April 23, 2013 - Jeff Lillibridge hired as Vice President of Marketing and Digital Integration. Lillibridge will be responsible for the integration of all of HTM's core business opportunities from a digital and mobile perspective. He will also be responsible for enhancing revenues in digital, social media and mobile categories. Lillibridge was formerly with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons.
“Jeff brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Home Team Marketing,” said Regan Fitzpatrick, Senior Vice President and Co-founder of Home Team Marketing. “His understanding of the mobile and digital platforms will enhance what we are able to offer to our clients. We are excited to have him on board.”
April 17, 2013 - Time Warner Cable Sports and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) today announced that they have entered into a 10-year agreement for Time Warner Cable Sports to become the official content distributor of NYSPHSAA regional and state championship sports programming throughout New York state. With the new partnership, Time Warner Cable Sports has exclusive rights to telecast all boys' and girls' regional, semifinal and championship events in New York state on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.
As part of the agreement, Time Warner Cable Sports also has the exclusive rights to carry NYSPHSAA content on mobile, Internet and On Demand platforms, providing fans the in-depth coverage and access to high school sports more than ever before.
Already this school year, Time Warner Cable produced and aired high school football, basketball, lacrosse, wrestling and ice hockey championship events, in addition to profile pieces, and plans to add softball coverage this season. This coverage was seen on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.
NYSPHSAA is the largest interscholastic sports organization in New York state, governing modified and high school athletics for more than 1,500 schools, including 782 high schools. NYPHSAA oversees 35 interscholastic sports and 32 championship events annually. Through this new partnership, Time Warner Cable Sports will bring additional elements to the overall high school athletic experience benefiting the thousands of student athletes and their families involved in NYSPHSAA competitions. “The New York State Public High School Athletic Association is excited to partner with Time Warner Cable Sports,” said Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA Executive Director. “Time Warner Cable is the leading cable provider in our state and with our new, long-term relationship, they are committed to delivering telecasts of high school athletics to hundreds of communities in New York state. They bring a high level of professionalism and the ability to highlight our student-athletes in a manner that exceeds expectations. Their broadcasts on TV and the Internet for the next 10 years will add to the excitement of our state championship events as well as allow our association to truly promote the value of education-based athletics.”
NYSPHSAA's marketing partner, Home Team Marketing, was instrumental in bringing the deal together between Time Warner Cable Sports and NYSPHSAA. “This partnership presents a tremendous opportunity for exposure for NYSPHSAA member schools and student-athletes,” said Peter Fitzpatrick, President and Co-Founder of Home Team Marketing. “The NYSPHSAA is a storied organization dedicated to the highest quality of competition for student-athletes. By partnering with industry leader, Time Warner Cable, it is a win-win for high schools in the state of New York.” “Our agreement with NYSPHSAA will provide high school sports fans in-depth opportunities to connect with teams, players, coaches, parents and fans across New York state on multiple distribution platforms. We are thrilled to have the privilege of covering our hometown heroes,” said Steve Arvan, senior director of local sports programming at Time Warner Cable. “High school sports and the NYSPHSAA have long been cornerstones in providing countless opportunities to our youth, developing future leaders and creating stronger communities both on and off the field.”
A leader at providing local production and sports programming to millions of subscribers across the country, Time Warner Cable currently manages 53 local channels, featuring sports, news, weather and traffic. Time Warner Cable and NYSPHAA have partnered since 2002 to deliver coverage of high school athletics to homes across New York state.
April 10, 2013 - Cleveland-based Home Team Marketing (HTM) today announced the promotion of Sarah Corr to Associate Account Supervisor and the hiring of Kirby Becker as Account Executive in the Cleveland office. Corr's new role will include lead management duties on individual accounts to make sure that campaigns meet deliverables and goals. Becker will concentrate on sales efforts for the co-op sales team.
February 7, 2013 - HTM today announced the promotion of Christopher Spear to Executive Vice President of Sales. Spear joined the company in 2006 and has been an integral part of the sales team over the past six years. In his new role, Spear will direct the sales force for the nation's leading high school sports marketing company.
“Chris has been a vital part of the success of HTM” said Peter Fitzpatrick, President and Co-founder of Home Team Marketing. “As we move through 2013, the company is expanding what we offer to our clients, and Chris will be a vital part of those sales efforts.”
November 1, 2012 - HTM today announced the promotion of Rachel Allenick in the Cleveland office to Group Director State Associations. Allenick joined HTM in 2006 and has been an integral part of the state association team. In her new role she will take the lead on formulating the company's game plan for managing state association partnerships and making them successful.
October 25, 2012 - HTM today announced the promotion of Eamon Fitzpatrick in the Cleveland office to Account Supervisor. Fitzpatrick joined HTM in 2006. In his new role he will assume lead management duties on individual accounts to make sure that campaigns meet deliverables and goals.
October 15, 2012 - Congratulations to HTM Co-Founder and SVP Regan Fitzpatrick who was selected as a Forty Under 40 winner for Crain's Cleveland Magazine. Regan will be recognized at an awards dinner on November 19th.
August 25, 2012 - The Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) is offering a comprehensive video distribution rights package for all future ASAA tournament events beginning with this school year, including TV and internet streaming, Executive Director Gary Matthews has announced. The ASAA also signed on Home Team Marketing (HTM) as their official marketing partner, HTM will be leading the process to secure a long-term partner for video distribution and related electronic media rights and well as corporate sponsorship partners.
The ASAA sanctions 33 activities ranging from fall, winter and spring sports to music, drama, debate, language and student government. The ASAA sets competitive seasons, sponsors state competitions, regulates officials and provides eligibility criteria for student-athletes.
In addition to live content television events, which will include the ability to televise state championship contests in all ASAA sponsored sports, the ASAA's media and distribution partner will have the ability to expand this platform through electronic mediums such as internet/broadband streaming, video on-demand, wireless delivery and mobile platforms and other emerging technologies. The package may include ASAA events at all levels of the post-season tournaments and possibly regular season events. The extensive offering will provide the any partner with marketing and branding initiatives to drive awareness and viewership.
“The potential package truly represents an unprecedented and dynamic opportunity for the rights holder in Alaska, while also providing limitless future opportunities in the ever-changing media landscape,” said Peter Fitzpatrick, President of Home Team Marketing. “The package is strong enough and has enough great content that it could become a backbone of any network or cable system in Alaska.”
“We look forward to working with Home Team Marketing to expand our marketing efforts. And we also anticipate that the benefits of our partnership with HTM will elevate the State Championship experience for Alaska's student-athletes, who are Alaska's future,” said Gary Matthews, Executive Director, Alaska School Athletic Association.
August 14, 2012 - The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is proud to name Subway as the “Official Restaurant” of the MHSAA. Subway, long recognized as a nutritional leader, will show their support of education-based athletics at MHSAA sanctioned events beginning with the Fall athletic season. The partnership is a perfect match-up, the MHSAA is committed to education-based athletics and Subway is dedicated to healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. Both organizations will work to encourage student-athletes to make balanced nutritional choices.
Subway is a strong supporter of the communities where their restaurants are located. The partnership with the MHSAA will include prominent signage, TV, radio program ads, public address announcements, on-site opportunities, and social media components.
“Our restaurants are 100% owned and operated by local people all across the state,” said Bob LeVand, a SUBWAY franchisee from Cadillac. “Being named the Official Restaurant sponsor of Michigan high school sports gives us one more way to thank the folks in our home towns for their longtime support. Because giving back to the community isn't just good business, it's also being a good neighbor.”
“We are looking forward to our partnership with Subway, and we're grateful for their commitment to high school communities throughout the state of Michigan. As the official restaurant of the MHSAA, our student athletes, families, and fans will have the opportunity to see that commitment firsthand.” said John Roberts, Executive Director, MHSAA.
3-15-12: Read this story in USA Today about title sponsorships for state high school associations. HTM is well represented in the story.
3-13-12: Congrats to Peter Fitzpatrick for being selected by Sports Business Journal magazine as a Forty Under 40 winner for 2012. Here is the story:
For all of the people who claim that high schools represent the next sports marketing frontier, few have made a bigger bet on it than Peter Fitzpatrick, president of Cleveland-based Home Team Marketing.
Fitzpatrick's company has been aggregating the multimedia rights to high school athletic associations all over the country for the last few years, and now has the rights to 21 state associations and close to 10,000 schools.
Home Team Marketing monetizes those rights by selling sponsorship packages to companies for state championship and playoff events.
The former Fox Sports and Host Communications executive says high school sports marketing “is still in its infancy, but there are only good things to come.” Fitzpatrick has endeared himself to the cash-strapped state associations and high schools by returning a share of the revenue to the schools.
“You're starting to see a much greater focus on high schools, even from the major networks like Fox and ESPN,” Fitzpatrick said. “You're seeing the new USA Today sports group putting a huge focus there. There are going to be ups and downs, but it's vital to do it the right way and that means working in conjunction with schools and administrators. It's an exciting future and we're as well-positioned as anybody to be a leader in that space.”
Fitzpatrick's leadership and vision has led to several new deals recently, including a blockbuster 15-year TV arrangement with Time Warner Cable in Southern California for the California Interscholastic Federation of high schools.
“This is a benchmark right situation that took the better part of a year,” Fitzpatrick said. “High school programming is that perfect connection to the community. We take a lot of pride in that deal.”
2-22-2012: HTM announced a strategic partnership with Phizzle Inc., a leading technology provider of advanced mobile marketing products and digital advertising solutions. The agreement between HTM and Phizzle allows for the integration of traditional and digital mobile marketing solutions designed to enhance fan's digital experience specifically among local high school athletic teams throughout the country. The cross-platform approach to digital marketing will enable HTM's network of 10,000 high schools across the country and 21 state association partners to have access to Phizzle's mobile marketing and digital strategic solutions to integrate new media within traditional elements.
Complimenting HTM's highly successful high school marketing platform, which includes traditional advertising such as signage, print ads, public address announcements and on-site multi-media campaigns, Phizzle will offer multi-channel digital solutions including SMS, 2D/QR codes, mobile websites, advertising networks, social media and branded apps to connect with sports enthusiasts. Phizzle will provide HTM with its mobile marketing platform to create, manage and launch SMS campaigns; Broadcaster iX™ to create real-time in venue participation entertainment, on-air broadcast, live event displays or web stream and digital marketing integration that includes the SoMoLo model (Social Mobile Local).
2-3-2012: The Federated Council of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has voted to begin offering title sponsorships for all State and Regional Championship events beginning with 2012 Championships. The CIF hosts a total of 450 State and Regional Championship events, including football, basketball, wrestling, cross country and track and field.
By offering title sponsorships, the nation's largest state high school association increases potential funding opportunities. The CIF positively affects more student-athletes and families than any other athletic governing organization. With over 1,500 schools and 22,000+ teams competing, the CIF and its member schools provide a platform for furthering the positive message of education based athletics.
“Adding a title sponsorship at the State and Regional level will give the CIF the opportunity to elevate our State Championship experience for our student-athletes” said Marie Ishida, CIF Executive Director, “we look forward to the benefits this will bring to the playing field.”
Title sponsorship benefits will include naming rights on all Regional and State Championship events, in broadcast elements, event signage and on site activation opportunities. This news comes on the heels of the CIF'ss announcement in September that Time Warner Cable (TWC) will be the official content distributor of CIF Regional and State Championship sports programming for the next 15 years.
