a Front Office Sports story<\/a> this month.<\/p>\nMidlothian and Mansfield ISDs\u00a0admit crowded sidelines were a factor in levying the $150 individual game and $500 season fees for requests from what they deem \u201cindependent\u201d or \u201cnon-credentialed\u201d media. But the primary motivation, both districts said, was the desire to vet personnel not previously cleared by schools or an official media outlet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re seeing a lot more of these independent\u00a0vloggers that are starting to show up on sidelines,\u201d Mansfield athletic director Jerod Womack said. \u201cI think it was more of just a safety and a control of exactly who\u2019s coming down and getting that access.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The Southlake Carroll bench personnel had a front row seat to witness the acrobatic catch Allen receiver Thomas Joyner lll (2) made along the sideline during first quarter action. A game official ruled Joyner did not come down in bounds. The two teams played their nondistrict football game at Southlake Carroll\u2019s Dragon Stadium in Southlake on September 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
Steve Hamm\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Midlothian ISD athletic director Rusty Purser equated the move to the measures the district\u2019s schools require to protect students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cIf you were to come to\u00a0Midlothian High School campus, you\u2019re going to have to check in, get a temporary pass, all kinds of things. But here at our stadium and at our sporting events, you basically had free access to the field, to be around our kids, to do whatever, and so that was the biggest driving factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Purser said the fee is in line with the district\u2019s other protocols for commercial use for which school districts typically charge a fee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf somebody is utilizing our facilities or they\u2019re gonna publicize any of our different events, they\u2019re paying some type of fee,\u201d Purser said. \u201cAnd so that was just one of those avenues where people are making money.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rise of independent media<\/p>\n
Midlothian ISD, which started the policy for\u00a0Midlothian High\u2019s season opener\u00a0against Chisholm Trail, deems independent media as \u201cindependent, freelance or commercial photographers, videographers or writers who are not on assignment for an eligible news organization\u201d or \u201cindividuals creating content for commercial sale, promotion or personal use.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Tarrance Johnson is an independent media reporter in the D-FW area who\u2019s covered high school sports since 2012 and has been a commentator for Trophy Club Byron Nelson. He\u2019s been fully independent since 2023 and said he doesn\u2019t typically make money off of his coverage. Johnson, who hasn\u2019t yet tried to cover a game at\u00a0Midlothian ISD Stadium or Mansfield ISD\u2019s Vernon Newsom and R.L. Anderson stadiums this season, said he understands districts needing to do their due diligence. But the policies can have an unintended effect on media types who aren\u2019t in the viral content-creation space.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re old school,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe do interviews, we do clips. We\u2019re not so, \u2018Let me get this highlight posted and get a lot of views.\u2019 We\u2019re more like wanting to talk to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the relationships he\u2019s built in the area ensure he\u2019s able to verify his experience with athletic departments to obtain access. If he applies to cover a game at Mansfield or Midlothian this season, he intends to do the same, but approval is never a guarantee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t have 100,000 followers and you ain\u2019t got this many views, you get denied on stuff,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen really you\u2019re putting out better quality and talk vs. just people who want to see action right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Womack said independent media for visiting teams, or that are known to cover Mansfield programs, will be approved without having to pay the fee.<\/p>\n
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So far, the only criticisms Purser has heard consistently in Midlothian are from smaller creators, such as recent graduates and new start-up creators and not more middle-level highlight\u00a0videographers. Through the first three weeks of the season, he hadn\u2019t seen a notable dip in media requests.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s too low or too high,\u201d Purser said of the fee amounts. \u201cWhat I\u2019m noticing is, we have not had a lot of complaints from the mid-stream type media person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Background checks required in some districts<\/p>\n
The University Interscholastic League did not respond to a request for comment about the increased number of independent media requests in Texas, where individual districts handle them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arizona, which approves requests at the state level, is only the second state after North Carolina to require background checks for anyone seeking high school sideline credentials, according to Front Office Sports. The change reduced the number of credentials issued from roughly 1,300 to 800.<\/p>\n
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Mansfield and\u00a0Midlothian ISDs both require background checks for media applying for athletics credentials.\u00a0Midlothian uses a Raptor software system onsite when you check in for games.\u00a0Both districts said traditional outlets and credentialed media are welcome to cover events without paying the fee, but the background checks are universal.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny legitimate news channel, newspaper, outlet, that\u2019s a different process,\u201d\u00a0Womack said. \u201cThey aren\u2019t having to pay a fee. We\u2019re welcoming them with open arms; we\u2019ll give them access to the press box, sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both districts say the media policy will remain during the playoffs. Last season, Mansfield\u2019s Vernon Newsom Stadium hosted the Class 6A Division II state semifinal between DeSoto and Southlake Carroll, and\u00a0Midlothian is also a notable neutral site location.<\/p>\n
Without specifying, Womack said he\u2019s consulted with other school districts on the policy, how they\u2019re doing it and what the returns have been. Purser says he hasn\u2019t spoken with other districts but did tell the other programs in\u00a08-5A Division I and 15-5A Division II, districts with Mansfield ISD schools, before implementing the policy.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSome of the smaller schools that we do compete against, it really hasn\u2019t hit their doorstep yet as much as it has ours,\u201d Purser said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Social media content creators shadow a game official in the back of the end zone during first half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-439326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}