Buffalo Sabres Public Relations Department
Fall 2014 Internship
Interning at the Buffalo Sabres Public Relations Department has been an absolute blast. The opportunities and connections this internship offers are endless. Throughout my time spent with the team, I have met a number of journalism and broadcasting professionals in the industry which will hopefully help further my career in the future. A typical day as a Buffalo Sabres Public Relations intern includes:
Assisting with credential distribution and greeting the media
Press box setup and operations
Distributing period stats, game notes and out of town scores to the press box and various places in the arena
Running materials to broadcast trucks
Assisting with in-game notes
Recording home and visitor player audio after games
If you are thinking of interning with the team, be prepared to spend long hours at the First Niagara Center. You are expected to work all Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bandits home games as well as office hours if your work/school schedule allows for it.
Although the tasks of this internship are not very difficult, you must be attentive at all times. As a PR intern, you are in charge of helping the media with whatever they need. At times this can be difficult, because much of the media are from different parts of the world. Some speak different languages and it is important to learn how to communicate and help them to your fullest abilities. This internship will come very easy if you are a people person. As long as you don’t mind speaking to others you are unfamiliar with, you will be just fine!
You would think by interning at a sports team you would get a ton of perks right? Unfortunately that is not the case. Although you may not receive discounted tickets for the games or 50% off of merchandise, you are given so many opportunities at this internship. Once the regular season begins, interns are able to shadow other departments if interested. For example, one night I shadowed the broadcasting department. I was also offered the opportunity to perform some mock reporting down by the ice. This will be a great addition to my demo reel! Interns are also given the opportunity to go into the visiting and away locker rooms after games. Although we are not able to ask the players any questions, our job is to collect the audio from the interviews with a recorder. It is really neat to meet the athletes, but interns must stay professional at all times. They are our co-workers, so asking them for an autograph would be very inappropriate.
Throughout game days, interns are very busy before and after the game as well as in between periods. With that being said, I recommend that you are a hockey fan because you have a lot of down time to watch the games from the press box.
In my opinion, the Public Relations course at Niagara did not fully prepare me for this internship. But again this internship is not difficult at all. As long as you can follow direction you will have no problem! Niagara’s course provides students with an overall view of the PR industry. The class was very informative, but did not focus on sports public relations.
Overall, this is internship has been a wonderful experience. I have met so many influential people in the industry from the owner of the team, Kim Pegula to former NHL hockey player Rob Ray. If you are offered this internship, I recommend taking this opportunity. It could possibly serve as a stepping stone to someday further your career and it is a perfect way to get your foot in the door.