What is a Sports Gameday Program vs. Media Guide?
Have you ever been to a sporting event and seen a small booklet being handed out at the entrance? That’s a gameday program or media guide.
Some are short and sweet - such as a simple piece of paper with a schedule, roster and team logo - while others are much more in-depth and include nicely designed pages of rosters, player profiles, articles, sponsor advertisements and more.
So what is the difference between a media guide and a gameday program?
Firstly, we should understand why sports organizations publish gameday programs and media guides. It boils down to a few reasons; informing fans, raising money, capturing a team’s presence and celebrating a team’s season.
Truthfully, the terms “Media Guide”, “Program” and “Gameday Program” or “Program” are used interchangeably and, in most cases, are the same thing.
But at storyoftheseason.com, we define them differently.
What is a Gameday Program?
A gameday program is typically a short publication designed to inform fans about a team; who the players and coaches are and who the team is playing. They may include rosters, coaches bios, the opponents roster, the teams schedule and stats. Gameday Programs may also include a few logos or advertisements from sponsors. Usually they are a 1-pager or a few printed sheets of paper stapled together.
Here is an example of a digital Story of the Season Gameday Program for Avon Lake High School football in Ohio.
Gameday programs are typically meant to be informational and for reading at the game. The programs are great for helping fans identify who players are, learn more about the team’s current season and who the opponent is. This is why most of them get tossed in the trash or trampled on at games - unlike media guides which are a keepsake, gameday programs are usually cheaply published and printed for in-game reading.
What is a Media Guide?
A Media Guide is a step up from a gameday program. While media guides do inform fans about the team with rosters, coaches bios and other info, they serve several functions in addition to being a source of information. A true media guide serves to not only inform fans, but to tell a team’s story, raise significant funds for the team through sponsor advertisements, and serve as a keepsake to remember the team with. For this reason, media guides are jam-packed with awesome content about a team and are typically printed and bound in higher quality than a gameday program.
Media guides are much more in depth publications and capture the essence and identity of a team in a given season. Media guides can be anywhere from 10-100+ pages in length and include content such as student-athlete profiles, team photos, rosters, photo galleries, historical stats, team traditions, schedules, feature articles, fully designed advertisements, player and coach interviews, news about the team and so much more. Media Guides offer a more in-depth view of the brand and identity of a team - whether it's a high school football team or a Division 1 football team..
As you can imagine, media guides are more than a one-time read. They are also a keepsake that captures memories and preserves a team’s identity and existence forever. Fans, especially parents and grandparents) keep media guides for years as a keepsake.
This is why, unlike a cheaply printed gameday program, media guides are often sold at games to help teams cover the cost. That said, teams usually don’t make much money selling the printed copies. The real money comes from selling ads.
Here is an example of a Story of the Season Media Guide for Bloomington South High School Football in Indiana. Bloomington South Football raised over $10,000 in sponsorships with Story of the Season - https://storyoftheseason.net/2024football/bloomingtonsouth/chapter0/
At Storyoftheseason.com, we publish professional gameday programs and media guides for high school and college sports teams that help them raise thousands of dollars, inform fans, and capture memories. Interested in learning how we can help you with your media guide or program?
Learn more here: https://www.storyoftheseason.com/pre-season-program-media-guide
