By: Henry Isaacson
Even Derry Township School District is looking for other ways to balance the budget.
DTSD has recently been exploring allowing advertising on school grounds. By doing so, the school would increase their annual revenue. Market Street Sports Group was asked to create a proposal. However, after Market Street presented their findings, the school board is still hesitant to proceed.
During this exploration, DTSD has found a local business that does it all. Market Street Sports Group, founded in 2006, has created a business that has the ability to mimic the ideas of a professional sports team. The group’s aim is to create revenue for high schools by sponsoring gymnasiums, fields, and cafeterias with advertisements of other businesses.
The hesitation by DTSD’s school board surrounds the issue of signs and their placement. As the outdoor facilities of DTSD stand today, the township will not let the school choose exactly where they want the businesses to advertise.
A major road, 322, borders the edge of Hershey High School’s campus and sits right next to one of Hershey’s turf fields. The township though has decided to limit both the size and number of outdoor signs, making this ideal spot nearly impossible to use.
This restriction denies DTSD the chance to place signs facing 322 and many other bordering roads. Not only does it require DTSD to look for new advertising locations, but it cuts the potential annual revenue by nearly half.
According toBrian Shiflett, a DTSD School Board representative, the township’s restrictions have been put into place because the people of Hershey value “maintaining the community’s character, sometimes referred to as a sense of place.”
The township’s rules prevent the township from losing its visual appeal, forcing the school to either lose profits or force multiple signs into a clustered/compact area.
Hempfield High School has partnered with Market Street Sports Group for several years. Currently Hempfield earns an average of $66,000 per year through advertising on school grounds. Based on the projection by Market Street and the restrictions places on signage by Derry Township, DTSD could earn about half that.
Unless the current regulations were to change, nearly all advertising on DTSD grounds would be in the gym or other indoor areas like the cafeterias and auditoriums.
An additional limit on the revenue earnings is the need to purchase the signs initially.
“So $60,000 in annual revenue [which was the maximum revenue that Hershey could generate through indoor advertising, program ads, and indoor naming rights opportunities] might net 33K after all the bills are paid,” said Shiflett. The bills here are the expenses incurred by purchasing, mounting, and maintaining the signs each year.
DTSD has to purchase all of the signs, which can each cost $12 per square foot, according to DTSD’s Evaluation Report of Sponsorship and Naming Rights Opportunities. While the cost is relatively low to the school district, these calulations do become an important factor when projecting expected revenue.
According to the audio recording of the DTSD school board discussion on Market Street’s proposal, the district is also hesitant because there is no guarantee of profit.
Market Street Sports Group says that they “secure corporate partners (each approved by the entity) in their effort to generate additional revenue through the sale of corporate Naming Rights, Sponsorships and Advertising,” but they can only do their best. If no companies are interested, then there is nothing that the company or school can do.
The DTSD school board said they will keep discussing the proposal, and plan to reach a final decision at the June meeting.
