How Public Relations Shapes the Sports Industry

By: Joey Olek

Photo courtesy of James Madison University

There is so much more to professional sports than just the coaches, athletes, workouts, competition, etc. The behind the scenes of how these athletes have to communicate with fans, reporters, sponsors, and the general public on a daily basis is not commonly talked about. We understand that these athletes train hard to be the best at what they do and acknowledge that is what they signed up for, but what we do not realize is that they did not technically sign up for becoming a public figure. This is where PR comes in. Public relations in sports is an under-discussed topic but a fascinating one nonetheless.

What is Sports PR?

Sports public relations is the use of PR strategies and communication to help sports teams, athletes, leagues, and organizations communicate with their audiences. Sports PR involves media relations, publicity, promotion, image management, and crisis management; it is so much deeper than just trying to get people to watch a game.

A PR professional in sports has to deal with many different groups who each want different information which makes sports PR more complicated than it may seem. A team may need to promote an upcoming game to fans, provide information to reporters, keep sponsors happy, and help an athlete prepare for an interview all at the same time. Due to this, PR professionals have to think carefully about what they are saying, who they are saying it to, and how that message could be received.

Social Media and Sports PR

Social media is one of the biggest outlets of sports PR, using Instagram, Tik Tok, X, and Youtube to communicate directly with fans, making a huge difference in athlete to fan communication as audiences are not just relying on reporters to relay messages to them. It is an easy way to hear information directly from the athletes and for them to showcase a more personal version of themselves, making the fans feel more closely connected with the athletes. This is also important in helping athletes build their personal brand. When athletes show more depth of who they are, it opens doors for the opportunity to be sponsored by a brand that aligns with them or gain more media coverage in general.

Building an Athletes Brand

Another important part of sports PR is athletes branding. Today, more than ever, athletes have many chances to be a well known brand outside of just playing their sport such as opportunities like being on shows like Dancing with the Stars and Traitors or being the face of a brand. These opportunities do not simply just come from being good at the sport an athlete plays, but also come from showcasing who they are outside of their sport and making themselves stand out as a person. As a professional athlete, a social media platform and following is essentially served on to them on a silver platter, but how successful it becomes relies on how they use it to their advantage.

PR professionals can help these athletes build and maintain a platform that is going to develop and maintain their public image. This can include helping an athlete communicate with the media, promoting community involvement, working with sponsors, or creating social media content. Research has also proven that the source that fans get their information about an athlete from can affect the audience's view of that athlete's brand and credibility.

Crisis Communication in Sports

PR is especially important in sports when things go wrong. Sports organizations can face many different crises, ranging from player controversy, social media mistakes, organizational problems, injuries, and also issues involving fans. Having a good PR team makes all of these issues much easier to solve so that they can bounce back from the controversy with as little effect on their reputation as possible. They are responsible for deciding what should be shared, who should receive it, or how an organization/person should respond.

This can be especially difficult when the person at the center of a crisis is an athlete. PR professionals can prepare athletes for interviews and give them talking points, but they cannot fully control what is said when the athlete is actively being interviewed nor can they predict what questions to prepare the athlete to answer. Once one wrong statement is made, it is difficult to not dig the hole deeper, so it is important that a PR team is present to assist in how to divert and amend situations.

Why does PR in sports matter?

PR matters in sports because athletes and teams are constantly looked at in the public eye. Unlike many other industries, sports can create strong emotional connections between the fans and the organizations they support. Fans can strongly rely on a certain athlete as a role model which means the way that athlete communicates can have a major effect on that relationship; one bad interview with a bad attitude or a word slip up can change the way dedicated fans view them. Sports also makes for an interesting industry in PR because of how athletes are commonly put on the spot, making it much more critical the athletes are prepared by PR professionals for interviews and spontaneous questions.

The sports industry will always be centered around the game itself, but the way the game is communicated to the public is just as important. Whether it is a viral moment, a controversial interview, or a personal connection between an athlete and a fan, communication shapes how people experience sports which is why PR is such an important role in the sports industry.