Sports PR Today

by Callie Cady

Jason Rademan has been the Director of Media Relations for the Dallas Stars since the 2002-2003 season. He graduated from Penn State University in 2000 with a Bachelor's in Kinesiology.

Rademan's background includes an internship with PR department of the Orlando Magic, followed by a graduate assistantship with the athletic department at the University of Oklahoma. He then worked as an intern with the Dallas Stars PR staff for a year before being hired full-time. As a full-time employee he started out as Manager of Media Relations and Team Services until last summer when he was named Directorof Media Relations.

The Typical Workday

Gamedays start at 7:30 am, getting the game notes, clips, stats and roster sheets prepared for that night's game. Rademan covers the morning skate, handles all the media requests for the morning, then heads back to the office. He gets to the arena again by 4:30 and handles another round of interviews in the afternoon before the game begins. Rademan also runs the press box during games, moderates the intermission (or bench) interviews, and then does the same after games. After the last of the media is gone from the locker room, he types up a set of postgame notes that are sent via email to all the local media. On non-gamedays, Rademan covers practice, works on the game notes for the next game, handles interview requests and plans for the rest of the homestand/road trip.

Advice for a Graduating PR Student Who Wants a Sports Career

"I think it's very important to get any kind of experience you possibly can in the sports field, to network with those you work with and to always try to get the job of the person immediately above you on the totem pole. Any and all experience is valuable, any and all contacts you can make in the industry are more valuable, and you should always want to be doing more within the framework of your particular team/department/company."

-Jason Rademan