Why PR is Essential in the World of Sports

In the beautiful world of sports, one of the most common occurrences is a player who can’t control their temper or has issues away from the courts and fields.

 Where does that lead them? Straight to social media or an interview where they express their thoughts and immediately get fined and have to apologize for their statements. I have seen this too many times to count now and if you follow sports, I know you have too. This leads me to a curious question. How do some of these players not see how important it is to have a PR team to be there for them?

 Every sports team has a dedicated PR team and the quality of it can easily make or break a consistent fanbase. The same thing goes for the players. There are some players in every professional association that are always in trouble and blatantly don't have anyone on their side to either cover their tracks or prevent their actions. Occasionally, it can derail a player's entire career as we’ve seen happen to the likes of NBA legend Paul Pierce, NFL star Rashard Mendenhall, and many more. The one thing that these individuals have in common is that their follow ups and apologies are almost just as bad as their original actions.

 Managing a crisis situation is a struggle for almost every athlete that has ever been in a controversial spot. You can clearly see the difference when a team makes an official announcement or statement compared to a player. A lot of these people would have a much better public image (and probably more money) if they realized that PR means everything to uphold their image.

 With all that said, solid PR is mandatory to all areas of sports. We need the updates, the statements, the event coverage, and everything else that makes a fanbase flourish. However, this should reach the players too, not just the organizations. Who will be the next major athlete to fall victim to this? Who knows, but surely we will find out soon.

Author Bio: Devin Smith is a senior at California State University, Northridge studying public relations. After graduating in May 2022, he plans on diving into one of his dreams as either a sports writer or a social media manager for a sports organization. He was a writer for the CSUN Today website and has had stories featured on sites such as CBS and FOX.