A Professional Sports Team Publicist has an interesting job. The individual's main function is to publicize a professional team and its players. This creates public interest, which in turn makes people want to attend games and fill up stadiums and arenas. With the current interest in televised sports, increased popularity of a team or an athlete means that the owner can get more money and better deals for televised events.
The publicist in this field might work with professional teams in any sport, including hockey, baseball, basketball, jai alai, soccer, football, etc. He or she might work with either major leagues or minor leagues. It is important that the individual have an understanding of the sport with which he or she works in order to be effective in the job. The professional sports industry is a major force in the entertainment world. The Professional Sports Team Publicist works with the sports news media daily. The individual deals with newspapers, magazines, and television, cable, and radio stations. On the professional level, the sports team publicist works with local, regional, and national media. He or she must know sports editors and call to inform them of new deals being made by the team, new players, coaches, owners, and managers.
The Professional Sports Team Publicist frequently receives calls from the sports media asking specific questions or requesting interviews with players, coaches, trainers, or management. The Professional Sports Team Publicist (or team publicist, as he or she might be called) is responsible for setting up schedules of appearances for team members, coaches, management, and owners. This could be for paid appearances or for appearances for nonprofit groups and charities. For example, a popular team member might be the national chairperson for an organization fighting teenage alcohol and drug abuse.
Professional teams receive a lot of requests for public appearances by either individual athletes or the entire team. The publicist must decide which appearances to accept and which to decline. He or she must then write courteous letters of regret with explanations for those requests that were not accepted. The team publicist arranges guest appearances on television and radio talk, variety, news, and sports shows for team members, as well as print interviews. He or she also develops feature story ideas for both sports editors and the general media.
The publicist must know everything that is happening, including dates of games, scores, and players' injuries. The individual prepares press releases on a regular basis. During times when major events are occurring within the team, he or she may write releases more frequently. These releases are sent to sports media from a prepared media list. The individual also prepares statistical information sheets, injury data, etc. regularly. He or she is responsible for interviewing players, managers, coaches, and owners to obtain information for biographies, team yearbooks, press kits, and game programs.
The sports publicist arranges and conducts press conferences. Major leagues usually hold more conferences than minor leagues. The individual may present press conferences weekly, or even more frequently if there is a major event taking place (such as a major trade or the signing of a popular athlete).
The sports publicist is available to the media at games as well as at practice sessions. He or she must arrange for press passes, press credentials, and seating for members of the media. The individual also arranges locker-room interviews. He or she is responsible for passing out press kits, biographies, and releases to press people.
If the team is traveling to another city, the sports publicist gets on the phone calling media in that city, arranging interviews, appearances, and press conferences. The Sports Publicist might travel to the city ahead of time and take care of these tasks in person. In this manner he or she gets to know the sports press in other cities.
The individual in this job frequently socializes with sports writers and reporters. He or she attends sports-related functions as well as social functions on behalf of the team. The sports publicist is always looking for a way to publicize his or her team and its members. The sports publicist works long hours and many weekends. Activities sometimes slow down slightly during the off-season for the sport. The individual in this position is responsible to the team owners.
Salaries vary from job to job depending on the team the individual works for. Salaries can range from US Dollars 23,000 to US Dollars 100,000 plus. Variables include the sport, the type of league the individual works with, and the team's popularity and success.
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