Dear XXXXXX,

  It was nice to talk to you yesterday. In response to your question about how I would approach a Press Release service for your League, well here is a rough, quick draft of my initial ideas -  

Newspapers, Radio and TV have all suffered in the new economy, advertising dollars are down and budgets for operating costs have correspondingly been slashed. It’s not that the media is uninterested in your event, game or story, it’s that they just can’t afford to spend what it takes to cover it properly.  

It’s much more economical to rip copy of the newswire and print something from AP or Reuters then to pay someone to attend an event, gather the facts and then write a story. The same exact situation applies to TV and Radio.  News Crews are expensive to send out on location and it’s cheaper to play another song then hire a Sportscaster.  

But, if you can provide them a well written, concise, Press Release that gives the media the who, what, when, why and how, then you’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting for them! It actually encourages the media to make that call, or show up at that game or event. It also encourages them to seek you out in the future because you’re a reliable source of good info for them and the listeners/readers/viewers they are trying to reach.  

If you expand that approach into a whole campaign, spoon feeding the media what they need when they need it, you then have control of a powerful way to promote your game/event and expand your presence in the media and the public’s consciousness. This is especially effective for regional and local promotion of events and causes.    

So, what does this campaign strategy consist of for a Sports League?   Every game gives you the opportunity to have several different Press Releases’ from several different perspectives. The more you put out, the more likely the local or regional media will pick it up and expand on it.  

This same strategy works for the season as a whole – pre, during and post.  

The approach to each individual game can be broken down into different areas, such as;

Pre-game: Expectations, rivalries, anticipations and personal stories.

Game Report: What happened, color commentary and fans reactions to the game.

Post-game: What’s next? What went right for the winners and recriminations for the losers…

And the cycle starts over for the next game.    

Where does all this material come from?   From pre-planning and lot’s of interviews -  

Interview each coach for compelling season expectations, team strengths and weakness, individual game and player analysis and personal back stories.   Interview each player for exciting color stories such as family ties, hopes and dreams, disappointments and triumphs both on and off the court.  

Interview owners/investors – What compelled them to become involved in this league, what the business side is all about?  

Interview the support personnel which includes everyone from the equipment manager to the hotdog vendor, there’s bound to be  some interesting stories on how the league is impacting their lives and business.  

Interview local politicians/chamber of commerce members – all of them love to be quoted and all will be enthusiastic about a new venture in their local sphere of influence.  

Interview and help promote the local media – I have 20 years experience in Radio and TV – Media people love to be the star. Be interested in them and they’ll in turn pay attention to them.  

The Fans, interview them and you’ll have some fascinating stories.  

Get the league involved with local charities in the locations that you play the games, blood drives, food banks, Animal Shelters etc. There’s free publicity with every event and game!    

As I said, this is a very rough draft of a beginning strategy; it requires a lot more thought and some more information about your league before I could expand on it any more.  

Sincerely,    

Christopher Hackett