Wake schools hire a company to make sports sponsorship deals. Can it get much?
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In an age of tightening budgets, the Wake County school system is hoping sponsorship deals will lead to more money for its athletic programs.
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On Tuesday, the Wake County school board approved a five-year agreement with National Amateur Sports to have the Charlotte-based company handle sports marketing deals for the district. Wake won’t have to pay anything and National Amateur Sports is guaranteeing the district at least $100,000 a year from the deal.
The contract, which was backdated to the start of the school year, was approved without discussion by the school board on Tuesday. School officials said that they’re not sure how much above $100,000 they’ll be able to get annually.
James Shipley, the CEO of National Amateur Sports, did not respond to The News & Observer’s request for comment.
The Wake County school system’s athletic department has worked with National Amateur Sports for several years to broadcast and promote high school athletic events. But the contract could take the partnership to a new level.
Under the deal, The district won’t have any out-of-pocket expenses. Instead, the company will get its money from a percentage of revenue generated through the sales of sponsorship packages, subscriptions and other activities it will perform on behalf of the district.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sponsorship deals National Amateur Sports will pursue on the district’s behalf. But the agreement does set some guidelines.
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“Corporate sponsors and the associated advertising shall be appropriate for its intended audience, and no advertising shall be sold that would reasonably be considered obscene, immoral, indecent, racial, derogatory, pornographic, slanderous, harmful to any individual or group, intended to mislead or is fraudulent, copyright protected or unauthorized by the rightful owner, inappropriately targeting minors, prejudicial to any group or religion, defamatory or illegal.”
Wake could get more than the guaranteed $100,000 per year. Once it recoups its costs, National Amateur Sports will split 50./50 with the district the revenue generated from its services for the district.
National Amateur Sports will be seeking deals for the athletic program in North Carolina’s largest school district.
Wake has talked about sponsorship deals for years as a way to generate additional money. But the need has become more pressing in recent years amid a series of budget cuts.
This year, the school board approved more than $15 million in budget cuts to limit how much money it requested from the Wake County Board of Commissioners. On Monday, commissioners approved a budget that funds the school board’s request for a $25.3 million increase in local funding this year, The N&O previously reported.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 7:36 AM with the headline “Wake schools hire a company to make sports sponsorship deals. Can it get much?.”
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