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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sports: best on the sidelines or in front of the TV?

I’ve never understood the pull of sports PR for individuals. There are so many people and players to have to worry about and at any moment your whole team can go down the drain. The Penn State and Syracuse scandals in one year are enough for anyone. Maybe you’re hoping to set up a press conference for Michael Vick so he can invite you to a huge mansion party. You never know, you may get a Christmas present from Ryan Howard too! All right, maybe you aren’t in it to hang out with a player and become his BFF, but the glamorous invite of the sports industry can cause daydreaming that is difficult to keep at bay.

But before we start inviting anyone to dinner, ehow.com offers some solid beginning tips:

  • Write to all your area teams; college, NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.
  • Volunteer to work on game days. Working on game days is the best way to get your foot in the door with a sports team and get your first public relations experience on your resume.
  • Get a long-term internship with the team or college you've been working with.
  • Colleges in particular have a lot of work that needs to be done, as most have several sports, some with 20 or even 30+ teams that need to be covered. College PR departments tend to be underfunded, so they will generally allow interns to cover one of their lower-end sports to gain experience and save money on staff.
Like many entertainment PR fields, the most important step is putting your foot in the door and making a name for yourself. Trying out the college level and professional level positions could help hone you in on what kind of sports PR you really want to do. It is rumored that college level is more rewarding than professional, but this all depends on the person. If this particular field interests you start Googling, start writing, and start introducing yourself.

Why do you think sports PR is so popular? Or is there a more popular field in PR? Let us know!

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Katherine Carpenter.

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