in education-based interscholastic sports and performing arts activities.”
“For more than a century, school sports has had the highest profile of all youth sports,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, MHSAA executive director. “We feature pep assemblies, pep bans, marching bands, cheerleaders, homecoming parades and dances, letter jackets and other traditions, with large crowds of classmates, neighbors and families cheering on students. Ours is a unique brand that stands out among all of youth sports. Done right, this network will solidify interscholastic athletics as the most popular and principled youth sports experience for many more generations.”
Postseason games in all sports sponsored by the MHSAA will be available online on the Network, except for select championship events for which the MHSAA has existing television contracts with other media partners. Viewing opportunities for other NFHS Network events will be posted in the coming months at NFHSnetwork.com.
The NFHS Network will build on the past success of PlayOn’s high-quality coverage of high school sports at the state level. PlayOn currently streams nearly 30,000 events per school year and has worked with 32 state associations and sections in 26 states.
“Teaming up with the NFHS is a natural progression to build a truly national high school sports platform while honoring the local communities that support them,” said David Rudolph, PlayOn! Sports chief executive officer. “Our mission is to serve the current and future generations of student-athletes, support and encourage their participation and make their performances accessible to their friends, family and fans on every media platform they use.”
The NFHS Network is a joint venture between the NFHS and PlayOn! Sports and will be governed and overseen by a combination of NFHS and PlayOn executives. On Aug. 8, Roberts was elected chairman of the five-member NFHS Network board of directors that will be responsible for guiding the Network. “This won’t be easy,” Roberts said, “but nothing really worthwhile ever is.”
“Ultimately, we want to make the NFHS Network the most treasured and trusted source for high school athletics,” Gardner said.
Pay-to-Play Use Hovers at 50 percent
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 30, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Half of MHSAA member high schools continued to assess sports participation fees during the 2018-19 school year, according to a survey that has measured the prevalence of charging students to help fund interscholastic athletics annually over the last 15 years.
Of the 604 schools which responded to the 2018-19 survey, exactly half – 302 – assessed a participation fee, while 302 did not during the past school year. This year’s survey results are in line with those of the last two schools years, which saw 49.7 percent of schools charging participation fees for 2016-17 and 49 percent in 2017-18. For the purposes of the survey, a participation fee was anything $20 or more regardless of what the school called the charge (registration fee, insurance fee, transportation fee, etc.).
The MHSAA conducted its first participation fee survey during the 2003-04 school year, when 24 percent of responding schools reported they charged fees. The percentage of member schools charging fees crossed 50 percent in 2010-11 and reached a high of 56.6 percent in 2013-14 before falling back below 50 percent in 2016-17.
A record number of member high schools responded to the survey for the second straight year – 81 percent of the MHSAA’s 750 member schools provided data for 2018-19. Class A schools again remained the largest group charging fees, with 69 percent of respondents doing so. Class B and Class C schools followed, both with 48 percent charging fees, and Class D schools also remained in line with the previous year with 35 percent charging for participation.
Charging a standardized fee for each team on which a student-athlete participates – regardless of the number of teams – remains the most popular method among schools assessing fees, with that rate at 45 percent of schools. Schools charging a one-time standardized fee per student-athlete remained constant at 28 percent. A slight uptick was seen in the percentage of schools assessing fees based on tiers of the number of sports a student-athlete plays (for example, charging a larger fee for the first team and less for additional sports), with 20 percent of responding schools charging in this way compared to 15 percent a year ago.
The amounts of most fees remained consistent or similar as well during 2018-19. The median annual maximum fee per student of $150 and the median annual maximum family fee of $300 both remained constant for at least the fifth straight year, while the median fee assessed by schools that charge student-athletes once per year held steady at $125 for the third straight school year. The median per-team fee increased slightly, $5, to $80 for 2018-19.
The survey for 2018-19 and surveys from previous years can be found on the MHSAA Website.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.