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Mater Dei High School signs ten-year multimedia rights deal with Playfly Sports

Lawrence Andrew Fernandezby:Lawrence Fernandez•03/19/25•

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Mater Dei High School Logo
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

California’s Mater Dei High School signed a ten-year, seven-figure multimedia rights deal with Pennsylvania-based media and marketing company Playfly Sports. The Santa Ana-based private Catholic school claimed that they are the first high school to sign a third-party MMR deal.

The school wrote in a statement that the partnership will help enhance sponsorships, fan engagement, and media mileage. Meanwhile, Playfly Director of Marketing and Communications Kyle Gurganious shared with The Athletic’s Rebecca Tauber that this partnership is a great opportunity because high school sports lag in commercialization and structural development.

However, Gurganious cleared that the agreement isn’t a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal. Instead, the funds from this deal won’t directly go to Mater Dei High School student-athletes. As Tauber pointed out, California high schools cannot negotiate NIL deals on their students’ behalf. However, student-athletes can directly negotiate NIL deals with brands.

Meanwhile, Mater Dei director of athletic development Khaled Holmes welcomed the agreement with Playfly as another means to raise funds for their sports programs. In addition, this deal could open individual NIL deals for their players and elevate fan experience during games.

The Monarchs have been an athletic powerhouse, not only in California but also nationwide. Their football program was the consensus top team in the On3 Composite Team Rankings after an undefeated 13-0 record and winning the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division championship. Likewise, their boys basketball team is the state’s 19th-best team, while their girls basketball squad is tenth-best in the nation.

LeRon Ellis, Jamal Sampson, and Stanley Johnson are some of the Mater Dei High School alumni who made it to the NBA. Meanwhile, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Bryce Young, and Trent McDuffie are some NFL players who donned the Monarchs uniform.

Meanwhile, Playfly Sports recently acquired high school sports marketing and social media company Paragon Marketing Group. They have existing partnerships with Butler University, Texas A&M, and the University of Texas at San Antonio, among others.