Sunday, September 28, 2008

High school gears up for TV debut

The Washington Post today outlines the pregame buildup for a local school football team (Good Counsel, in Montgomery County, MD) that will be on national TV this Thursday night.
Preparations for the Thursday-night game will include all the tasks and costs involved in crowd management and security for an event sure to draw thousands of extra fans (on a school night, no less). The tasks are being handled by school administrators who are usually paid for other duties, and the school must also dole out money for extra police officers and preparation of school grounds for the crowd.
The payoff? $1,000 from ESPN -- a paltry sum in relationship to advertising revenues for the network -- and extra ticket and concession sales. The game will also give Good Counsel national name recognition, although the article doesn't explore how such exposure furthers the academic goals of Good Counsel.
The game is one of 19 scheduled to air on ESPN this fall.

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