How to write a sports press release: Tips & templates

Whether you’re doing PR for sports teams, running an athletic clothing brand, or part of an agency specializing in sports marketing, odds are, at some point, you’ll need to write a press release to get the word out.

Like most general press releases, a sports press release is a document aimed at getting your business news to the general public. But more specifically, you want your press release to get to the media so they can turn around and share your news with their large audiences.

For example, a college sports team has a major strategic partnership to announce and wants to spread the word as widely as possible. Sure, they could share the news on their website and social media. Changes or achievements within the coaching staff are also significant newsworthy events for a press release.

Or, they could craft a press release and send it to the journalists at CBS Sports and Fox Sports in the hopes that it will get picked up and shared with their large sports programs and their massive audiences.

A sports press release is an efficient tool for garnering more coverage through the media than traditional advertising because a successful press release can reach far more people than most brands can do alone.

If you need further convincing of the power of press releases in the sports industry, look no further!

As mentioned in the previous section, a well-crafted press release can amplify your news to a much broader audience than you might have the resources to reach alone. It's a real "work smarter, not harder" PR strategy.

A press release will give your brand a big professionalism boost. Many still consider a press release more official than a social media or blog post. If you want to be taken seriously within the sports ecosystem, a press release could give you a leg up.

A press release is the best option if you're sharing sensitive information and want to provide a carefully crafted statement about a topic. 

An example could be a crisis comms situation in which your brand has to react to controversy or negative press. 

If you aim to get powerful media coverage, such as getting picked up by Sports Illustrated or other laudable outlets, a press release will allow you to share high-quality digital assets for media outlets to use and repurpose.

This is especially true if you’re using an online PR tool such as Prezly, which allows you to host entire media galleries full of professional footage. Many journalists will not even consider pitching a story to their publications unless they have digital photos or assets upfront. Including high-quality assets in your latest releases ensures they are timely and relevant for media outlets.

While wire services and press release distribution services are generally going out of style, some businesses are required to use them for legal or internal reasons. 

A press release service alone may not net you much coverage, but it can be part of a comprehensive PR outreach strategy.

You can, technically speaking, write a press release whenever you want. Some brands will send out a press release for every minor update. However, you might want to be more judicious to ensure your releases achieve maximum impact with sports journalists and industry insiders.

Some examples of common reasons that brands might draft a press release in the sports space include:

• Announcing a strategic partnership, such as a team taking on a new corporate sponsorship deal
• Corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as an athletics brand launching a mental health charity fundraiser
• An event or talk, such as a sports brand hosting a discussion featuring a leader in sports journalism
• New player announcements, such as a sports team signing on an athlete for a multi-year deal
• A brand hosting a celebration event, such as a community program launch or community engagement initiative
• Professional development opportunities, such as scholarship or grant launches

A press release should cover anything worth sharing with the sports community or anything that would positively impact the local community. Is the news only important to your agency? You certainly could do a press release, but it may not be picked up by any media outlets.

An effective press release typically includes the following key components:

• Headline: A strong and attention-grabbing headline that summarizes the news or announcement.
• Opening paragraph: A brief summary of the news or announcement that provides context and background information.
• Body: A detailed explanation of the news or announcement, including quotes from key players and stakeholders.
• Boilerplate: A brief description of the team or organization, including its mission and values.
• Contact information: The name, email, and phone number of the person responsible for handling media inquiries.

By including these key components, you can ensure that your press release provides a complete and comprehensive overview of the news or announcement. This structure helps the sports press quickly grasp the key information and decide on coverage.

Follow these simple steps to get started on your press release.

Regardless of the topic of your press release, you'll need to gather all the details, including players, events, products, and sponsorship details. For example, if your brand is hosting a program kick-off event for the 2024–25 season, you'd need to know when the event is being held, where, who will MC it, event ticket prices, and more.

A strong headline is crucial in grabbing the attention of the reader and enticing them to read the rest of the press release. When writing a headline for a press release, consider the following tips:

• Keep it concise: Aim for a headline that is no more than 6–8 words
• Make it informative: Include the most important information about the news or announcement
• Use action verbs: Verbs like “announces,” “wins,” and “launches” can help create a sense of excitement and urgency
• Use keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords that will help your press release get discovered by search engines

Examples of strong headlines for sports press releases include:

• “Team USA Wins Gold Medal in Olympic Hockey”
• “New York Yankees Announce New Stadium Plans”
• “LeBron James Launches New Charity Initiative”

By following these tips, you can craft a headline that captures attention and effectively conveys the essence of your sports press release.

Once you have all the details, start writing your first draft. Include all the essential elements that will help the reader understand your announcement, e.g.:

• Who: The key players involved in the news or announcement.
• What: A clear and concise summary of the news or announcement.
• When: The date and time of the event or announcement.
• Where: The location of the event or announcement.
• Why: The significance and context of the news or announcement.

By including these essential elements, you not only inform but also engages the sports press and your target audience.

Don't worry if it's not perfect; there will be time to polish it up. When writing your press release, sports journalists should be your primary focus, not people from your agency or even members of the public.

Jot down a few questions to ask relevant people for quotes. Quotes are a powerful way to add credibility and authority to a press release.

Also, grab those high-quality images, videos, or soundbites to start staging them on the page.An example of a brand using visuals to tell a story is when Reebok used Prezly to share their launch with Gigi Hadid:

Example: An unforgettable narrative

See full example

Ask a colleague or two to do a once-over of the press release. Asking follow-up questions during the feedback process can help refine the press release and anticipate further inquiries from journalists. A tool like Google Docs can help with collaboration, or you can work together straight from an all-in-one press release tool like Prezly.

Once you have feedback from your peers, create a final draft and pass it along for review by the higher-ups.

Now you’re done! That wasn’t so hard, was it?

A common mistake that a lot of PR folks make is mass-blasting out their press release to freelancers and editors who work with the most prominent media outlets, such as CBS Sports Network, Fox Sports, and NBC Sports, in the hopes that these massive conglomerations will pick up on their news.

This is not a great strategy.

Why? Because everyone is doing it.

Of course, your brand wants the biggest coverage. But the chance of you getting onto CBS Sports Watch from a blind email pitch is very small.

The best way to distribute a press release is through a small, targeted campaign of a select few journalists with whom you have pre-existing relationships and who you know are looking for stories that are similar to what you're pitching.

Pitching your press release to the right media outlets and journalists is crucial to getting your news covered.

Here are the basics of how to do it well:

• Research the media outlets and journalists that cover your sport or industry
• Personalize your pitch by addressing the journalist by name and referencing their previous work
• Keep your pitch concise and to the point, highlighting the most important information about your announcement
• Follow up with the journalist to ensure that they received your pitch and to answer any questions they may have

By being mindful about how you pitch your press release, you can increase the chances of getting your news covered by the media.

A wire service is a distribution network that allows you to send your press release to a wide range of media outlets and journalists. Here are some benefits of using a wire service for your press release:

• Increased visibility: A wire service can help you reach a wider audience and increase the visibility of your press release
• Targeted distribution: A wire service can help you target specific media outlets and journalists that cover your sport or industry
• Cost-effective: Using a wire service can be more cost-effective than pitching your press release to individual media outlets and journalists

The downside is that in reality, news distributed through wire services gets very little pickup due to the overwhelming flood of press releases shared this way, as well as a lack of quality control. That's why many PR teams prefer to use dedicated PR outreach software rather than a wire.

Some popular wire services for press releases include Business Wire, PR Newswire, and AP (Associated Press).

A sports press release is not dissimilar to an event press release or product launch press release, as most press releases follow a fairly similar structure. Feel free to take this template and add your personal touch (not to mention all your own information).

Attention-Grabbing Title
​Informative Subtitle
​[City, Country, Date]
​​
​Here you can add all of your relevant information in dynamically-formatted paragraphs.
​​
​Use bullet points when possible.
​​
​When you can, bold certain words and include italics and short paragraphs for easy reading.
​​
​Include multimedia, images, videos, and other interesting content in high-quality formats.
​​
​About [your company]
​​
​Include your standard boilerplate.
​​
​Contact information
​​
​Name of your media person
​Email
​Phone number

Tools like Prezly help you format your press releases by allowing you to create and save boilerplates, contact information, and other helpful info as templates.

For more inspiration, check out our list of sports press release examples, like this one from Canada Soccer using Prezly to announce their sale of over 35,000 tickets:

Example: Announcing that over 35000 tickets were sold for the Canada Soccer Women’s National Team match versus Australia

See full example

It's tempting to target major outlets like CBS Sports and or FOX College Football for coverage first. The allure of big, national coverage is powerful. But you'll likely find more success if you go for local or regional sports networks over national ones.

For example, if you're a business in San Diego, consider contacting the Times of San Diego instead of, say, Sports Illustrated or Barstool Sports.

We know that you're a knowledgeable leader in sports marketing, but your audience may be laypeople who don't know all the technical jargon. Keep the language accessible and neutral.

When drafting your press release, make sure you're writing with the sports journalists in mind. A press release shouldn't read like an ad – you have ads for that.

When we talk to journalists, one of the most common complaints we hear is that they receive pitches but not enough information to run the story. This requires a lot of back-and-forth, which wastes time and effort. To avoid this, create a linkable press release with media galleries, a boilerplate, and all the necessary information a journalist needs.

Yes, you need to include every conceivable piece of information about your event, but you should also do it in the shortest format possible.

Long press releases can be overwhelming for busy journalists. To ensure maximum scannability, keep your press release short, scannable, and dynamically formatted. Don't bury the lede or any of the key details.

As a leader in sports marketing, you need the best tools for the job. Prezly is an all-in-one PR tool where you can:

• Create powerful multimedia press releases housed in aesthetic, branded newsrooms
• Send customized campaigns straight from the app
• Track coverage and analytics
• Keep track of your media contacts in a dedicated, collaborative CRM

Whether you're in the United States, Europe, or anywhere else, our customer support team is standing by if you ever have any questions.

Get awesome media coverage for your team or brand with the right press release.

Whether you're targeting NBC Sports or your local paper, with Prezly, you can tell your stories and win over the hearts and minds of journalists by using a service specifically created to support your media relationship-building efforts.

Try Prezly for free with our 14-day, no credit card required trial.