Sport at Christmas: Why the festive period is a gift for canny PRs seeking impactful coverage
Did we take for granted just how much incredible sport usually takes place throughout the festive period?
In football, we have Boxing Day and New Year’s Day fixtures. Rugby, meanwhile, sees the annual Big Game in which Harlequins head across the road to Twickenham for the ultimate booze-filled day out for 80,000 fans.
Inevitably, it is a bit different this year. While spectators are able to return in dribs and drabs to stadia across the UK, the atmosphere won’t quite be the same. Regardless, it’s happening. Well, most of it anyway.
My favourite event of the festive period, the Big Game, sadly won’t be taking place this year. But throughout December we will see live sport up and down the country, from Premier League football to Premiership rugby and even a spot of darts at Ally Pally.
One aspect that won’t change this year is that, as people head off on their festive break, everything quietens down a bit.
In this particularly hectic year, PR teams will have felt the struggle of battling against a busy news agenda to command column inches or space in the bulletins. But December is a slightly different picture.
It’s always the quieter of months. That has to be said tentatively as we all know how topsy turvy 2020 has proven to be. And with the vaccine roll-out ongoing, it would be reckless to predict this month’s news agenda.
But it’s usually true that, for a couple of weeks over the festive period, many shut up shop. Social media platforms go quiet, apart from a few pre-scheduled tweets, and PRs switch on their out-of-office replies.
Sport at Christmas is an open goal
What people don’t realise, however, is the opportunity staring them in the face.
We’ve all been there, just sat idly scrolling on our phone through boredom while grandad reads the paper and mum is browsing the news on her tablet.
News consumption is arguably at its highest during this period, presenting brands with a great opportunity.
People have more time on their hands. What’s more, with the PRs in holiday mode throughout large parts of the month, there is, to some degree, increased space in papers and planning sheets.
While we might not be seeing the usual hype around sports, and the need to drive ticket sales and engagement isn’t as high for obvious reasons, that doesn’t mean that the interest shouldn’t still be there.
It’s an open goal to translate good news stories into impactful coverage during December. After all, ‘tis the season of goodwill, so even the editors are allowed to get into the spirit.
Nick Rewcastle is the founder of sports PR consultancy NR PR and the former communications lead at Harlequins.