The Art of Sports Content w/Phoenix Suns’ Shawn Deloney

Social media and digital content creation are common pathways to entering the sports industry. So it makes sense why professional teams and college athletics programs want to position themselves prominently to the younger audiences that populate the platforms.

Several WorkInSports Podcast guests have made their names in content creation and digital marketing for professional teams, start-up leagues, and digital publications. Opportunities are plentiful in the sports industry for recent college graduates who grew up in the digital sphere, which allows some to rise quickly to major professional leagues.

For sports brands, content creation is their version of show business. Check any sports social media feed and you’ll see energetic hype videos, crisp infographics, and trendy TikTok crazes. Fans can’t get enough of this content when it comes out, and then they move on to the next big thing. Of course, that next thing could be more of the same, or it could be a new platform that the brand maneuvers into to stay relevant in another digital space.

Joining VP of Content and Engaged Learning Brian Clapp is the Phoenix Suns’ Shawn Deloney, the NBA franchise’s Associate Director of Content. Deloney joined the Suns as a production assistant in 2011 while wrapping up his undergraduate at Arizona State and gained full-time employment as a digital video producer upon graduating in 2013. As a result, he lives in the sports social media realm for the Suns and satisfies the fanbase’s unending appetite for content.

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Laying Roots in the Sports Biz

How Deloney’s experience is unique to our guests is his longevity in the area. While recent experts like Dan Heck and Sam Doerr have moved around to move up in the industry, Deloney has remained in Phoenix his entire career, though not all with the Suns.

After rising to Senior Content Producer with the Suns, he shifted to the gridiron and became the Arizona Cardinals’ Coordinator and Producer of Digital Content. He held that position for two years before returning to the Suns in 2021, just in time to cover the team’s franchise-record 17-game winning streak.

Catch the full episode of the WorkInSports Podcast where Clapp and Deloney discuss:

1. Early memories of working in the sports industry that stick with Deloney today.
2. Being with a winning team’s impact on performing the day-to-day aspects of the job.
3. The differences in content strategy between the NBA and NFL.
4. The ins and outs of the gameday experience.
5. Insights into how he balances working in sports with his family life.

Be sure to subscribe to the WorkInSports Podcast wherever you listen and catch more sports career advice by subscribing to our YouTube channel!