High School Football Combines Popular For Players, Sponsors
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High School Football Combine Organizer Estimates
Industry Has Grown 40% Annually In Last Two Years |
College football recruiters targeting younger athletes are helping to drive the "rapid growth in the high school football combine business," and some combines are "now available for kids as young as middle-schoolers," according to Ryan Basen of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The combines "bring in revenue by charging those athletes and contracting with sponsors who want to tap into the teen market." One combine organizer estimated that it is a "nine-figure industry nationally, saying it grew by 20[%] annually from 2003 to 2006 and 40[%] each of the last two years." Nike, Under Armour and ESPN are among the sponsors for various combines. While high school combines were created 20 years ago to help athletes become noticed by colleges, the "point now is often to do that while making money for organizers and sponsors." Some combines "rely on participation fees and sponsors for revenue, others only on sponsors." Organizers and sponsors indicated that they "rarely profit from combines directly," and that they "consider them complementary ventures." Rivals.com CEO Bobby Burton: "Access to those camps is an important facet of our coverage. You get to evaluate players, you get photos of them, you get video, you can interview them." Basen reports combines have become a "necessity in the minds of many players and parents ... in the competitive chase for a college football scholarship." But sources noted that many combine results "never get to recruiters, for example, because organizers don't send them" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 11/5).
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