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Mater Dei High on Wednesday announced a 10-year, multimedia rights partnership with Playfly Sports, a sports marketing company that works with professional teams, colleges such as USC and the CIF State.

In a joint media release between the company and school, Playfly Sports stated that Mater Dei is the first high school it has partnered with.

Khaled Holmes, Mater Dei’s associate head football coach and director of development for athletics, said the deal will help the school secure new corporate sponsorships and elevate the fan experience.

“Playfly’s explosive growth is driven by their unique expertise in monetization and fan engagement,” Holmes, a former Mater Dei and USC football player, said in a statement. “We welcomed the opportunity to team up in further elevating the Mater Dei brand.”

Scott Melvin, Mater Dei’s vice president of school relations, said Mater Dei hopes to generate revenue in the “high seven figures” over the course of the 10-year agreement. He added that Mater Dei isn’t making a financial contribution to the deal.

“It’s transformational,” Melvin said. “Our hope is when you come to the (football) game this fall, it’s a completely transformed experience. You have culinary experiences. You have fan engagement experiences, whether it be by a sponsor that has a football toss or T-shirt gun.”

“Obviously, the eye balls are on football,” he added, “(but) we’re hoping to create some parity across all (our) programs — where some of our under-represented programs will have a heightened experience.”

Christy Hedgpeth, president of Playfly Sports Properties, added in a statement, “Mater Dei’s tradition of excellence, both academically and athletically, offers a full portfolio of compelling assets we can deliver to brands.”

Melvin said Mater Dei consulted with the CIF officials before entering the deal.

“It was more of a briefing between the parties,” he said. “We all wanted to make sure we were in good standing across the board.”

Thom Simmons, an assistant CIF-SS commissioner and spokesperson, said: “As long as they abide by all relevant CIF State and Southern Section bylaws, there are no issues with Mater Dei entering into this agreement.”

Melvin added that the agreement with Playfly Sports doesn’t include the brokering of NIL deals for individual athletes.

In the fall, Mater Dei’s football team went 13-0 and captured section, state and national championships.

Staff writer Steve Fryer contributed to this report.

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