Media Guidelines and Fee Schedules

CIF-SS Media Credentials

CIF Southern Section member schools have allowed the CIF-SS Office to issue all sport credentials to working members of the media for the purpose of covering their events. These credentials, issued each school year, will entitle the bearer entry to all practice, regular season, non-league, league, tournament and playoff contests (with the exception of some championship events) conducted by CIF-SS member schools, for the purpose of covering the event.

CIF-Southern Section media credentials may be requested through the official form on cifss.Org. Once the request is obtained by the CIF-SS communications department, the request will be reviewed and the requestor will receive either a denial letter or the issued credential(s), following a background check within 20 business days.

Members of the media are urged to contact home schools prior to regular season and playoff contests to request information on working facilities, interview policies, press parking, etc. Keep in mind that the host school in all regular-season contests and most playoff contests will retain the right to establish and enforce their own policies regarding media privileges and crowd control.

Playoff Credentials

Regular CIF southern section media credentials will be honored at all CIF-SS playoff contests, other than championship events where special credentials are required. Major sport semifinal contests, managed directly by the CIF-SS office, may also require special credentials.

Championship Credentials

Special credentials will be required for major CIF-SS championships. These may only be obtained through the official CIF-SS request form on CIFSS.Org. Each championship contest will have it’s own request page – it is not the regular season request form. Request deadlines and other important dates will be specified on the request forms.

Guidelines for Credentialing

  1. Media members desiring CIF – SS credentials must submit requests at cifss.org.
  2. Internet sites desiring media credentials must have a unique, registered domain name, ending in one of the recognized extensions ( . com, . cc, . org, . edu, . net).
  3. All outlets desiring media credentials must have a demonstrated record of sustained coverage of high school sports, which should include (but is not limited to):
    • Publishing stories and statistics in a timely basis about individual contests;
    • Producing digital content appropriate for education – based athletics;
    • Publishing feature stories about high school sports teams, coaches and student – athletes .
  4. The following internet sites will not be granted credentials:
    • Personal page internet site publishers;
    • Subscription – based internet sites;
    • Internet sites associated in any way with alcohol, tobacco, drugs of any kind, gambling of any kind, political parties or candidates or any other advertising considered in poor taste or not in compliance with the mission of interscholastic athletics as determined by the CIF – SS;
    • Sites developed solely to list/profile/rank recruiting prospects or teams and/or to provide chat rooms/forums/blogs.
  5. All outlets must furnish the name of a contact person who can serve as the liaison to the CIF – SS in the event questions or concerns arise related to the accuracy and fairness of content posted from CIF – SS events.
  6. Due to event capacity, championship credentials for media outlets not producing a CIF – SS broadcast will only be granted depending on space availability .

Media Relations

CIF-SS Media Advisory Committee

In an effort to reach out to the media outlets which regularly cover cif southern section activities, the cif-ss established a media advisory committee in 1985.

The purpose and function of this committee is to offer members of the media a vehicle for stimulating new ideas and discussing issues related to coverage of cif-ss events on an advisory basis. A major element in initiation of the media advisory committee was to develop a closer working relationship between the covering media and the cif-ss publicity department.

The committee is structured to consist of members of the media who regularly cover CIF-SS activities. Board members will serve on year renewable terms. The CIF-SS media advisory committee will conduct two (2) scheduled meetings each year, one in January and one in July.

Any representative of the media outlets that regularly cover cif-ss activities is welcome to raise agenda items for committee discussion.This may done by contacting the cif-ss communications department prior to meeting dates. Minutes of the cif-ss media advisory committee meetings will be published in a timely manner.

Designated Press Areas

The designated press area must be maintained as a working area for members of the media assigned to cover the contest. Some schools have spacious press boxes to accommodate all who require access, others are very small, while some school stadiums have none at all. Regardless, the designated area is for game officials, (clock operator, public address announcer, stat crew, etc.) and members of the media only. Walking on the sidelines is an option, particularly at stadiums with a small or no press box.

Like the designated press area, the scorer’s table for sports such as Basketball, wrestling and volleyball should be strictly maintained as a working area. Not every high school gym can facilitate a large press area at floor level, but schools have been asked to make every effort to provide a working press area at their events.

Photographers

Photographers should be sure to Work in specific working areas on The field and court level. In Football, photographers should be Allowed access to the boundaries Anywhere on the field, except within The team box (25-yard line to 25-yard Line along the sidelines); in Basketball, they should be limited To the baseline areas only; in Baseball and softball they must be Kept off the field of play entirely, As all foul balls are considered in Play; in track and field they must be Limited to specific areas, so as not to Interfere with events being Conducted simultaneously and for Their own safety. Specific photo Positions will be established and Enforced for all sports.

Playoff Information

Pairings Announcements

All sports pairings for the CIF-Southern Section championship playoffs will be made available to member schools and the media at the conclusion of each regular season of sport. The dates for playoff pairings announcements will be noted well in advance on CIF.Org.

The CIF-SS office will provide standings, polls and brackets at the scheduled time and date in a press release on cifss.Org for each division.

Titling for CIF-SS Playoff/Championship Events

The sponsors of CIF-SS playoff and championship events have invested a great amount of effort and funding in the support of high school athletics throughout the state of California.

The CIF-southern section commends the media outlets that have supported high school athletics for many years. It is hoped these organizations will continue their contribution to the betterment of interscholastic athletics by utilizing the correct titling for CIF events whenever possible in previews, pairing lists, results, feature articles, photo captions and any other news items regarding playoff and championship activities.

The official titling of all CIF-SS playoffs and championships is, “The CIF Southern Section-Ford _______________ Championships.”

Playoff Updates

During playoff periods, the cif-southern section office will be open each morning following scheduled contests, even if those contests are conducted on friday or saturday, for the purpose of determining home teams for the following round.

Weekend hours during playoff periods vary. The communications department recommends you check cifss.org for upcoming matchups, or call during our regular office hours.

Updates on host sites and playoff winners are also available on the website.

Internet Service at Championship Events

Media outlets requiring temporary internet services at CIF-SS championship event sites – such as Angel Stadium, Anaheim Convention Center, Cerritos college, Mount San Antonio College, etc., or member high schools – are responsible for making their own orders, when not being provided by the CIF-SS.

Broadcast Information & Rights Fees

The CIF-Southern Section retains broadcast rights for all non – league, league and playoff contests and has the sole authority to approve radio, television and internet coverage of such events .

For all CIF-SS contests, prior approval for the broadcast of any playoff contest must be secured from the CIF-SS Communications Department and the established rights fee shall be paid prior to the contest .

There will be no fee charged for periodic progress reports made by a broadcast entity during a playoff contest, provided there are no more than six (6) of these reports for any single game . Such reports may not exceed two (2) minutes in duration and may not contain play – by – play descriptions of live action .

It should be noted, with the exception of some championship events, exclusive rights for television coverage will not be granted for CIF – SS events . However, the CIF – SS Communications Department will base its broadcast/cablecast approval on information provided by the home school, in consideration of facilities and game management concerns .

All rights agreements are subject to approval and compliance with CIF – SS By – Laws or terms of other CIF – SS broadcast agreements (Bally Sports West/SoCal, NFHS Network, etc).

Delayed broadcasts of CIF – SS games are permissible, but may not be aired prior to 11pm on the date of the contest.

CIF-SS holds the video rights to all CIF-SS varsity events hosted by a CIF-SS school or tournament sanctioned by the CIF-SS involving schools from outside the CIF-SS. CIF retains the video rights for any varsity game played between two CIF-SS member schools outside of the CIF-SS area except where two schools meet after the first round of an elimination tournament . (Example: If CIF-SS school A vs . CIF-SS school B are to play in first round of a tournament in another state of CIF section, the CIF-SS schools must identify to the host school and association/section that the video rights of the game remain exclusively with the CIF-SS).

Any publicized video content using clips from any CIF – SS contest is permissible in TV News production and broadcast/cablecast without payment of fees or prior approval . This is provided the intent of such film or tape is for a news report only . Such reports are limited to 6 total and not to exceed 2 minutes in duration and may not include extended play – by – play descriptions of live action .

All regular season rights fees collected throughout the course of a school year are shared directly with the host schools on an equal basis . For example, if School A hosts School B in a football game during the regular season and an outside entity comes to School A and does a live stream of that event, all rights fees collected by the office are sent to School A at the end of the school year .

The RIGHTS FEES: REGULAR SEASON (below) section of this Media Guidelines page outlines the rights fees, on a per game/per sport basis, that are sent to the host school .

All rights fees collected during the post-season of any sport in the CIF-SS remain with the section as those tournaments are under the direction of the CIF-SS office .

Rights fees for television broadcast/cablecast, radio or internet audio streaming of CIF-SS contests are not to be included as part of the home school’s playoff contest financial report.

Rights Fees: Highlights

Extended highlights & unofficial TV news media: anything over 2 minutes in duration will be billed per the following fee schedule

TimeCost
Over 2 minutes, up to 15 minutes$75.00
Over 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes$100.00
Over 30 minutes, up to 45 minutes$150.00
Over 45 minutes$300.00
School/District use on School/District
owned and operated platforms
$0
These fee schedules are subject to change.

Rights Fees: Regular Season

SourceSportLive/DelayedCost
WebFootballLive or Delayed$600.00
WebBasketball/VolleyballLive or Delayed$400.00
WebOther sports aside from Football/Basketball/VolleyballLive or Delayed$250.00
Web
(School/school district owned and operated “.edu”website (HOME GAMES ONLY) when no other paying contract requests to broadcast the game)
All sportsLive or Delayed$0
Cable TV
(only available on one service provider within the CIF-SS geographic area airing in no more than two counties and available to a maximum 300,000 subscribers)
All sportsLive$1,000.00
TV
(on a regional or national TV entity airing in more that two counties but no more than 1.5 million subscribers)
FootballDelayed$2,000.00
TV
(on a regional or national TV entity airing in more than two counties but no more than 1.5 million subscribers)
All sports (excluding football)Delayed$1,000.00
TV
(School or school district owned and operated TV station airing within the immediately contiguous geographic area of the school (HOME GAMES ONLY) when no other paying contract to broadcast the game is requested)
All sportsLive or Delayed$0
AM/FM Audio BroadcastAll sportsLive or Delayed$200.00
These fee schedules are subject to change.

Rights Fees: Playoffs

Audio Only

SourceSportlive/DelayedPrelimFinal
AM/FMFootballLive$500.00$750.00
WebFootballLive$300.00$750.00
AM/FMFootballDelayed$350.00$500.00
WebFootballDelayed$350.00$500.00
AM/FMBoy’s BasketballLive$500.00$750.00
WebBoy’s BasketballLive$350.00$550.00
AM/FMBoy’s BasketballDelayed$300.00$500.00
WebBoy’s BasketballDelayed$200.00$300.00
AM/FMOther SportsLive$200.00$300.00
WebOther SportsLive$250.00$300.00
AM/FMOther SportsDelayed$200.00$300.00
WebOther SportsDelayed$200.00$300.00
These fee schedules are subject to change.

Television (Video)

SourceSportLive/DelayedPrelimFinal
TVAllLiveContact CIF-SSContact CIF-SS
LOAllLiveContact CIF-SSContact CIF-SS
LOFootballDelayed$800.00$1,000.00
LOBoy’s Basketball-Non ArenaDelayed$600.00$1,000.00
LOBoy’s Basketball-ArenaDelayed$700.00$1,000.00
LOGirl’s BasketballDelayed$700.00$1,000.00
LOOther SportsDelayed$600.00$750.00
WebFootballLive$600.00$1,000.00
WebBoy’s Basketball-Non ArenaLive$500.00$1,000.00
WebBoy’s Basketball-ArenaLive$600.00$1,000.00
WebGirl’s BasketballLive$500.00$750.00
WebOther SportsLive$500.00$750.00

TV – Broadcasts available regionally to viewers in more that local origination on one local cable entity; this category includes over-the-air TV, national and regionally available cable/satellite stations.

LO – Local origination cable only distributed in school home city/cable system

Web – Streaming video available on the internet