FS Sports's List: Public Relations

Social media allows the NFL, NASCAR and other pro sports leagues to hear from fans in real time. And that feedback has become so important, leagues have built what are essentially social media command centers to monitor trends and engage directly with fans.

The organization that owns and operates the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans has launched a digital media team to engage fans with daily content.

The famously image-conscious National Football League is sweating two crises this week — the reported bullying of a Miami Dolphin by a teammate and the admission by one of its legends that apparent traumatic brain injury has led him to consider suicide.
But public relations experts see little danger to the reputation of the country’s most popular sport — flush with billions from new television contracts, unstoppable in the ratings, the talk of talk radio, its teams worth more every year.

The University of Maryland anticipated most fans would initially react "emotionally and negatively" to last year's decision to join the Big Ten Conference. So the school sought to influence the debate with a plan to lobby media pundits and plant positive comments into fan message boards.

With exploding NFL television ratings, individual teams have become media content companies to cash in on the insatiable demand for all things football. The Bears produce multiple team-branded TV shows that are distributed locally in Chicago. They also air regular video features on the team's website, and the Bears were the first - and still one of the few - teams to produce their preseason games

USA TODAY Sports spent a Saturday night inside the Fan and Media Engagement Center during the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway to observe how the FMEC operated during what traditionally is one of the season's most frenetic races.

The organization that owns and operates the New Orleans Saints of the NFL and the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans has launched a digital media team to engage fans with daily content.

Sports teams and leagues are waaay out front on content marketing. Some teams have had “internal reporters” for more than a decade. All of the major sports leagues have their own 24/7 networks – the biggest and best example of content marketing anywhere.

This specialized form of content marketing is called brand journalism. Using it, Alabama Power has engaged customers, generated goodwill and built trust.

The big buzzword in the marketing world right now is 'content marketing'.

Last week, the New York Islanders took press credentials away from Chris Botta, who writes the popular blog NYI Point Blank and was once the vice president of media relations for the team.
Botta was surprised and disappointed in the decision and has received nearly unanimous support from the NHL community, especially because he banned merely for criticizing the team's decisions.

Here are three ways engaging video can help with any public relations efforts.

“I apologize.” Just two little words. But, words that set the stage for a change in the course of events. That was exactly what cyclist Lance Armstrong was hoping for when he agreed to a two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey in January to “come clean” about his history of doping. 

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing this past April, many turned to the Boston Police Department (BPD) Twitter stream to find reliable updates on rapidly unfolding events.

Wisdom, the judicious application of knowledge, is the most important ingredient in addressing a potential public relations crisis. The recent Rutgers situation with its former men's basketball coach Mike Rice is a good reminder of this.