Sports Public Relations: How to Break Into the Industry

Sports public relations plays a pivotal role in shaping a strong brand image, whether for a team or an individual player. To be successful in this highly sought-after career, you’ll need certain skills, requirements, and experience. Communication, problem-solving, and strong interpersonal skills are vital qualities one should have when pursuing a job in the industry.

To help you get started planning for a career in sports public relations, we’ve outlined the items you need to know and the steps needed to land the job you’ve always wanted.

What Is Sports Public Relations?

The sole focus of sports public relations is enhancing and promoting the image of the players, organizations, or teams through different media channels. Sports public relations jobs deal with social, print, and digital media.

What’s more, the field of sports management public relations is all about allowing the athlete to focus on their game while the PR team handles the player’s image. They work on enhancing the potential of the player when it comes to public image.

What Does A Sports PR Specialist Do?

The job description of a sports PR specialist consists of many roles. It includes managing the PR side and dealing with the people who are involved with the team or the players, such as site managers, advisors, etc.

In addition, they need to have an outlook on shaping the image of the brand they are working for. No matter how small the brand or the player is, they need to cater to the different channels to shape its image.

Below is a brief rundown of the job duties/responsibilities that sports PR specialists need and the skills necessary to perform these duties effectively.

Responsibilities

• Managing the public relations for sports teams or players.
• Drafting press releases to increase awareness about the perception.
• Make connections with different platforms to deliver the message to the public, such as newspapers, magazines, social media influencers, etc.
• Give positive information to the public by effectively utilizing the platforms.
• Be involved in any activity related to the identity of the team or the player.
• Prepare media reports to analyze the public opinions and views about the player or the team.
• Arrange news interviews as well as create and manage the marketing campaign.

Skills

• Need to have excellent interpersonal skills to interact with and handle the media
• Should have optimal speaking skills to engage the public
• Must have multitasking skills to deal with the media, promotional campaigns, and other stuff regarding the PR for sports teams
• Exceptional writing skills. Press releases on behalf of the team or the player
• Must have the ability to think critically
• Come up with problem-solving solutions in public relations emergencies

Education Requirements

Working in the sports public relations and communication field also requires education. It helps to polish your skills and prepares you for the challenges ahead.

To get started in sports public relations careers, you will need a bachelor’s degree. Sports public relations internships will only consider you as a potential candidate if you got your bachelor’s degree from a reputable and accredited institution.

Your bachelor’s program needs to be in connection with the PR and communication field. Therefore, you can opt for one of the following bachelor’s programs:

• Mass Communication
• Marketing
• Business Administration
• Journalism
• Public Relations
• English

In addition, you can also take relevant courses regarding digital marketing and social media management, which can give you an edge over others and help you advance your career. Moreover, you can pursue a master’s or MBA to accelerate your career further.

Sports PR Salary

As per the report of BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics), there are currently around 208,030 total public relations specialists working in different industries. The salary per annum for PR specialists working in the sports industry has an annual income of $54,870.

Public Relations for Sports Teams: How to Get A Job

We now come to the most imperative section of the article regarding finding a job in sports public relations. To land a good public relations job in sports, relevant experience and a degree are prerequisites.

Having a portfolio with relevant experience can help grab the attention of big companies, so it is vital to grasp every opportunity you can find.

It will increase your experience and give you exposure regarding how to deal with issues on a large scale. Even if it’s about covering or handling a small sports event at your college or university, you should not miss it.

Once you have a little bit of experience, you can then move forward to entry-level jobs. By pursuing a master’s degree in your field, you can transgress to a higher position.

As your expertise grows, you might want to try earning the Public Relations Society of America’s Accredited in Public Relations (APR) credential (PRSA).To achieve it, you will need five years of experience in the field working full-time and a test to clear.

Getting Started in Sports PR

We hope you have an ample amount of information to leap into sports public relations. Just like other competitive fields, having proper guidance and consultation to succeed in it is vital.

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