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High School merchandising

William Ferchland, Tahoe Daily Tribune

Officials at South Tahoe High School are upset with an out-of-state company that is contacting local businesses for advertising in the 2002 varsity football schedule.

The company, High School Sports Promotions, contacts merchants asking them if they would like to advertise in the upcoming South Tahoe High School varsity football schedule.

The merchants mistakenly believe the company is affiliated with the high school and purchase advertising space.



“These people that they’re contacting think they’re doing something really nice but they need to leave our merchants alone,” said Jack Stafford, vice principal at South Tahoe High School.

Stafford rejected a 20 percent cut of the advertising sales a company representative offered.



The football team conducts fund raising and collects an estimated $5,000 from South Lake Tahoe businesses, Stafford said. About 10 percent is used to pay for the printing costs of the high school’s fall, winter and spring sport schedules.

The company is taking money from the community, Stafford said.

“They’re in it for the bucks and that frustrates me,” he said.

This isn’t the first time the Arlington, Texas, and Moline, Ill., based company have been in print.

California community newspapers in Yreka and Goleta and a newspaper in Oneonta, N.Y., have written about the High School Sports Promotions’ questionable business actions.

A training manager for the company in Illinois said no law is being broken.

“I always ask, ‘Does the school do their own poster and do they have a problem filling it?'” Jeremy White said. “We only look for eight or 10 advertisers. We’re not looking to pillage the community.”

White said he doesn’t understand why Stafford rejected the 20 percent cut of advertising sales the company offered.

“We make the offer, which people refuse, which I don’t understand because it’s free money,” White said.

“As for me, I have a job to do and I’m going to do this regardless,” he said.

Bob Prescott, the owner of Meyers Auto Care, said he was contacted by a High School Sports Promotions representative. He has yet to pay the $240 bill.

“They called me and asked me if I wanted to be on the high school football poster and I assumed it’s the poster that’s put out (by the high school),” he said.

“They told me it was going to be handed out at the football games,” said Dan Miller, owner of Millers Custom Cabinets. “I specifically asked them if it was part of the high school and they said part of their money was going to the high school.”

Stafford, the high school vice principal, wants the company to leave the merchants alone.

“I think they think we are endorsing High School Sports Promotions and we’re not,” he said. “I just wish these people would go away. People in this community are great and they give their heart out.”


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