MEDIA GUIDELINES CIF SOUTHERN SECTION
UPDATED FALL 2026
TABLE OF CONTENTS 05 CIF-SS Office Information 06 Media Credentials 07 Guidelines for Credentialing 09 Media Relations 11 Playoff Information 12 Broadcast Information & Rights Agreement Information 14 Rights Fees 19 Rights Agreement Sample Contract
Publication compiled by the CIF-SS Communications Department, published by CIF Southern Section, September 2026
3
OFFICE INFORMATION 10932 Pine Street, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 OFFICE HOURS: Monday–Friday 7:30Am–4:00Pm ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF: Mike West – Commissioner of Athletics Mitch Carty – Chief Financial Officer Jerry De Fabiis – Assistant Commissioner Joe Hoggatt – Assistant Commissioner Mike Middlebrook – Assistant Commissioner Kristine Palle – Assistant Commissioner Alicia Seevers – Assistant Commissioner Thom Simmons – Assistant Commissioner Jacqulyn Gibson – Director of Marketing & Corporate Partnerships
5
MEDIA CREDENTIALS CIF Southern Section bylaws dictate that the CIF-SS office issues all-sport credentials to working members FRONT of the media for the purpose of covering their events. These credentials, issued each school year, will entitle the bearer entry to all practice, regular-season, non-league, league, tournament and playoff contests (with the exception of some championship events) conducted by CIF-SS member schools, for the purpose of covering the event. CIF Southern Section media credentials may be requested through the official form on BACK CIFSS.org. Once the request is obtained by the CIF-SS Communications Department, the request will be reviewed and the requestor will receive either a denial letter or the issued credential(s), following a background check within 20 business days. Members of the media are urged to contact home schools prior to regular-season and playoff contests to request information on working facilities, interview policies, press parking, etc. Keep in mind that the host school in all regular-season contests and most playoff contests will retain the right to establish and enforce their own policies regarding media privileges and crowd control.
PLAYOFF CREDENTIALS Regular CIF Southern Section media credentials will be honored at all CIF-SS playoff contests, other than championship events where special credentials are required. Major sport semifinal contests, managed directly by the CIF-SS office, may also require special credentials.
CHAMPIONSHIP CREDENTIALS Special credentials will be required for major CIF-SS championships. These may only be obtained through the official CIF-SS request form on CIFSS.org. Each championship contest will have its own request page—it is not the regular-season request form. Request deadlines and other important dates will be specified on the request forms.
6
GUIDELINES FOR CREDENTIALING 1. Media members desiring CIF-SS credentials must submit a request at CIFSS.org. 2. Internet sites desiring media credentials must have a unique registered domain name, ending in one of the recognized extensions (.com, .cc, .org, .edu, .net). 3. All outlets desiring media credentials must have a demonstrated record of sustained coverage of high school sports, which should include (but is not limited to): a. Publishing stories and statistics in a timely basis about individual contests; b. Producing digital content appropriate for education-based athletics; c. Publishing feature stories about high school sports teams, coaches and student-athletes. 4. The following internet sites will not be granted credentials: a. Personal page internet site publishers; b. Subscription-based internet sites; c. Internet sites associated in any way with alcohol, tobacco, drugs of any kind, gambling of any kind, political parties or candidates, or any other advertising considered in poor taste or not in compliance with the mission of interscholastic athletics as determined by the CIF-SS; d. Sites developed solely to list, profile, rank recruiting prospects or teams and/or to provide chat rooms, forums, or blogs. e. Freelance Photography and Social Media site. 5. All outlets must furnish the name of a contact person who can serve as the liaison to the CIF-SS in the event questions or concerns arise related to the accuracy and fairness of content posted from CIF-SS events. 6. Due to event capacity, championship credentials for media outlets not producing a CIF-SS broadcast will only be granted depending on space availability.
7
MEDIA RELATIONS CIF-SS MEDIA ADVISORY COMMITTEE In an effort to reach out to the media outlets which regularly cover CIF Southern Section activities, the CIF-SS established a Media Advisory Committee in 1985. The purpose and function of this committee is to offer members of the media a vehicle for stimulating new ideas and discussing issues related to coverage of CIF-SS events on an advisory basis. A major element in initiation of the Media Advisory Committee was to develop a closer working relationship between the covering media and the CIF-SS Publicity Department. The committee is structured to consist of members of the media who regularly cover CIF-SS activities. Board members will serve on year-renewable terms. The CIF-SS Media Advisory Committee will conduct two (2) scheduled meetings each year, one in January and one in July. Any representative of the media outlets that regularly cover CIF-SS activities is welcome to raise agenda items for committee discussion. This may be done by contacting the CIF-SS Communications Department prior to meeting dates. Minutes of the CIF-SS Media Advisory Committee meetings will be published in a timely manner. DESIGNATED PRESS AREAS The designated press area is for members of the media assigned to cover the contest. Some schools have spacious press boxes to accommodate all who require access, others are very small, while some school stadiums have none at all. Regardless, the designated area is for game officials (clock operator, public address announcer, stats crew, etc.) and members of the media only. Walking on the sidelines is an option, particularly at stadiums with a small or no press box. Like the designated press area, the scorer’s table for sports such as basketball, wrestling, and volleyball should be strictly maintained as a working area. Not every high school gym can facilitate a large press area at floor level, but schools have been asked to make every effort to provide a working press area at their events. PHOTOGRAPHERS Photographers should be sure to work in specific working areas on the field and court level. In football, photographers should be allowed access to the boundaries anywhere on the field, except within the team box (25-yard line to 25-yard line along the sidelines); in basketball, they should be limited to the baseline areas only; in baseball and softball, they must be kept off the field of play entirely, as all foul balls are considered in play; in track and field, they must be limited to specific areas, so as not to interfere with events being conducted simultaneously and for their own safety. Specific photo positions will be established and enforced for all sports.
9
PLAYOFF INFORMATION PAIRINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS
PLAYOFF UPDATES
All pairings for the CIF Southern Section championship playoffs will be made available to member schools and the media at the conclusion of each regular season for each sport. The dates and times for the announcements will be noted well in advance on CIFSS.org.
During playoff periods, the CIF Southern Section office will be open each morning following scheduled contests, except those contests conducted on Friday or Saturday, for the purpose of determining home teams for the following round.
The CIF-SS office will provide standings and brackets at the scheduled time and date in a press release on CIFSS.org for each division.
TITLING FOR CIF-SS PLAYOFF/CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS Championship events have invested a great amount of effort and funding in the support of high school athletics throughout the state of California. The CIF Southern Section commends the media outlets that have supported high school athletics for many years. It is hoped these organizations will continue their contribution to the betterment of interscholastic athletics by utilizing the correct titling for CIF events whenever possible in previews, pairing lists, results, feature articles, photo captions and any other news items regarding playoff and championship activities. The official titling of all CIF-SS playoffs and championships is: “The CIF Southern Section-Ford __________ Championships.”
Weekend hours during playoff periods vary. The Communications Department recommends you check CIFSS.org for upcoming matchups, or call during our regular office hours. Updates on host sites and playoff winners are also available on the website.
INTERNET SERVICE AT CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTS Media outlets requiring temporary internet services at CIF-SS championship event sites-such as Angel Stadium, Anaheim Convention Center, Cerritos College, Mount San Antonio College, etc., or member high schools- are responsible for making their own orders when not being provided by the CIF-SS.
11
BROADCASTING INFORMATION & RIGHTS FEES The CIF Southern Section Bylaw 149 states the section retains broadcast rights for all non-league, league and playoff contests and has the sole authority to approve radio, television and internet coverage of such events. For all CIF-SS contests, prior approval for broadcast of any playoff contest must be secured from the CIF-SS Communications Department and the established rights fee shall be paid prior to the contest. There will be no fee charged for periodic progress reports made by a broadcast entity during a contest, provided there are no more than six (6) of these reports for any single game. Such reports may not exceed two (2) minutes in duration and may not contain play-by-play descriptions of live action. It should be noted, with the exception of some championship events, exclusive rights for television coverage will not be granted for CIF-SS. However, the CIFSS Communications Department will base its broadcast/cablecast approval on information provided by the home school, in consideration of facilities and game management concerns. All rights agreements are subject to approval and compliance with CIF-SS ByLaws or terms of other CIF-SS broadcast agreements (Spectrum Sports Net, NFHS Network, etc.) Delayed broadcasts of CIF-SS games are permissible, but may not be aired prior to 11pm on the date of the contest.
12
BROADCASTING INFORMATION & RIGHTS FEES (Cont.) CIF-SS holds the video rights to all CIF-SS varsity events hosted by a CIF-SS school or tournament sanctioned by the CIF-SS involving schools from outside the CIF-SS. CIF- SS retains the video rights for any varsity game played between two CIF-SS member schools outside of the CIF-SS area except where two schools meet after the first round of an elimination tournament. (Example: If CIF-SS school A vs. CIF-SS school B are to play in first round of a tournament in another state of CIF section, the CIF-SS schools must identify to the host school and association/section that the video rights of the game remain exclusively with the CIF-SS). Any publicized video content using clips from any CIF-SS contest is permissible in TV News production and broadcast/cablecast without payment of fees or prior approval. This is provided the intent of such film or tape is for a news report only. Such reports are limited to 6 total and not to exceed 2 minutes in duration and may not include extended play-by-play descriptions of live action. All regular season rights fees collected throughout the course of a school year are shared directly with the host schools on an equal basis. For example, if School A hosts School B in a football game during the regular season and an outside entity comes to School A and does a live stream of that event, all rights fees collected by the office are sent to School A at the end of the school year. The RIGHTS FEES: REGULAR SEASON (Page 11) section of this Media Guidelines publication outlines the rights fees, on a per game/per sport basis, that are sent to the host school. All rights fees collected during the post-season of any sport in the CIF-SS remain with the section as those tournaments are under the direction of the CIF-SS office. Rights fees for television broadcast/cablecast, radio or internet audio streaming of CIF-SS contests are not to be included as part of the home school’s playoff contest financial report.
13
RIGHTS FEES: HIGHLIGHTS EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS & UNOFFICIAL TV NEWS MEDIA: Anything over 2 minutes in duration will be billed per the following fee schedule:
Time
Cost
Over 2 minutes, up to 15 minutes
$75.00
Over 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes
$100.00
Over 30 minutes, up to 45 minutes
$300.00
Over 45 minutes
$600.00
School/District use on school/district owned and operated platforms
$0
THESE FEES SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
14
RIGHTS FEES: REGULAR SEASON Source
Sport
Live/ Delayed
Cost
Web
Football
Live or delayed
$600.00
Web
Basketball/Volleyball
Live or delayed
$400.00
Web
Other sports aside from football, basketball, or volleyball
Live or delayed
$250.00
Web
Flag football
Live or delayed
$300.00
Web (School/district owned and operated “.edu” website (HOME GAMES ONLY) when no other paying contract request to broadcast the game
All sports
Live or delayed
$0
Cable TV Only available on one service provider within the CIF-SS geographic area airing in no more than two counties and available to a maximum 300,000 subscribers
All sports
Live
$2,000.00
TV On a regional or national TV entity airing in more than two counties but no more than 1.5 million subscribers
Football
Delayed
$2,500.00
TV On a regional or national TV entity airing in more than two counties but no more than 1.5 million subscribers
All sports except football
Delayed
$2,000.00
TV School or districts owned and operated TV station airing within the immediately contiguous geographic area of the school (HOME GAMES ONLY) when no other paying contract to broadcast the game is requested
All sports
Live or delayed
$0
AM/FM Audio Broadcast
All sports
Live or delayed
$600.00
THESE FEES SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
15
RIGHTS FEES: PLAYOFFS AUDIO ONLY
Source
Sport
Live/Delayed
Prelim
Final
AM/FM
Football
Live
$500.00
$750.00
Web
Football
Live
$300.00
$750.00
AM/FM
Football
Delayed
$350.00
$500.00
Web
Football
Delayed
$350.00
$500.00
Web
Flag Football
Live
$200.00
$500.00
AM/FM
Flag Football
Live
$400.00
$500.00
AM/FM
Boys Basketball
Live
$500.00
$600.00
Web
Boys Basketball
Live
$350.00
$600.00
AM/FM
Boys Basketball
Delayed
$200.00
$500.00
Web
Boys Basketball
Delayed
$200.00
$500.00
AM/FM
Other Sports
Live
$200.00
$400.00
Web
Other Sports
Live
$200.00
$400.00
AM/FM
Other Sports
Delayed
$200.00
$300.00
Web
Other Sports
Delayed
$200.00
$300.00
THESE FEES SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE 16
RIGHTS FEES: PLAYOFFS (Cont.) TELEVISION (VIDEO)
Source
Sport
Live/Delayed
Prelim
Final
TV
All
Live
Contact CIF-SS
Contact CIF-SS
LO
All
Delayed
Contact CIF-SS
Contact CIF-SS
LO
Football
Delayed
$800.00
$1,000.00
LO
Boys basketball
Delayed
$700.00
$1,000.00
LO
Girls basketball
Delayed
$700.00
$1,000.00
LO
Other sports
Delayed
$600.00
$750.00
Web
Football
Live
$600.00
$1,000.00
Web
Boys basketball
Live
$600.00
$1,000.00
Web
Girls basketball
Live
$500.00
$750.00
Web
Other sports
Live
$500.00
$750.00
TTV – Broadcasts available regionally to viewers in more that local origination on one local cable entity; this category includes over-the-air TV, national and regionally available cable/satellite stations. LO – Local origination cable only distributed in school home city/cable system WEB – Streaming video available on the internet
17
RIGHTS AGREEMENT EXAMPLE
CIF Southern SECTION This document, upon signatures by both parties, will serve as a LIVE WEB STREAM broadcast rights agreement between the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section, 10932 Pine Street, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 (hereinafter "CIF-SS") and RIVERSIDE TV (hereinafter "Broadcaster").
BROADCAST TYPE
CONTACT PERSON PHONE NUMBER
WEB STREAM
TV/CABLE
EMAIL ADDRESS
OTA RADIO
INTERNET AUDIO
PLATFORM (HANDLE, SITE, CALL NUMBER)
MAILING ADDRESS
LIVE OR DELAYED (IF DELAYED, INDICATED AIRDATE)
The term of this agreement will extend for the coverage of the following CIF-SS contest: DATE
SPORT
HOME TEAM
VISITING TEAM
DIVISION
REGULAR SEASON OR PLAYOFF
19
RIGHTS AGREEMENT EXAMPLE (Cont.) ALL GAMES TENTATIVE & SUBJECT TO CHANGE ON AVAILABILITY AND BROADCASTERS WANTS.
PRICE: $600 PER GAME STREAMED BY BROADCASTER
The CIF-SS will: 1.G rant Broadcaster the broadcast rights to the above-named contest upon the occurrence of all of the following: A. Execution of this agreement by all of the parties. B. Payment of the aforementioned rights fee as follow: (1) Payment of the rights fee in full not later than UPON INVOICE FROM CIF-SS. C. Approval of all titling, advertisements/commercials and announcers relative to the above-named contest. In addition, under no circumstance shall commercials for gambling, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, performance enhancing products or firearms products be aired or published. 2. Provide one thirty-second commercial advertising CIF-SS business partners (if one is provided). The Broadcaster will: 1. Make payment to the CIF-SS all rights fees payable to “CIF Southern Section” to: CIF Southern Section, 10932 Pine Street, Los Alamitos, CA 90720. “Payment” is due upon receipt of invoice. “Payment” means receipt by the CIF-SS. Electronic payment is encouraged. 2. Be responsible for all additional costs of production (i.e. cabling, phone lines, equipment rental and/or installation, announcer’s fees, school staff or security costs caused by afterhours set up and breakdown etc.). 3. All on-air references will include CIF Southern Section or CIF-SS. At no time is it permissible, during regular season or playoffs, to simply state “CIF” or 'CIFSS'. It is a 'CIF Southern Section' event. All post season references to the event on air via graphics or audio must use one of the following (OR fill in appropriate sport): CIF Southern Section – FORD Football Championships CIF-SS / FORD Football Championships CIF Southern Section – FORD Division __ Football Championships Note: No reference that includes solely “CIF” is acceptable. It is a CIF Southern Section-Ford Championships event. All references must include FORD. 4. Under no circumstances shall advertising/commercials of gambling, alcohol products, tobacco products, pharmaceutical or firearms or any competitors of CIF-SS business partners, by category, be broadcast or aired. Refer to Page Three of this agreement. 5. Submit all titling, advertisements/commercials and identities of announcers to the CIF-SS office for approval within 3 working days of broadcast and shall not, under any circumstances, broadcast or use any titling, advertising/commercial or announcer that has not been specifically approved by the CIFSS. 6. Air one thirty second commercial for the CIF-SS business partners, if provided, without cost to CIF-SS. 7. No live TV or cable broadcast may occur unless expressly stated in an addendum to this agreement. During playoffs in all sports, no live TV or cable broadcast may occur during the live broadcast window of a game telecast by Bally Sports West/SoCal or any other entity so identified by the CIF Southern Section. 8. Local origination cable broadcasts aired only in the local and contiguous cities of the participating teams may be broadcast only on a tape delay basis. This contract does not allow for the redistribution of the game broadcast to another entity under any circumstance. Any such violation of this rights restriction is prohibited. 9. Provide the CIF-SS a complete unedited taped or digital version of the game broadcast with 10 days after the contest.
20
RIGHTS AGREEMENT EXAMPLE (Cont.) Both parties agree: 1. Under no circumstance does this agreement extend EXCLUSIVE broadcast rights to any CIF-SS regular season, playoff or final contest. EXCLUSIVE rights to any contest must be negotiated separately with the CIF-SS. 2. To approve all material that contains identification of either organization prior to printing such materials relative to this rights fee agreement; provided, it is understood and agreed that no written or printed materials containing the logo or name of the CIF or CIF-SS shall be used, published or displayed to the public in any manner without the express written approval of the CIF-SS to the specific material in question. 3. Neither party will create any expenses chargeable to the other party without its prior written approval. 4. This agreement shall be binding upon both parties, their respective successors, and legal representatives. Neither party may assign any of its rights or obligations under this agreement without prior written consent of the other party, unless such assignment is to another entity controlled by the assigning party. 5. This agreement is executed under and shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California. 6. This agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties. No representations have been made or relied upon, by either party, other than those that are expressly set forth herein. No amendment to this agreement shall be effective unless such agreement is reduced to writing and is executed by both parties. 7. Broadcaster is acting as an independent contractor only with respect to the broadcast in question and is not the agent or employee of the CIF-SS or CIF. It shall not represent to any person, firm or entity that is an agent or employee of the CIF-SS or CIF. CIF-SS ON-AIR EXCLUSIVES During playoff events, broadcaster must use proper and full name of the championships, as identified previously, regardless of competing sponsorship in the category (example: It is the Ford Championships regardless of a sponsorship from Dodge). Broadcaster may include advertising in categories that compete with title sponsorship (currently Ford in automobile category) but must fully honor the official titling of the CIF-SS championships with no exception.
By the signatures below, all parties accept the terms of this agreement, each party acknowledges receipt of this list and agrees to honor exclusivity status per agreement terms. SIGNATURE
SIGNATURE
DATE
DATE
COMPANY
COMPANY
TITLE
TITLE
CIF Southern Section ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
Please email the signed agreement to CIF-SS Communications Coordinator, Alysha Colladay. alyshac@cifss.org 10932 PINE STREET, Los Alamitos, CA 90720
Thank you 21