Jul

14

Sports bloggers talk about PR

Filed Under Blogging, Interviews, Sports PR 

I e-mailed five popular sports bloggers last week, asking them about their experiences with PR professionals for SPRB. The participants include Don of Hugging Harold Reynolds (HHR), Brian from MGoBlog, Jason at The Big Lead, Greg of Puck Daddy fame, and Natalie from Need4Sheed.

On average, how many pitches/press releases do you receive in a day? What percentage of those do you delete before you even open the e-mail?

Don @ HHR: We receive about a dozen business-based press release/solicitation-type emails.  For the most part I will read ones that are from infrequent mailers.  If there are names I recognize because I’ve received several from the group, and that I know the content doesn’t fit, I might delete right away, but for the most part I’ll at least take a quick peek.

Brian @ MGoBlog: From official PR people? Maybe three or four, the vast bulk from the Big Ten and Big Ten Network. My email is Thunderbird, which has a preview pane, so I at least briefly see the content before any deletions, but I know I’m deleting about 90% of them because they’re about other Big Ten schools. There are plenty more “here’s a link” or “please exchange links with me, Person I love blog of you forever hoorah.” Relevant seeming links get clicked; obviously automated link exchange requests get trashed.

Jason @ The Big Lead: Anywhere between 10-20, and that number goes up around the time of major events (Super Bowl, NFL Draft, NBA Draft, etc). I probably delete 75% of them unless a) It’s from someone I have a working relationship with, b) the subject line is really, really catchy/enticing.

Greg @ Puck Daddy: If you combine the daily pitches from bloggers and PR people, I’d say it ranges from 50-75 a day. If you take out the bloggers, I think the number of PR pitches is about 30-50.

I open everything that’s specific to my subject matter. If I don’t get the vibe in the subject line that the email is about hockey or my areas of coverage, then it’s deleted.

Natalie @ Need4Sheed: Maybe it’s because of the popularity of the site, but I have started to get a ton of other pitches from the media, clothing companies, publishers, sports equipment companies and so on. Most of them are really basketball specific but I get a few here and there from other sports.  I have to say most are right up my alley.

What makes an effective press release or e-mail pitch for you? What gets you to blog about it or follow up versus deleting the e-mail or marking it as spam?

Don @ HHR: We try not to put things on our site that readers can obviously find in other places.  We try to keep our content unique.  There are just so many that are blast emails that have obviously gone out to such a wide spectrum of sites, with little thought that going into even trying to meet the content of the pitch with the voice of the site.  If someone takes the time to know our site and our style, we are more inclined to at least give a second thought.

Brian @ MGoBlog: I virtually never blog or link or follow up on press releases of a blatantly commercial nature. Like there was this one edition of some car that was Michigan-themed. Crazy baby indoctrination stuff. Congratulations, but I don’t give out free advertising. This is my job.

Stuff I will relate are items of interest to Michigan fans: game times and channels, maybe some time the BTN has an All-Michigan day, that sort of thing. Athletic department press releases containing important news will definitely get relayed.

Jason @ The Big Lead: Directness is key. If you have an athlete who you want to pitch, and it’s for a cause, the email doesn’t need to be incredibly long. The sooner they get to the point, the better: Would you like to interview x over the phone? We’re working with him on project yz. Having worked in newspapers and magazines I have an idea of how the game is played - they need their pitch mentioned, and we’d like the interview.

It’s really all about what they can do for me. I can help you if you can get me an interview, inside information, a lead, whatever. I’d say that tickets to sporting events work, but so far, I’ve been able to avoid that road.

Greg @ Puck Daddy: Well, it always comes down to the right fit. There’s a certain amount of selling that can occur on the PR end, but in the end I have to decide if this is something that will make for a compelling story for my readers. I’ll follow up if I decide it’s worthy.

But from the PR side, I want to get the sense that (a) this is something off the beaten path and (b) this is something that our site may get some level of originality or exclusivity from covering. We don’t want to be the only blog on the story, but we’d like to hear how our coverage can differentiate from others that were pitched on the story.

Natalie @ Need4Sheed: You can tell straight off it it’s something that your readers would be interested.  Since I’m a team specific blog with a little other NBA thrown in I usually know right away.  First thing would have to be, what are my readers going to gain from this?  If it’s not Pistons specific and it’s a product, I try to get them to allow me to give “it” away to my readers.  If it’s new or anything that I know they may be interested in I may mention it.  If it has nothing to do with my blog or the NBA I usually pass it over.

What do you wish PR professionals would do more of? Less of?

Don @ HHR: I wish they would stop assuming that blogs are at their disposal to do their promotional work for them.  Just because you created a shiny YouTube, doesn’t mean blogs will jump all over it and post it.  If you want the free, targeted publicity that blogs offer, do your homework, create relationships and, at the very least introduce yourself.  It shouldn’t be any different than PR work offline.  It’s about building quality connections, not how many emails you can send out.

Brian @ MGoBlog: I wish they’d offer me money (that would be disclosed, obviously) more. And I wish they’d email me about Purdue less.

Jason @ The Big Lead: I’d much rather have them be up front with me - can’t get so-and-so for an interview - than us spend 10 emails making plans only to have it all fall apart at the end. Just come clean - I can’t make anything happen for you, but I need a favor. Can you pay me back at a later date?

Greg @ Puck Daddy: As a former PR worker (who majored in it at Maryland), I’m still stunned that pitches to larger sites aren’t more tailored. We have the traffic and the readership to really affect a product or service. Yet some of the pitches we get are so lazy or misguided — no, sorry, but hockey fans don’t really give a shit about a soccer training video. Have you read the blog?

The best pitches are the ones that understand our coverage and offer something that will augment it.

What I’d like to see PR professionals do more of: Staying in touch. If we do a story and it works out well, then we’d like to work with you again. Sometimes, we’ll get a pitch and work it out and then never hear from them again. We’re all about follow-ups. Let us know how things are rolling.

Also: It’s a digital age. If you don’t have Web-quality images and video content ready to send our way, what’s the point in pitching the story?

Natalie @ Need4Sheed: It would be nice if more major outlets would get on the Blog bandwagon.  We have been around for quite some time and plenty of people look to us for their new on specific sport and teams. What I wish they would stop doing is sending emails to promote their product with nothing in return for the site or their readers.

What is your relationship with Michigan like? Generally speaking, what type of relationship would you like to see teams/athletic departments give to the bloggers covering them?

Brian @ MGoBlog: I haven’t had much of one to this point but this fall MGoBlog is going to be accredited media, which will be an interesting experiment. I’ve started to email the SID, Bruce Madej, questions, and he gets back promptly. Michigan has a policy now that requires various things of online media before they hit a “we will accredit you” threshold, and they seem remarkably hip to the new media game.

How did your partnership with the Pistons come about? What have they done to make your life as a blogger easier (e.g. prizes, contests, visits, etc.)?

Natalie @ Need4Sheed: The Pistons are very aware of the power of the internet and they been using it to their advantage for quite some time now.  They came to me early on, when I had no idea that they even knew about my blog.  It’s been about four years now and we have been working together ever since.

The organization is top notch they actually give me a luxury suite for a Pistons game to give away to my readers along with a behind the scenes tour of The Palace and the chance to take your picture with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. If that’s not special I don’t know what is.

The great thing about the organization is that they know how to work the nontraditional outlets to build their brand.  I get called to cover a lot of events,  but not everything because as a blog I don’t get media credentials.

And finally…

Tim at MLBTradeRumors.com said, “I don’t think I am a good person to ask.  I’d only look at a press release if it provides breaking baseball news -  a trade, for example.”

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2 Responses to “Sports bloggers talk about PR”

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