Team/Organization Discussion: Staff Findings

I chose the New York Yankees for this assignment. After looking at their front-office staff directory, I noticed that the Yankees do not have completely separate departments for public relations and media relations. Instead, these responsibilities are mainly organized under Communications & Media Relations. Jason Zillo is the Vice President of Communications & Media Relations, and Michael Margolis is the Senior Director of Communications & Media Relations. This shows that there is a clear leadership structure within this area.

I also noticed that several other positions are connected to communication and public relations. The Yankees have a Senior Director of Corporate/Community Relations, as well as positions in Creative Services, Content & Fan Experience, Creative and Yankees Productions, Digital & Social Content, and Broadcasting & Technology. These areas all play different roles in how the Yankees communicate with their fans, the media, and the public.

I think the Yankees organize their staff this way because communication today involves more than just dealing with reporters. Media relations is important for communicating with newspapers, television, and other media outlets, while digital and social content allows the team to communicate directly with fans. The creative and production staff help create the videos, graphics, and other content that the organization uses to promote the team. Corporate and community relations also helps maintain the Yankees’ relationship with the community.

I was also able to find LinkedIn profiles for two members of the Yankees’ communications staff. Michael Margolis is the Senior Director of Communications & Media Relations. Ryan Callahan is the Director of Digital & Social Content. According to his LinkedIn profile, Callahan is also an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer and an accomplished former NCAA athlete. I thought it was interesting that his background combines sports and media because his current position involves creating digital and social content for the Yankees. This shows how public relations in professional sports has expanded beyond traditional media and now includes social media and digital content.

Overall, I think the Yankees have a centralized communications and media-relations structure, with Jason Zillo at the top, but they have several other specialized departments that support their overall public relations and communication efforts. I found it interesting that these responsibilities are spread across different areas instead of being handled by one single public relations department.