Working in the Sports PR World: Guest Post by Lindsey Goodwin

Sports Public Relations is one of the highest growing fields of public relations. Sports PR experts usually do any different things including writing newspaper stories and press releases, booking appearances in all forms, booking interviews, creating and implementing PR campaigns. They are responsible for responding to media and public information request, especially in a crisis PR situation/damage control. (http://bgsportspr.com/services/pr/)

There are many different cons about working in the Sports PR world, including:

1.     It is one of the highest growing fields in public relations. Even with it being the highest growing field, careers in sports PR are very limited, especially in professional sports. There are only 30 Major League Baseball teams, 30 National Basketball teams, 32 National Football teams and 30 National Hockey teams, which means there are only 122 single positions that can be filled in the highest level of sports.

2.     Long days. Sports Public Relations experts often work many hours, often 7 days a week especially during their sports seasons, respectively.

3.     Pay. According to www.SimplyHired.com, the average Sports PR salary is $36,000. Salaries can vary with company, location, industry, experience and benefits.

But, with cons, there are always pros to working in the Sports PR field:

1.     Team Jobs Only Account for 6% of Sports PR Market. According to Sports Careers founder, Mark Tudi, “Team jobs make up only six percent of the jobs within the entire industry.”

2.     Different Opportunities. There are many opportunities outside of specific sport PR jobs, including ESPN, Fox Sports, Nike, and Dicks Sporting Goods. These companies are always looking for new ways to promote their brand and they all have a PR department to help them. Also, one of the biggest Sports PR opportunities is a Social Media Coordinator. According to ESPN’s Sports Business Reporter and Business Correspondent Darren Rovell, “..social media coordinator is the best job that will open up on sports teams.”

3.     Good outweighs to Bad. Yes, there are long hours and very little pay, but according to Adam Siepiola, assistant athletic director for media and external relations at Adelphi University, the good and fun outweighs the bad, especially since Sports PR is fun and different, and he Siepiola gets to travel to places he probably never would have had he been in a different field.

The biggest advice from many different professionals about the Sports PR field is:

1.     Know the Lingo

2.     Know Different Sports Your Comfort Zone

3.     Use Social Media for Possible Resources

4.     Know the Field

5.     Be Passionate about the Field