Mater Dei High School Signs Seven-Figure Media, NIL Deal With Playfly

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Mater Dei High School, a California private school nationally known for its strong sports programs, has inked a 10-year multimedia rights deal with media and marketing company Playfly Sports.

It’s believed to be the first time a high school has signed a third-party multimedia rights deal. The landmark agreement is valued in the “high seven-figure” range, according to someone familiar with the deal. Mater Dei, located in Santa Ana, Calif., aims to leverage Playfly’s resources to drive revenue opportunities across sponsorship, merchandise and digital media. The Catholic college preparatory school is hoping the addition of new national corporate partners and an enhanced game day experience at Santa Ana Stadium will ease pressure in its ongoing fundraising efforts.

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Mater Dei also hopes the new deal unlocks commercial value and provides financial literacy for the next generation of athletes. Before they called themselves Heisman Trophy winners, Bryce Young and Matt Leinart both starred at Mater Dei. The eventual first-round NFL quarterbacks were top high school recruits at a time they were not permitted to earn NIL dollars. Nowadays, Mater Dei stars must navigate commercial opportunities.

“This is really going to springboard us into a lot of opportunities that also includes student-athlete development,” Mater Dei director of athletics development Khaled Holmes said in a phone interview. “Especially with businesses wanting to be involved and help the next generation of athletes understand how to craft their brand and manage public perception. But also with financial literacy, with the number of athletes we have who are now making a significant financial decision when they go on to the next level.”

Holmes, a former Monarch who also starred with the USC Trojans, admits the landscape is “quite different” than when he exited the high school ranks. But the former NFL offensive lineman is looking to help his alma mater be at the forefront of this new era in which teenage athletes have started monetizing their visibility, building their own online personas as a complement to their athletic ambitions.

Playfly, which has dozens of college and pro sports clients, will not only amplify the Monarchs’ brand through enhanced content creation but also has plans to introduce them to new sponsorship and media exposure opportunities. The sports marketing giant’s list of local and national brand partners are slated to be utilized as they not only engage with students during their high school careers but potentially carry that relationship to the next level for college-bound athletes.

“We have a commitment and a strategy to help unlock any NIL potential,” Playfly Sports Properties president Christy Hedgpeth said in a phone interview. “That’s all part of our revenue generation engine. … Brands are getting more and more comfortable with how to engage student athletes in both college and high school.

“Fans can even benefit depending on the NIL activation from the brand. It’s all interconnected.”

In 2021, California became the first state to allow high school athletes to profit from NIL deals. That number has grown to more than 35 states, though some state associations have strict rules around usage and qualifications to participate. Mater Dei, which has produced a slew of pro athletes and Olympians since it opened its doors in 1950, continues to navigate the NIL world four years in. Some of its standout athletes have taken advantage, including Oregon commit Kodi Greene being reported as having one of the top NIL valuations in the state.

National Federation of State High School Associations CEO Karissa Niehoff has some concern about this unprecedented deal, which speaks to the paradigm shift at the preps level where private schools are now adopting professional models to boost cash for them and their athletes.

“The private school has the right to make their own choices,” Niehoff said in a phone interview. “I do think it’s disheartening to [see this] as an institution populated by kids who are not legal adults and are not mature enough to make lifetime financial decisions. When a lot of shiny things are out in front of kids and families, that can be disruptive and harmful if those decisions are made without integrity.”

Mater Dei officials maintain that strengthening their community through added resources is the main motivator behind this. They say any commercial opportunities or NIL deals as a result of this new partnership will be brokered between brands and the student athletes and their families. The secondary school looks to support and provide guidance while also complying with the California Interscholastic Federation.

The Mater Dei news comes following Playfly’s recent acquisition of Paragon Marketing Group, which has a background in high school sports marketing, social media and live production. It follows a string of acquisitions for the Indiana-based company in recent years including sports marketing and ticketing agency The Aspire Group in 2023.

“It’s really about plugging them into the engine that we’ve built and modulating a bit for the things that are unique to high school,” Hedgpeth said. “We feel this is precedent setting and will garner the attention of the top-tier athletic programs across the country.”

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