The sports reporter is an endangered species.
It at least sometimes feels that way with the all-too-frequent news of layoffs at even the biggest publications that dominated for decades. But the reality is that the sports reporter is more powerful than ever. As the superstar era plays out in pro sports and the creator paradigm penetrates social media and marketing, so is the sports journalist able to stand on their own and develop a fan base loyal to them, regardless of where their byline appears.
David Alter has lived through the rapidly evolving career of a sports reporter, surviving and transforming himself and cobbling together a community of fans and a content strategy that allows him to pay the bills, create content, write stories, and even fund his own road trips, oftentimes, traveling to cover the Toronto Maple Leafs beat. The line between creator and reporter isn’t completely blending, but the professions are starting to have more in common than the layman would realize. For Alter, while he does work with Sports Illustrated via The Hockey News, he’s partially independent and autonomous, making it on his own. Such an endeavor is not without ample challenges, but the Canadian journalist is winning credibility and repute through persistence, engagement, and taking advantage of every opportunity.
“Part of the issue of being independent, too, is you don’t have legacy brands where a lot of a lot of places don’t even know to reach out to you that they’ll reach out to you on Instagram or social,” said Alter, discussing how to get on and stay on the radar of publicists as an independent reporter. “Like [Maple Leafs defenseman] Morgan Reilly had this thing with Kellogg’s for media to attend and I didn’t even know about it, but the PR person who is in charge there reached out to me 2 or 3 days prior. I’m like, Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for doing that and keep me on all your lists. So you have to kind of build and do things organically.”
Developing things organically has guided Alter as he’s built up his personal brand and business as a sports reporter. He appreciates that monetizing audiences on digital and social means engagement is the key metric and the KPI that brands hold dear when evaluating where and with whom to spend their marketing dollars. And while Alter drives good, consistent engagement just from his quality content and hockey coverage of the Leafs day-to-day, he also wanted to create additional engagement opportunities for his fans through the kind of interactive activations often backed by sponsors.
So Alter did something creative, a sort of ‘fake it til you make it’ initiative, though it was really about giving fans a reason to have fun and stay engaged with the game, regardless of the score. He created a contest to have fans guess the time on ice of a specific player (the amount of game minutes and seconds a certain skater is on the ice during a game) with the closest to the mark winning a Starbucks gift card. The tweets would get a ton of replies from fans putting in their guess and fans would be checking box scores and updates throughout the game. This wasn’t a Starbucks promotion, though (nor did Alter make it seem that way), it was just a small reward Alter paid for out of his pocket to incentivize fans to participate and engage with him and each other.
“When I did that in 2021, that was more so a way for me to give back to fans who couldn’t be at games because I felt bad that I have this privileged situation where I’m at games with an empty arena [due to COVID] and can see it in person,” he said. “Even if it’s not the same experience where people at home are kind of stuck, especially in Ontario, where it was really shut down compared to any other state or province in North America for the longest time. For me, it was just kind of a way to keep people engaged in the game, even if it was a blowout or a meaningless game.”
Soon brand deals started coming organically. Alter even told of a physical therapist trading his fees for their services in exchange for shouting them out to his audience on social. Alter continued to seize opportunities to engage and entertain the audience, even beyond hockey. The life of a sports reporter, especially one that travels with the team they’re covering, is full of interesting sights and sounds and experiences — content. I’ve often written that the ordinary is extraordinary for fans, and Alter has seen that borne out with something as simple as capturing the media meal served to the press at NHL arenas. NFL broadcaster Ross Tucker turned his own ‘Tuck Spreads’ showcases of press food into a sponsorable asset and Alter has surprised himself with some of the initial virality of what is a very ordinary part of the life of a sports reporter.
“Even when I’m on the road [during the season], I review the media meals now and just things I see on the road that people would not normally see,” said Alter, who noted that MLSE’s Head of Culinary even caught wind of Alter’s press food content. “And reviewing the media meals became this big thing that kind of took on its own life because I looked at TikTok and saw what’s popular on TikTok. Okay, food, celebrity sightings, random stuff. So I started it with food where I’m like, okay, here’s the media meal. And like, that thing would get like 30,000 plays. I’m like, Why? Like, it’s just a meal for me. But people are into that stuff, so I did that…
“The Leafs are a niche and I love doing that stuff, but I do like the broad appeal that multiple people can kind of factor in and enjoy as well…It’s just kind of just keeping your eyes open and just not being afraid to try different things and do that. And, you know, you’ll get ridiculed along the way; I have for sure. But I’m like, Hey, people are into it. If they’re into it, I’m going to keep doing it.”
Creating content that will engage an audience, seeking broad appeal, understanding what’s resonating and popular — these considerations could just as easily describe a professional ‘influencer’ or creator as they fit for Alter’s occupation as a sports reporter. They’re all in the business of audience growth and audience engagement; the means may be different but the desired ends look pretty similar. Alter appreciates the value of his audience, his fans, and their continued engagement over time. No matter how the sports media paradigm continues to evolve, that fan base is his job security.
“On my Twitter, I think today I have 42,500 followers,” he said, “which, you know, as far as Leafs reporters or Leafs enthusiasts that cover the beat, it’s not the highest by any means. But I would argue that my engagement rate is as high, if not higher, than most on the beat for the reason that those people are loyal, coming back to me and are repeat customers in terms of clicking on my links, in terms of getting their information firsthand from me or whatever the case may be. So I look at that and I kind of go in that regard where I’m trying to grow things organically that way.”
As long as there is sports, there will be reporters delivering news, access, and insight to fans. But reporters no longer must be beholden to media publications with the biggest bank accounts and logos — they own their audience and they can make their own way.
Exploring the dynamic transformation of sports reporting, this insightful piece highlights the innovative approach of a pioneering journalist shaping the future of the field.
Do you see more journalists taking a similar path, embracing social media and cultivating a direct relationship with their audience, even if it means operating independently or partially independently?
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