The reason athlete managers decline media requests vary greatly but it often boils down to three categories:
A) The athlete’s schedule / availability / workload
B) The athlete’s current media strategy
C) Benefits or lack thereof for the athlete
Requests really need to tick A B C, but even then it’s no guarantee we can make it happen.
When we say no, journalists don’t take it well. And fair enough. They are trying to do a job and we make it difficult.
But athlete managers also have a job. We’re responsible for protecting an athlete’s brand, signing sponsors, servicing those sponsors and generally making life as smooth as possible, so the athlete can focus…….on their job!
We don’t do media for the sake of doing media. There is always a strategy behind it. If media can understand that strategy, they’ll have more luck with their requests.
When you think strategy, think benefits for the athlete. Eg. Cross promotion for personal sponsors, their own charity or a key message the athlete wants to publicise.
I know the media hate celebrities promoting their own interests. And I get it. But we have a job to do and if the media can help us, we’ll help them.
