Becoming a sports professional has always been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I mean who wouldn’t want to get paid to work in the sports field? Through connections, I had a conversation with the Vice President of NBC Sports Communications, Chris McCloskey. He has over 25+ years of experience as a sports communications professional, having worked for the NFL and AFL, before transitioning to sports media. Currently, McCloskey works at NBC where he oversees communications efforts and presentations for the Olympics, Paralympics, Football Night in America, Notre Dame Football, NASCAR, and Indycar. From 2009-2021, McCloskey led NBC Sports’ NHL communication efforts.
The Connection
Through my family, I was able to get into contact with Mr. McCloskey through email. We began talking through Gary Zenkel, President of NBC Olympics and Business for NBC Sports Group, who introduced me to Mr. McCloskey and we emailed each other a few times to set up a time for a phone call. We talked for about 30 minutes Friday morning where we introduced ourselves and I asked him questions about his job. I will go further in-depth as this project continues as I learned a lot in just 30 minutes of us talking. Not only does Mr. McCloskey enjoys the pressure of his job but rather prefers that over a normal week in the office. I appreciate the opportunity to meet Chris McCloskey and I am excited to write more about our conversation as I find out what it’s like to work as a sports professional.
Short Bio
Growing up Chris McCloskey always had a passion for sports. From playing in the backyard to being on the high school baseball and basketball team were activities McCloskey enjoyed as a kid. Growing up in Long Island, New York, Chris enjoyed most of the sports teams where he lived. Knicks, Islanders, Yankees, and even the Giants and Jets. Once he graduated high school, Chris began attending the University of Syracuse. This transition wasn’t the easiest as he and his family were Villanova Wildcats fans, which is a direct rival school to Syracuse. Once he began College in 1990, he switched his major from Broadcast Journalism to Newspaper. Chris explained to me that once he got to school he realized that there are more jobs in sports communications than announcing games. He prefers traditional reporting and being able to write stories. At the end of the day for Chris McCloskey, it was about working in the sports field. He mentioned that he, “-can’t imagine working in another industry like PR for a car company”.
Important Quote
“PR is hard and at times can be frustrating. You can only influence the press not control them.”
Leading into Part 2
I have much more information to share once we move on to part 2. I learned a lot in only our first call and I’m excited to continue working on this project as I learn more about the sports communication field. I will go further in-depth and share interesting stories like how Mr. McCloskey worked with owners like John Elway to players in their rookie season like Peyton Manning.
