Sponsorships may be sold for fields BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer HOLMDEL - Signs for Poland Spring, Foodtown and Commerce Bank may be joining the one for Roggy Field at Holmdel High School, according to a presentation given Oct. 10. John Gulluscio, president of Corporate Marketing Associates, spoke before the Holmdel Board of Education about a proposal to add sponsors to the school district's fields and stadiums. "We've been doing professional sports teams for years and it gave us an idea to think of corporate sponsorship on a high school level," Gulluscio said. "You have a sports center, football field and a baseball field that would be perfect for this." Corporate Marketing Associates is a company based in Monmouth County which has procured over 175 corporate sponsors for its clients. The client list includes the Lakewood BlueClaws, Somerset Patriots and New Jersey Jackals. On the high school level, the firm recently started working with the Toms River School District, which has been a success, according to Gulluscio. He thinks Holmdel is a logical place for sponsorship. "In effect, schools like this are a better place to sponsor than Yankee Stadium," Gulluscio said. "What happens after a Yankee game ends? People go home. A sponsor here can be seen all day, every day by people who drive by and walk around." The company sells sponsorship in package deals where one sign is not all the sponsor gets. A business could pay for a sign at Roggy Field, a flag on a Web site and an advertising page in an ad journal. Corporate Marketing Associates would then take 30 percent of what the schools make and give the rest to the Board of Education. He assured the board that the company wouldn't work against those who already run ad journals with the schools. Gulluscio assured the board that every decision would go through them. "We're not going to go around to bars or have beer companies sponsor the fields," Gulluscio said. "We are going to go to alumni and local stores such as Foodtown to look for sponsorship." District Business Administrator Michael Petrizzo told the people in attendance following the presentation that they are only in the consideration phase of doing something like this. If the board decides to go through with a corporate sponsorship plan, Corporate Marketing Associates would be one of the companies considered to handle the sponsorships, and would not necessarily be the firm the board uses. Gulluscio said that he has presented this idea to many schools in the area and that each school is waiting to see what other schools do. "Are you prepared to do something like this?" Gulluscio asked the board. "Everyone is afraid to fire the first shot."