Issue 10: The Story Behind the Story
The Long Game
I will be honest. I do not watch a lot of sports outside of football season.
Outside of every Eagles game, which is non-negotiable, my sports viewing tends to be reserved for championships and finals. I am not usually tuning in to a random Tuesday night regular season game. But every now and then, something pulls me in. A storyline I heard about in passing. A player someone mentioned in a conversation. A moment that showed up in my feed that made me curious enough to go find the game. Next thing I know, I have watched three games in a row for a team I had no prior attachment to.
That is the power of storytelling in sports, and it is something I think about constantly in my work.
The Knicks and Spurs series tips off tomorrow and it is already drawing in people who do not follow basketball closely. On one side, a franchise and fanbase that has been waiting decades for a moment like this, the history, the city, the hunger that comes with being a Knicks fan. On the other, Victor Wembanyama making his first playoff run, a generational talent that people want to see on the biggest stage. Those two storylines together are what may pull casual viewers in before the first game even tips off.
From a sports PR standpoint, this is one of the most important things I have come to understand early in my career. The story you tell about a client, a team, an athlete, or a property is what determines whether someone outside the existing fanbase ever pays attention. Storytelling is what brings new people in and keeps them there.
This is something I think OffBall does really well, and it is why I find myself going back to it regularly. If you dont know about OffBall, it was founded in 2024 by Michaela Hammond, formerly of The Players’ Tribune, Christian Stone, the former Sports Illustrated editor-in-chief, and Adam Mendelsohn, whose communications firm played a role in launching Puck and LeBron James’ SpringHill Company. The company describes itself as a platform that curates the culture of sports with a human touch. Their newsletter does exactly that daily, pulling together the stories, moments, and conversations that sit at the intersection of sports and culture and presenting them in a way that makes the broader sports world feel accessible and interesting regardless of whether you follow any specific team or league closely (shoutout to Ashtyn Butuso who authors the newsletter).
What OffBall gets right is starting with people rather than stats. It looks for the human element in a moment before the score. Mendelsohn said at launch that sports characters and narratives are one of the last shared experiences, and that the internet was not designed for the way people actually want to enjoy sports. OffBall was built as an answer to that.
For anyone doing PR in this space, that philosophy is instructive. The goal of good sports communications is finding the story that makes someone who was not already paying attention start paying attention. That might be the freshman who set a school record in their first season. It might be the community camp a player ran in their hometown. It might be the team that came together after something difficult. The specific details vary, but the underlying logic is always the same. Story first. Everything else follows.
I think about this when I am working on anything for a client. The media angle, the platform, the timing, all of that matters, but none of it lands if the story underneath is not compelling. And compelling does not always mean dramatic or unexpected. Sometimes it just means human. The most effective sports stories tend to be the ones where you recognize something real in the person or the moment being described, something that makes you want to keep watching even when you had no plans to.
That is what makes a casual fan out of someone who was not paying attention. And in sports, that is one of the most valuable things you can create.
You can also read this issue and subscribe to Built in Public on LinkedIn: Built in Public
Built in Public is a newsletter where Amani Marie documents her growth as a young sports public relations professional in real time. It focuses on what she is learning, what she is observing across the industry, and the people and work that stand out.
Some issues will examine moments in sports and how they are communicated. Others will reflect on career development, access, and what it takes to build in this space over time.
This is intended to be a space for learning, sharing perspective, and tracking progress along the way.