The more things change, the more sports stay the same. Sort of. There’s more money involved, the global stage is smaller, and the scandals more salacious. But they remain a unifying story, provoking a singular kind of collective joy and despair, anticipation and exclamation — the same emotions that make for a great PR campaign. In a world increasingly influenced by AI and misinformation,...
In the ever-evolving luxury playbook, brands are betting big on sports to drive relevance and reach. In the last year, they have been flooding the zone — sponsoring sporting events, tapping athletes as brand ambassadors, campaign stars and design collaborators, immersing in leagues by designing uniforms, merch and trophy cases, and even investing in teams themselves.
The athletes...
A sporting event is never just a game. It’s a reflection of who we are — our aspirations, our challenges, our drive to push boundaries. People of every background, belief, and ability come together in one place, at one time, to witness something bigger than themselves. All of us remember the buzz of high school sports and the joy of cheering on our hometown teams. For example, I’m thinking of...
Thirty-four years ago Mariah Burton Nelson, a former Stanford basketball player, wrote a book called Are We Winning Yet? How Women are Changing Sports and Sports are Changing Women. My response to her question was included in a column I wrote for the Oakland Tribune called “A Victory on Ice.” Like Nelson, I explored the ongoing inequities in women’s sports focusing on the stereotypes...
Walk into the Intuit Dome and the first thing you notice is what you don’t notice. No lines. No waiting. Concessions bill you automatically, so you can grab nachos and head straight to your seat. The friction of old stadiums disappears before the game even begins.
Then you look up. A sea of Clippers fans fills The Wall, a vertical section of 4,700 people roaring in unison. Above it...
Few things bring the world together in real time like sports. But events like the Super Bowl, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the FIFA World Cup are also high-stakes marketing battlegrounds where brands compete for relevance and trust. Sponsors investing at this level face an unforgiving playing field: record rights fees, a fragmented media landscape, fan expectations for in-person...
In just a few years, sports fandom will be almost unrecognizable. Fans won’t just watch — they’ll direct the action, remix the highlights and share their own angles in real time. The Olympics will unfold in living rooms, on city streets and in augmented reality headsets, while the ‘main event’ plays out as much on social feeds as it does in the stadium.
For PR pros, this isn’t a...
LeBron is my GOAT. Most points in NBA history. Four rings across three franchises. A one-man game plan who guarded all five positions and dragged the 2007 Cavaliers to the Finals with a supporting cast that wouldn’t start for most high school varsities.
I’m done defending it. Done with the circular arguments about Jordan's “killer instinct” or his 6-0 Finals record, as if losing in the...