Wouldnât it be amazing to get paid to write about sports? For many, it is a dream job that allows them to capitalize on their hobby and make a living doing what they usually do in their free time.
Take it a step further and imagine having your expenses paid to travel to attend sports games, interview players, or sit front-row at an important press conference. This is a dream of every sports writer, and you can make it come true!
Becoming an Aspiring Sports Writer
There are so many individuals that have untapped potential. This is multi-faceted. First of all, you might not even realize what a good writer you are and if you combine that curiosity with a passion for sports, you have a winning formula.
Something many don't know the answer to is, "What does it take to be a sports writer?" Depending on which type of sport you want to follow, you can delve into different sub-sections of that sport. Now, let us explain.
For instance, you may be a massive fan of football, but you prefer covering the "college sports" aspect of football. You could even choose to span a bit further and cover the Super Bowl.
However, you also need to realize how easy it can be for you to join a team of freelance writers at The Urban Writers (TUW) where you can cover sporting events and high school sports, become a sports editor and even tackle different aspects of a sports blog that focuses on sports memorabilia.
The opportunities to join a group of other freelance writers are endless.
The List of Advantages to Working in Sports Journalism Is Endless
A bonus is that you don't need a bachelor's degree to be a freelance writer in this field.
All you really need is to be a sports fan, watch frequent sporting events, and pick up an online magazine or attend online courses that will give you writing experience to create high-quality written content.
Most writers that are interested in sports writing may end up focusing on breaking news, specific stories of players, stats regarding team performances in amateur and professional leagues, and a whole bunch more.
You could even become that sports writer that focuses on the intricacies of player trading, disqualifications, or breaking down other events that impact the sporting world!
You may even already have the qualities of a sports writer! You might be a networking expert and already have jobs available for you as a sports writer. What you need to do is act on these opportunities!
Are you the person who knows everyone? Or do you have such a charming charisma that very few people refuse to give you an interview? This is how you get the correct avenues to establish engaging content!
Many sports writers who have discovered a newfound interest in writing used to work in the sports industry. By using your professional experience in this field, all you need to do is tap into your inner journalist what most journalists do!
Using your knowledge and interest in sports industriesâto write interesting storiesâis worthy of a career pursuit. But what happens when all your interviews are done and recorded? Have all the games passed? And it's now time to put your writing skills to good use.
Many creative minds find themselves lacking the time and energy to sit down and write. If spending days in the office by the computer cause you headaches, youâre not alone!
Good writers discover their knack for writing by throwing themselves into the idea! Look online to find sports writing jobs or even freelance writing jobs that allow you to write about more than just one sport.
Discovering fresh stories may be only one of your many talents, but if you donât have the patience and stamina to put all of your adventures into good writing, you'll never have the career success you deserve.
Why Dream Of It When You Can Do It?
When you decide to take on your first job as a sports freelance writer, you are taking the first step that most sports journalists took years ago. This is your right decision to follow your passion.
What we are going to do is show you that your expertise is required and hopefully entice you to join our team of freelancers as a sports writer!
Why Do Others Use Freelance Sports Writers?
There are some levels of understanding and details that only someone passionate about sports will be able to pick up. Now, this doesn't mean that as you become a sports freelancer, you only need to focus on specific sports!
There is such a lack of written literature about so many different types of sports. From martial arts to rock climbing, and even saltwater fishingâthe opportunities for you to intervene as a sports journalist is very broad!
Many people hire sports writers because they don't have the time to create their own content or because their content is so specific that it requires the utmost concentration.
Take sports betting into consideration. Here, there is so much more than just aimlessly betting on a team or horses, hoping they would win. Yes, some people do this. But the art of sports betting has a lot more intricacies of probability that only esteemed sports writers are able to understand.
The other type of customer that you may come across is those that love sports but don't want to write detailed information about the college team management, about the players, or how their intrinsic planning strategies allowed them to make the news as the college champions!
Ultimately, you are required! Your journey going into journalism, especially in a field you are so passionate about, will not only be a great add-on to your CV, but you will be obtaining skills in writing that no free cause will be able to teach.
Becoming a Sports Writer In Five Easy Steps
Becoming a sports freelance writer is no easy task. You need to have nurtured yourself from a pretty young age. However, there are a few things you should consider developing from a young age.
Nurture Your Freelance Writing Skills From a Young Age
As you become a sports journalist, you need to have two main qualities:
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You need to make sure that you have knowledge about different types of sports.
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You need to know how to construct emails, the type of writing media outlets prefer to use, as well as what you need to pay attention to when creating an online publication.
What many aspiring sports writers do is sign up for a few introductory courses in journalism. This is so you are able to establish how in-depth you need to go with your research and reporting, and which sports articles you would feel most comfortable writing.
If you are reading this and you are in high school or college, and you see yourself writing and captivating the sports writing world with your eagerness and dedication to sports, consider writing and covering your school's or varsity sports teams.
Putting yourself directly into the sporting environment will provide you with valuable experience that will aid you in creating sports news stories and articles fit for your local newspaper.
The earlier you integrate yourself into the environment, the better you will become as a future sports journalist.
Try to Attend a College With Robust Athletic Programs
Now, although you don't necessarily need a bachelor's degree to become a sports writer, some people are so dedicated to their craft that they look into journalism degrees to improve their writing abilities.
To compose viewpoints, you can either look into a degree in political science or a purely journalism-based degree.
However, should you need to get into contact with clubs and university officials to start covering their games, we suggest doing a free email course or other means of free training in journalism.
What's great about varsity sports is that you will be able to cover the stories of players in professional sports, as well as those that are playing a bit more for leisure than the competition.
Another bonus of writing and covering games at your university is that you learn from real-world experience. As a sports writer, you will be seated in the press row along with other esteemed sports writers and other reporters. There is no better way to see the type of professionalism that is required other than seeing it firsthand.
Land an Internship
If you see yourself dabbling in sports writing and joining a supportive community of freelance writers, landing an internship is your next step. That is if you would rather not go and study for a degree at university!
Becoming the best sports writer known to man is all about obtaining as much experience as possible. Whether it be a sports column in an online magazine or other sports writing jobs that want you to cover simple sports stories, no opportunity should be discounted!
Even if you are studying a completely unrelated degree, you too can become an ideal candidate when applying for a job within the sports writing domain.
If you go to your school of journalism, you will most likely be given an opportunity to showcase your talents. It may not be paid work, but it is an invaluable experience!
Cut Your Teeth Within a Professional Domain
What we mean here is that you need to have the grit to persevere throughout your sports writing journey. Even as soon as you get a degree in journalism, you will most likely not be covering or writing news articles about professional sports teams.
Realistically speaking, you will have to write an article about a team or player that isn't as important in the sports world as the superstars we all know today!
You'll get your chance to write an in-depth article about a football superstar; you just need to show you are interested in your own growth as a sports writer or editor.
You also need to remember that the more you prove yourself by rubbing shoulders with the best in the business, sports writing jobs will start being offered to you.
For instance, we at TUW are inviting you to join our team of freelance writers to expose yourself to all types of sporting events.
From college events to the trading events of players across teams, as a freelance sports writer with TUW, you will be given the opportunity to grow in your writing and your role as a professional.
Write the Perfect Resume as a Freelance Sports Journalist
Sports writers did not get into their current position as a sports writer by being sparse with the experience or word skills they have on their resume.
The more connections you have, the better your chances are of landing sports writing jobs that you previously wouldn't have imagined!
Remember, the sports writing environment is all about making a name for yourself. As time goes on, and you have participated in a print publication or two, people will start reaching out to you for job opportunities.
Also, don't be shy about mentioning your aspirations in your resume. If you want the sports writer jobs that cover stories and articles about those in the NBA or NFL, go for it!
How Much Do Sports Writers Get Paid?
An average sports writer salary can be anywhere between $31,000 and $41,000. It might not mean much at first, but paired up with freelancing gigs, it can quickly add up.
As you start to grow your connection base, as well as your influence on the public as a sports writer, interested people will be willing to raise the financial pay bar to make sure that you are covering and writing about sports for their news stations and articles.
Also, how eager and willing you are to make money depends on how much time you can spend writing as a sports writer for TUW!
You also need to remember that as a sports writer you won't be working the typical 9 to 5! Your schedule will largely depend on the teams that you are contracted to cover and when their fixtures are set to occur.
The rest of your time you will use it to either write news articles as a TUW freelancer or search for extra job opportunities.
Taking into account the expected salaryâwhich can changeâwhere do sports writers end up working?
When they are not on the front lines covering breaking news in real-time, they can be found in offices for specific newspapers and websites, or simply writing in coffee shops!Â
Could This Be Your Next Career Move?
Sports writing isn't for everyone, but if you have an interest in it, you're in for a treat. The schedule is flexible, but most games happen in the evenings and on weekends, so that's when most work is done.
Depending on whether you work full-time as a sports writer or freelance full-time, your days will not be boring.
But, before you take the next big leap as the next best sports writer, what is a typical day like for sports writers?
Well, as we mentioned earlier it depends on what the day delivers, but most sports writers will attend games twice a week and even the press conferences that happen before and after the game.
With that, especially in freelance writing, should you be given sports information to write about, some of your time may be needed to confirm such information through calls and research, or through scouring through a bunch of different historical news articles.
Now, if you have decided to join the wide group of sports writers currently on TUW's platform, which we hope you have, you need to make sure that you also read as much as possible on the relevant sports topics you'll encounter. The world of sports is a dynamic field where news is ever-changing based on a multitude of different events.
If you are excited about this next career choice and are willing to rub shoulders with some of the best sports writers in the business, we would be happy to have you onboard!
Types of Sports Writing Jobs Available
Sports writing as a career path is diverse and unique. It's not restricted to solely covering local, national, or international games.
You have the potential to really immerse yourself as a sports writer in a smorgasbord of different job opportunities.
But, to provide you with a bit more excitement in terms of opportunities, let's take a look at a few of the sports writing jobs that are available for you over and above to become a TUW sports writer.
Sports Journalism and Multimedia
A sports writer doesn't need to just write. Yes, you read that correctly. You have the opportunity to produce the entire package. This is from writing the material, taking pictures, and linking the two together in an elegant way.
Writers tend to barricade themselves in a barrel and limit their potential. If you have the talent, go for it, and apply for all the multimedia journalist jobs that you can see!
Better yet, if you can be a writer that can put together an article entirely, trust usâyou will be one of the first picked after an interview!
A Sports Book Writer
Many sports writers use their freelance work as an avenue to choose a sport, specific stories, and even particular players, that they want to focus on. Then they go ahead writing a small book about what they have uncovered.
However, writing a book about sports is very different from writing an article about sport. Not only are there different guidelines, but the effects of effective publishing and where to publish your work also make an appearance.
However, writing an autobiography on a famous sports player or coach is the holy grail of being a sports book writer. Just imagine the incorporation of an article and history you will need to use to do justice to their story!
Fantasy Sports Writers and Sports Betting Writers
The beauty of being a writer is that you can write about basically anything! This is how sports writing developed to include sports writing jobs that focused on fantasy sports and sports betting.
What is this type of sports writing job? Well, as people become devoted to different aspects of life, they do the same with sports.
With that being said, what they do is a deep analysis of trends regarding win-to-loss ratios of specific teams and players, providing readers with the knowledge to create informed decisions about whom they should bet on.
You see, sports writers don't need to understand the analytics of a specific sport! They can even apply for jobs where you are writing more on the basis of probabilities.
In Summary
Sports writing is a field that anyone with a passion for both sports and writing. Not only are jobs available in this field, but the jobs that are on the market are suitable for entry-level workers and veterans within this field.
You know you are ready to make your next career decision as a sports writer!
Here at TUW, we are ready to welcome you on your journey to making your next move the correct one, sport-wise of course!
