It is no secret that merchandising is the key to the growth of sport and sports marketing specialists Tanya Lee-Perkins and Paula Pinnock know this all too well.

In fact, both agree that the potential exists for Jamaica’s high school sports to blossom through merchandising, but in the same breath, pointed out that it would require key marketing strategies to prove effective.

Their sentiments follow the recent schoolboy football launch where Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) President Keith Wellington unveiled some attractive jerseys that the 37 Manning Cup and 81 daCosta Cup teams will sport in the upcoming season which gets under way on September 10.

According to Wellington, gear provider Soccer Xpress was urged to ensure that the jerseys were eye-catching as a means of encouraging schoolboy football fans to purchase replicas.

Though the sale of replica jerseys is nothing new on the schoolboy football landscape, the quality of the product, Lee-Perkins said, could prove the difference and holds the potential for a tidy return.

However, she explained that such a return depends on the schools’ following, as the more popular the team, the greater the potential return.

“Merchandising is a multi-billion-dollar industry in sports and nothing excites Jamaican sports fans like high school sports does. So selling replica jerseys to fans is a massive opportunity for schools to boost revenue from their team to help fund their school programmes,” Lee-Perkins said.

The head of Leep Marketing added that the onus is on the schools to entice their following with more than just replica jerseys, as the team’s merchandise creates great camaraderie between supporters and the team.

“Schools should canvas their alumni and other supporters with caps, T-shirts, replica jerseys as a means of raising funds for their institutions. It’s mutually beneficial, in that supporters will feel more connected to give to their team and the school gets much-needed revenue to further aid in the development of their students. So Everyone wins,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Pinnock believes Jamaica’s schools have, over the years, missed the opportunity to maximise on the marketing possibilities.

Still, she is of the view that people will spend money to support their school as they do their favourite English Premier League (EPL) clubs, but like Perkins, said the jersey must be worth the spend.

“Schools around the world monetise their brand, and not just for sports, but as part of their identity and to boost morale and team spirit. Jamaica is a little behind in this area despite our success in track and field and our junior athletes. Unfortunately, events like Champs and schoolboy football have not translated into financial rewards for schools beyond sponsorships and donations,” Pinnock argued, reiterating for schools to capitalise, ISSA’s partnership must be with a reputable brand that produce quality jerseys that have a lifestyle appeal.

“We see Arsenal recently released a Jamaican-flavoured jersey that has mass appeal beyond just Arsenal fans. Schools must also understand that to produce these quality jerseys they will have to agree to smaller revenue shares. EPL clubs on average get about 7.5 per cent of sales from their kits. If the brands they are partnering with can move significant volumes then it will definitely be rewarding for the schools,” she said.

Meanwhile, Warren Bloise, sports director at Cornwall College, while also alluding to the authenticity and quality of the product, said it would require some innovation for schools to really benefit from jersey sales.

“Even though there is an opportunity, there are several things that need to happen in order for it to be effective. You are going to have to set up a shop at most games to let it happen or at least a tent or something to make some uniforms [jerseys], because at the games, you get the audience. So that’s a good way to do it,” Bloise told the Observer.

“Not many people are going to come to the school to get jersey. So there are challenges, even though you look at other entities or leagues that does it successfully like the NBA and so on, they have trademarks and authenticated uniform.

“But if I were to do an authentic Cornwall College replica jersey, which we are planning on doing, the cost is going to be significant. Not many people care about that, they just want the crest or the colour and they go, but it’s something that needs to be looked into, the question is whether or not the work is worth the return,” he added.

And while Bloise is of the view that any revenue is good revenue, he believes there are other avenues from which schools could benefit significantly, none more so than intellectual property TV rights.

“Until schools are able to get their own broadcast channels then they we won’t really make any money. Schools should have the access to broadcast through their own channels whether it is YouTube or others and then try to raise revenue from that. That’s the only way we are going to make any kind of money,” Bloise argued.

He explained that if schools such as Kingston College, Cornwall College, Jamaica College, Calabar and others with massive followings outside of the island can monetise their feeds, they stand to make more than they would selling replica jerseys.

“If you get 5,000 people watching a game for US$5, I don’t need to sell Jerseys, I make more off the game,” Bloise opined.

He continued: “If I sell a season package, even if I can tap into SportsMax‘ feed and funnel that through my own channels and give them a percentage, I’m good with it, but all we have to do is redistribute the feed to my audience.

“I might have a Facebook page with 4,500 Cornwallians on there and I tell them come on and give me US$2 donations and I repurchase the SportsMax feed and I give SportsMax whatever out of it, I still make money. So they now have us marketing the product all over the place for them and those who wants to watch SportsMax can watch SportsMax, they can even brand it [the feed which schools use] and can run their ads just the same way.”