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Mar192009

The WIAA is getting too big for its britches!

Filed under Fall sports, Football, Gadgets, General, Good Ole Days, High School Sports, NHIAA, Photographing sports, Rules & Officials by bob hammerstrom at 6:14 pm

Should a state athletic association be allowed to sell rights for one media company to cover a high school event live, and ban another? That’s exactly what the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association is trying to do.

It’s getting more common for state athletic associations to make deals with photography studios and freelance photographers, announcing their presence at sporting events, and letting them sell their images for a cut of the profits. There was one at last week’s Manchester Memorial basketball game. But in Wisconsin, the power of controlling public school sporting events and the greed for cash, has fueled the WIAA’s drive to limit media coverage of high school sports tournaments to the highest bidder.

The WIAA and a small company of television stations has sued the Appleton Post-Crescent newspaper and Gannett Newspapers for using a video camera to broadcast a game live over the Internet. You can read all about it here on the National Press Photographer’s Association web site.

We often broadcast live coverage at www.nashuatelegraph.com of political events, spot news and court cases. Like the Post-Crescent, the Lowell Sun has been doing live video at some of their area games in Massachusetts.

As a photojournalist, and a parent of a high school athlete, I find it appalling that an association, made up of public schools, would try to control which media organizations can cover tournaments, and with what kind of medium (photos, live video, regular video taping, radio broadcast, etc…)

These power-hungry associations have challenged freedom of the press, given to us by the writers of the Constitution of the United States. I’m sure James Madison and George Washington would jump right out of their knickers if they watched a live broadcast of a basketball game. Maybe a conference call via Skype would have sped up their signing process!

As a reader of online sports, do you feel somehow cheated when a statewide athletic association profits from companies buying rights to broadcast your child’s game? What if you don’t have that channel on your television? What if The Telegraph photographers were prevented from photographing Saturday’s New Hampshire State Basketball Championship at UNH?

Let’s hope the NHIAA doesn’t fall into the same power struggle with New Hampshire’s media.

-Bob Hammerstrom

bhammerstrom@nashuatelegraph.com

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    The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association provides these statements in response to this opinion article regarding its lawsuit with the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and two Gannett Newspapers.

    The legal action taken by the WIAA is in response to letter sent to the WIAA by the attorney for the Wisconsin Newspapers Association, challenging the WIAA’s published and long-standing media policies.

    The letter stated the WIAA has no constitutional authority to grant exclusive rights to any third party as it has for many years. Upon receiving the letter that demanded the WIAA change its policies, a number of meetings with the WNA failed to resolve the issue.


    With no resolution forseeable, the WIAA has asked the court for a declaratory judgment and resolution of this dispute to determine if the WIAA may enter into exclusive agreements. No damages are being sought by the WIAA for documented breaches of its media policies, only a declaration of its own authority over WIAA Tournament Series events it sponsors. The WIAA has not denied media credentials or access for news gathering purposes, despite the breaches of its policies and the ongoing dispute.

    The WIAA is a private, not-for-profit association comprised of more than 500 volunteer member high schools in the state. The Association receives no direct revenues from the State through taxes, and approximately 90 percent of its operational budget is generated though gate receipts of Tournament Series events and its business agreements. It is these revenues that the WIAA uses to secure the use of tournament venues and reimburse its member schools for tournament expenses. In addition, the WIAA sponsors 14 sports tournaments; only six generate positive revenue. The WIAA track and field championships alone operated at a $190,000 deficit last year.

    The WIAA is proud of its ability to provide quality and comprehensive coverage of tournament events. Perhaps no other state provides as much comprehensive coverage for all sports and the student-athletes that participate in them.

    Without the ability to engage in contractual arrangements with media partners, the comprehensive and quality televised programming and Web streams that have become a staple throughout the year will become endangered, including the live telecasts of the State Hockey and Boys and Girls Basketball Championships.

    In February, more than 39,000 viewers (more than 500,000 internet “hits”) accessed WIAA.TV to watch the Individual State Wrestling Tournament, made possible only by our exclusive video production partner. Relationships such as these deliver programming to the masses for all sports, not just a select few that are targeted for their mass appeal and commercial benefit by publications represented by the newspaper association.

    In addition, here are a number of other considerations:

    * Newspapers are not prevented from Web streaming WIAA Tournament Series events. The WNA wants special treatment apart from other media (i.e. radio, television, Web sites) to not be assessed a reasonable rights fees to stream a live event.

    * The WIAA is not denying any newspapers from their traditional method of reporting on events, instead, making a clear distinction between reporting and live transmission of an event. In addition, any media may use up to two minutes of actual game highlights for its video news stories on the Web site, the same guidelines television has practiced for years.

    * WIAA media policies are in effect for Tournament Series events only. Regular season events are not subject to WIAA media policies or rights fees payable to the Association.

    * Media partnerships have provided enhancements for our State Tournaments with video highlights for video display boards, as well as cost savings for members schools and more than 9,000 licensed officials with the production of on-line sport meetings.

    The WIAA has been serving high schools through their voluntary membership for 113 years. The WIAA will not speculate on the motives and interests of the WNA and its members. We believe our record of service and commitment to our member schools and their interests stand on their own merits.

    The WNA’s claims and position in this dispute are constitutionally unprecedented, forcing the WIAA to protect its policies and third-party agreements on behalf of its member high schools.

    In defending itself in the recent disputes, the WIAA’s one request of the WNA and its member newspapers is to present the WIAA’s position accurately. For the public’s awareness, we issue this statement to clarify any misrepresentations or exclusions of facts published about the WIAA’s position.
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    I have not much time, but I've got many useful things here, love it!

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