He is also a businessman in local radio.

The owner of two stations in the region, Forsythe would love to broadcast playoff games -- especially state championships. The Shamong resident believes it's great community service.

Problem is, he can't just go out and do it.

And if he could, budget concerns would force Forsythe to remain off the air.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association granted the Star-Ledger of Newark and NJ.com exclusive rights to create, distribute and license programming in connection with NJSIAA tournaments. They are in the first year of a new five-year contract that will net the NJSIAA $100,000 this school year as well as substantial annual fees over the length of the contract, according to the State Commission of Investigation's report on the NJSIAA.

If a third party wants in on the action -- i.e. Forsythe or any other media outlet for that matter, whether it be TV, streaming video on the Internet or radio -- they would have to negotiate with the NJSIAA's official media outlet.

"It's just not worth it," Forsythe said.

He said the NJSIAA wanted $500-$750 per game for broadcasting rights when he was running WTTM-AM (920) in Trenton back in the mid-to-late '80s. And through the years, fees have become too high for local broadcasters to break even, let alone make any profit.

"That may not sound like a lot, but that's a lot for high school sports," said Forsythe, who owns WNJC-AM (1360) based in Washington Township and Florence-based WIFI-AM (1460). "You don't make a lot of money, but it's great for community service. There's tremendous interest in tournament games."

The NJSIAA went to an official outlet after years of reviewing and dealing with the media and different venues, said executive director Steven J. Timko. The association looked into corporate partnerships with Comcast, Madison Square Garden and other groups before going with the Ledger.

"The Star-Ledger came in with a package that was very attractive to the NJSIAA," he said. "It got us out of the media, video and dot-com business with someone more qualified."

While he didn't know the exact timeline, Timko said this is the fifth or sixth year the Ledger has been the official media outlet.

Telephone calls placed to the Ledger seeking information on broadcast rights were not returned.

In addition, the NJSIAA has also instituted a policy where media outlets are not permitted to sell photos taken at sanctioned events. A violation of this policy can result in a $500 fine and the forfeiture of credentials for a two-year period.

"We had people coming in saying they were press when they were actually just looking to shoot pictures and sell them online," Timko said.

For Forsythe, broadcasting high school events wasn't about money. There are going to be broadcast rights, it comes with the territory. It's the cost for those rights and the process of getting them that led to a lengthy battle with the NJSIAA.

Ultimately, it turned him off to the idea.

"Broadcasters simply gave up," Forsythe said. "We gave up in the early '90s. It wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth dealing with that organization. You had to pay through the nose for the rights. That's why games disappeared. You couldn't break even.

"I don't believe it will ever come back. The big stations don't want it and the locals don't want to do business with these guys."