As an entrepreneur In the field of Sports PR, the one main question I get asked the most is how does Social Media play a unique role in the sports world, and honestly there’s only one thing I always say and that’s , firstly; A career in public relations is not for the faint-hearted – or for anyone hoping to make big
money straight from the go. Competition for jobs or clients rather is highly fierce and you need plenty of
enthusiasm and confidence if you want to successfully sell a client’s product to the media or pitch for new business ideas . Don’t get me wrong it can be glamorous -from mingling with celebrities to networking with the big guns in sports- and rewarding, but always expect to work hard for initially little or more financial gain.
To elevate the notch a little bit, the South African Basketball National League became one of my very first big clients with my company, FX Productions being the official Social Media Partner in 2014. BNL as it’s abbreviated, is the pre-eminent men’s professional basketball league in South Africa, one of the most acknowledged Leagues in the continent amongst others across Africa. Founded in 1993 as the Premier Basketball League, which was then later reformed to its current creation Basketball National League.
Basketball is one of the fastest growing sports in Africa, however, it has a long way to go before it
becomes as popular as the dominant sports such as soccer! Basketball was not widely played in Britain, France, and Portugal the major colonial powers in Africa and that’s one of the symptoms why basketball is not as popular as other team sports in Africa.
But there’s always a trick up any PR woman or expert and that’s enough reason to jeopardise what is known as factual. Tell you why, when I started with BNL it was still yet developing and finding it’s position not only in the country but also as an organisation that accentuates what is classified as a ‘fancy diversion by the masses. My strategy going into BNL was all about multitasking. In any PR environment you might be working on a number of accounts, but individual clients need to feel they are your No 1 priority at all times. For instance my primary task as thr sports PR officer firstly was to build on the reputation of the League ,by aiming to manage reputation in order to gain understanding and support, and influence opinion and behavior of basketball fanatics and supporters . Obviously the organization relied on FX Production “also known as” run by a PR professional to garner enough PR publicity to increase revenue and backing for each of the games played. I also had to supervise
the working of the duration plan and provide suggestions to the management to enhance the overall social media plan impact.
It all sounds so fat right? Exactly, and that’s why I was always juggling lots of different tasks in one go, while working to set deadlines, because as much as it’s about assisting BNL to get the exposure they deserved it was more about not watching pieces of my shattered ego all on the floor, because after all I am Alvina Naicker and even though I’m quite theatrical in character (if I should say so myself) my work has to always be louder than my mouth.
It’s 2016 today, with over 6000 followers The Basketball National League is approaching it’s 4th SEASON already on the 9th July 2016, and I couldn’t be more proud. Not only as a partner but as a fan and proud witness of the growth of Basketball in South Africa. Of course there’s always room for growth, but I can’t stress enough how with a little knowledge of the sports market and the overall sports world, you can never not see improvement. And I’ll always be humbled by how BNLSA gave me an opportunity to experience,learn and grow within sports and marketing.
I’m looking forward to many more Seasons as FX Productions being the official media collaborator for the League as there’s nothing like witnessing what you started with grow and blossom to an amazing movement. I strongly believe we should always applaud Federations like BNLSA that play a commemerable role in making Basketball bigger and better in our country.
