Communications, Marketing and PR Intern

About The NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. Built around five professional sports leagues: the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents. The NBA's digital assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.5 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms. NBA Cares, the NBA's global social impact platform, drives change on issues facing fans and communities in the areas of health and wellness, civic engagement, social justice and inclusion, and sustainability.

Position Summary

The 2027 NBA Summer Internship is a 10-week program that runs from June 7 – August 13, 2027. The program gives participants the opportunity to learn about the business of basketball, develop critical career skills, and contribute to meaningful projects across a range of departments in the NBA and its affiliate leagues (WNBA & G League). In addition to on-the-job experience, interns are invited to participate in a broad array of professional development programming as well as community and social experiences. The program prioritizes rising seniors, with limited exceptions for graduate students, based on business need. Interns should reflect excellent academic standing and have strong written and verbal communication skills. Additionally, we look for candidates who possess leadership skills as demonstrated through relevant extracurricular or community activities.

Role Overview

Selected interns will support internal and external communications, PR, and marketing initiatives across the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League. Past interns have worked across a range of departments including:

• Communications: Comprised of five subgroups: Basketball Communications (media relations, media policy, event operations), Basketball Communications' Editorial group (content creation for media), Business and International Communications (strategy, media relations for business and global operations), Response Management (media coverage monitoring, issue identification, response development), Strategic Communications (league messaging, fan correspondence, internal communications, fan relations), and WNBA Communications (business and basketball communications for the WNBA).
• Content: Develops, produces, and distributes digital and sports content across the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League. Manages league premier global events.
• Direct-to-Consumer (DTC): Focuses on creating best-in-class digital and broadcast experiences for NBA fans, including the NBA App, NBA ID, and technology for digital operations and live game broadcast distribution.
• Fan Engagement: Responsible for understanding and deepening fan relationships, driving business growth by personalizing experiences, integrating data strategy, consumer insights, and marketing strategy. Supports fan-facing functions and works across all leagues and teams.

These roles require interns to demonstrate a foundational mastery of AI technologies in driving project execution and achieving business objectives.

Major Responsibilities

May include, but not limited to:

• Supporting marketing and strategic communications for NBA Draft, NBA Finals, NBA Summer League, and other company-facing media initiatives.
• Supporting the league’s Fan Engagement function by drafting and editing correspondence to fans.
• Pitching innovative ideas aligned with current marketing objectives to group leadership.
• Creating fan engagement tracking reports to identify key issues, sentiment, and trends among fans.
• Conducting field research across key emerging industries, categories, international companies, and executives.
• Contributing to the creation of daily internal news briefs for distribution to league and team executives.
• Assisting with internal communications initiatives, including the creation of employee spotlights and important company stories.
• Developing media plans and strategy for several different events across the WNBA season.
• Assisting with WNBA All-Star coordination and media pitching.
• Publishing press releases for multiple different functions of NBA and WNBA Communications including Events, Player Engagement, Social Responsibility, etc.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Enrolled in an undergraduate program and entering Senior year in the academic year following the internship.
• Strong writing and editing skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Solid editorial judgement.
• Experience with content publishing and factchecking.
• Brand investment in the NBA and affiliate leagues.
• Some experience with managing budgets.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Knowledge of new and emerging platforms and social networks being used by their peers.
• Considerable experience with Adobe Creative Suite, Photoshop preferred.
• Foundational mastery of AI technologies.

Qualifications

• Typically best suited for individuals in the following majors: Communications, English, Journalism, Marketing, Public Relations, Sports Management, or Sports Marketing.
• Excellent academic standing.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Leadership skills as demonstrated through relevant extracurricular or community activities.

Work Option

The NBA currently provides eligible employees the option of working remotely one day per week.

Salary Range

$26/hr