CIF Approves Four-Year Logo-Licensing Agreement : Merchandising: California’s governing organization for high school sports hopes the pact will pay its administrative costs. School Properties USA says the schools’ broad spectator base could generate millions.

What’s in a name? A Yorba Linda company is hoping to find gold in the name of the California Interscholastic Federation, the nonprofit organization that governs high school sports in the state.

After more than a year of discussions, the Fullerton-based CIF has reached a four-year agreement with School Properties USA in Yorba Linda for the purpose of licensing products that bear the CIF name and logo.

California thus becomes the first major state in the nation to enter into a merchandise licensing agreement for high school athletics.

CIF Commissioner Thomas Brynes said School Properties will negotiate licenses with manufacturers, who in turn will pay a royalty to put the CIF name on such items as T-shirts, hats and mugs. Royalties will be split between the CIF and School Properties, he said.

Byrnes said the CIF plans to use its share to pay its administrative costs, thus reducing the need for support from the state’s schools.

Don Baird, a former Olympic pole vaulter from Australia who founded School Properties, said he believes that licensing, which has raised more than $80 million for the National Football League and $23 million for universities, can raise at least as much for high school sports and activities nationwide.

“High school sports and activities enjoy a spectatorship base that is three times larger than (the number of people who attend) all professional sports combined,” he said.

For example, more than 262 million spectators watch boys’ and girls’ high school basketball games annually, while by comparison, about 25.5 million people attend National Basketball Assn. games each year, he said.

Baird said his company has been test-marketing the licensing concept in California for two years, and so far 300 stores are selling official CIF merchandise, a number he hopes will grow to 1,000 by the year’s end.

For several years, he said, brightly colored commemorative T-shirts have been hot items at national high school championships jointly sponsored by CIF and Reebok International Ltd., the athletic footwear and clothing company. With the new licensing agreement, he said, such merchandise will be available year-round.

Baird said he expects that the licensing agreement with CIF will be just an initial step toward tapping the high school merchandise mine.

Next, he expects many of California’s 1,200 high schools to individually sign deals for licensing their names and logos for pompons, key chains, sweat shirts and a multitude of other items that could be sold on and near the campus.

One of the roles of School Properties will be to take legal action against manufacturers of counterfeit and unlicensed merchandise. Another will be to promote the licensed items at sporting goods trade shows. For the past eight years, Baird said, he has been working with high school athletic associations nationwide to help them obtain private sources of financing through event sponsorships.

Baird said School Properties negotiated for CIF a $1.25-million, three-year sponsorship from Reebok. The agreement was recently renewed for $1.5 million over the next three years. All of that money, Byrnes said, is used to support sports programs.