Play-By-Play: A Sports PR Primer
By: Violet Nowak
“We love sports because it’s where things happen.” That sentence has been stuck in my head since my sociology of sport mentioned it as an off-hand comment in class one day. To me, it sums up why I love sports, and specifically sports public relations and communication. Sports PR is exciting, demanding, and constantly changing. Plus, it offers unique versions of traditional public relations roles due to the specific needs and constraints of the field.
Some of the main responsibilities are:
Media relations
As with many potential career paths, media relations is a fundamental part of sports PR. For high-level professional or collegiate sports, there are often press conferences or availability after every game and many practices. There is also a vast rotation of people who may need to be briefed for press availability, such as players, coaches, front office executives, prospects, and more, depending on current events or what point in the season it is.
Player relations
Most PR pros are familiar with the concept that employees are your most important public. That doesn’t change when they’re athletes- if anything it becomes more important. Player relations professionals build and maintain relationships with current and former players, to ensure the team has a strong connection with them. They also often help with media training, may liaise with players’ agents, and may help communicate or enforce compliance and disciplinary actions.
Community relations
Community support is essential for sports teams. They need local buy-in to create a reliable fanbase that will attend games, support renewal of arena contracts, and be the foundation of the organization. Community relations professionals also assist with the team’s (or players’) nonprofit foundations and other community outreach initiatives.
Corporate communications
A major part of sports teams’ revenues is from their corporate partners, whether that be sponsors, branded affiliates, stores in their arenas, and a variety of other streams of income. Someone managing corporate communications may need to negotiate sponsorship deals or mediate if there is a conflict, such as a league ad featuring a Pepsi alongside a team sponsored by Coca-Cola. They may also liaise with any businesses that rent out space in their facilities, such as the myriad businesses that are housed in the Dallas Cowboys’ The Star.
What role you play and how many hats you wear depends on experience, skill, and organizational size. A large, professional team may have one person and an assistant for each area of focus, while a smaller team may have one or two people doing everything (plus marketing and running broadcast). Plus, other responsibilities, such as crisis communications, may be needed at a moment’s notice.
For anyone thinking of getting into the sports world just getting into it, here are some of the most important pieces of advice I’ve picked up from colleagues, mentors, and experience over the years.
Kill your inner fan
This is one of the best pieces of career advice I’ve ever received, and it came courtesy of Joe Trahan, director of media relations and corporate communications and my then-professor, during the first class session of Sports Media Relations. It’s brutal and it’s absolutely correct. You can (and should!) love and know your sport and your team, but you can’t be a fan. You need to be able to engage as an equal with the players, owners, and front office. Plus, you need to be able to think in a clear-headed, strategic manner and be able to make the difficult decisions. It may hurt, but it has to be done.
Aim high and plan wisely
It’s a classic piece of sports career advice, but it bears repeating: generally, it’s better to start in a high position at a lesser-known team or league than a low role at a famous one. The line of reasoning is that by starting as a director at a small team, you demonstrate a higher level of judgment and leadership than you would gain by being an assistant at a team in one of the big four leagues. It also may open the opportunity for promotions, if you start working for a farm team. This may not be the best path for everyone, though. Plenty of people have had incredible careers by starting as an intern or assistant, then proving their worth and staying with an organization long-term. Which path someone goes down (if they follow either), depends on the opportunities available to them and their long-term goals, so it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of both, if you have the choice.
Know a little of everything
PR pros often find themselves wearing a lot of hats, and sports are no exception. Take it from someone who once had to learn how to set up and operate a broadcast in the middle of the first period of a hockey game, you want to proactively learn at least a little bit of anything you could possibly need to know. In school, this could look like taking a variety of electives and gaining as much experience as possible. Later down the road, it could mean making sure to ask as many people as possible about their roles and cultivating other skills just in case they come in handy.
Love what you do (but don’t let it consume you)
People pursue sports because they love it- often more than anything else. It’s what makes the odd hours, demanding atmosphere, and high-pressure scenarios worth it. That love can be a double-edged sword, though, because that same devotion can be why people stay in uncomfortable or unsafe situations- or even just ones that are no longer the best fit for them. In my experience, marginalized people are at a much higher risk for this. I and most of my friends have at least one story of a job we should have walked away from sooner. I always recommend people start their first jobs or internships to consider what some hard limits would be. For me, if I witness or experience pervasive homophobia or misogyny, I start looking for exits. After that, though, I still encourage periodic check-ins to ask, “Do I feel safe? Do I feel respected? Do I feel fulfilled? Am I happy?” If the answer to those is no, it’s okay to walk away. There’ll always be another opportunity to find a job in a sport, team, or league that loves you back.