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Five Years ago the Sports Photography Market had a very different face! Team and Individual Photo programs were provided by local or in-state photographers that were “iconic” within the athletic communities they served.

The professional photographer provided an invaluable source of images for “the photo-media”, yearbooks, emerging booster clubs, their sponsors, their fan-base, and certainly the families of the participating athletes.

The vendor of choice was one that cared personally for the athletes, coaches, and families of the community and therefore designed services that satisfied their photographic needs, amplified team spirit, and contributed to the overall success and growth of the athletic community. After all, pictures of winning teams sell more!

Then about five years ago, workflow was radically changed by the emergence of digital technology, and without missing a beat we all jumped on board. What we failed to anticipate was the mission of the major vendors that had exclusively served us, (The professionals), with the tools to define our businesses’ competitive edge. Their shared “new mission”, was to sell our hardware, to the much larger consumer market! Now anyone could buy an affordable pro camera, digital printers, photo image management software and a host of products never seen before.

Quite simply, to be a professional photographer had required schooling, and years of hands-on experience to become a master: you were graded by the quality of the images you composed! Now anyone can call himself or herself a professional with all “that new equipment”. Now many non-artists eye just the business opportunity and jump in “promising the world on a silver platter”.

About the same time, school picture photographers, H.S. senior photographers, and even wedding photographers were sold on the fact that “the sports market had a phenomenal upside and growth potential” compared to the “capped” markets they were working in. Hence, we see a huge ongoing convergence of technology, products, marketing and sales, along with the way to many folks from the other markets; and all to “make this big buck!”

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Finally, over the last five years we have seen a major drop in funding for school athletics and a marked increase in cost for both school and private youth sports organizations. Quite literally you have to pay to play! The need to meet ballooning budget requirements has become an important skill set for board members, athletic departments, and booster clubs.

The Purpose of this article is not to provide a historical perspective. Nor is it to in some way vilify one particular group or element within this fast changing market. It is instead to identify the impact to the “athlete”, who has somehow been minimized in this whole process.

Most obvious to the majority of sports photography professionals who have been around for at least five years, is the “corporatization” and depersonalization of the entire process. Quality of craftsmanship, product, and service yield very little client loyalty. Today, overall, it’s the bottom-line that makes or breaks contracts! We are encouraged by sports organizations to use the “quantity of athletes” as a factor in a customized, mathematical business calculation that yields the maximum amount of cash-back for the organization. Time is money and after all, if we are making money, we need to pony up! This mentality is the demise of many talented photographers and the, “gleam in the eye” for the heavily capitalized school photographers anxious to buy up the lions’ share of the sports market.

The athlete, now reduced to a financial opportunity, must be pressured into purchasing more or must pay higher prices in order to carry the burden of the commission to the leagues. You know how it works, “add 4 to 6 dollars to each package” to offset the ever increasing commission to the league, so that you can carve a little profit, and find a way to stay in business.

Though these are important facts to note, they are pale in comparison to the central issue at hand. At the very top of the negative consequences that athletes can experience, is the risk of compromising their human rights. The flood of new businesses, photographers, photo assistants and sales reps that are subject to zero, (That’s correct NONE), tests of character, professionalism, business practices, and above all criminal background checks, is absolutely shocking.

The fact that we as parents don’t have any control over who is saying what to our children, and who is marketing our kids’ pictures through what, on the web, or who has access to our kids’ images and why, has to be addressed immediately. Kids must be protected absolutely!

The National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS) charges us, the sports photography professionals, with the immediate responsibility to define our character to the youth athletes of today, by using their endorsed, affordable online background check pipeline provided by National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI). NCSI is a full service screening organization that works in accordance with the Recommended Guidelines© established by the National Council of Youth Sports (NCYS). NCSI operates as an independent company, formed in partnership with NCYS. NCSI focuses its efforts, systems and expertise into seven identified risk factors to ensure client organizations are meeting and exceeding due diligence. All criminal background checks go through NCSI’s comprehensive system, which deploys multi-provider sourcing in the data collection process and handles the administrative process.

Their interface delivers both the litmus test and the necessary documentation they insist is necessary to “assure a kid safe environment in which our children can be fostered in good sportsmanship and learn the tremendous upsides from team fellowship and athletics”. This is the issue that you must embrace. This is the issue you need to address head on TODAY. This is what you need to get done in order to truly differentiate yourself from most of your competitors. You must commit to the totally kid safe experience! After all is said and done, Can you afford NOT to spend the $25 needed in order to protect the athletes that provide you with your livelihood?

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