With a new season of American football around the corner, journalists have the opportunity to explore fresh, local angles in their sports coverage.
To help journalists find this local lens, the Institute caught up with broadcast personality Kelsey Nicole Nelson, whose career spans both local and national sports coverage. Nelson currently hosts the sports talk show and podcast, “Listen In With KNN,” and contributes to FOX Sports, the Atlantic 10 Conference, and MLBbro.com.
In addition to her work in the field, she teaches sports writing and reporting as a lecturer at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.
Here are her top tips.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
How can journalists go about finding unique sports-related stories?
Nelson: As I tell my students, you must be a news connoisseur. Sports stories are everywhere, and they can come simply from talking to people.
Offbeat sports stories are usually found from relationships you establish. Because I’ve built a wide network, unique sports stories are often pitched to me and the team I lead. I have built a network of sports agents, managers, and publicists who often ping me with stories and exclusives.
The great thing about Washington, D.C. is that there are so many events and often sports figures are involved in them. Whether it’s the Washington Commanders sponsoring a military event or a player’s spouse getting awarded for community work, the stories are there.
Some of the most unique sports stories today come from the youth sports space. High school sports still often produce great human interest and feature stories.
Sports journalists should also be scouring the internet, following team and athlete social media accounts. Reporting can and should go deeper when looking for these stories.
My advice would be don’t be afraid to set up an exclusive with an athlete or to use a press conference to ask questions that go beyond the game.
How can sports coverage go beyond the game to reflect real issues within a community?
Nelson: I often say sports are a microcosm of society. The underlying issues in sports we often see in our own lives and local communities. Sports have forced us as a society to have difficult conversations, elevating them to the top of the national conversation.
Quality sports coverage should go beyond the game. While most fans immediately look for game stories and recaps, a sports journalist should deliver more than box scores.
For instance, while covering the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open, I asked tennis superstar Venus Williams and local rising talent Hailey Baptiste what it meant to be playing in a city like Washington, D.C., as Black women, the same month we celebrated National Black Women in Sports Day. Williams highlighted the growing need to welcome, inspire, and celebrate all women in sports. There is a larger conversation to continue to grow the number of women in sports. Bapiste highlighted how D.C. is “the Blackest tournament on tour,” which speaks to the unique audience that supports the Citi Open, which is not reflective of all tournament stops.
There is a duty to report on the implications of sports and the societal issues they further expose. This is what my senior thesis was on at the University of Maryland. There should be a centralized focus on what sports mean in communities — an inclination to go deeper. This, to me, is at the core of what we owe our readers and viewers.
Here in Washington, D.C., the redevelopment of the RFK Stadium site is a perfect example of a sports business story exposing underlying community issues and why there has been some resistance to the Washington Commanders’ move back to D.C.
Another example is one of the sites I work for, MLBbro.com, which focuses on Black players in Major League Baseball. The site was created after the founder Rob Parker’s sports coverage exposed the declining number of Black players in MLB. This ties back to a community issue, which ties back where we are seeing fewer African American boys playing baseball.
Sports coverage has also exposed larger issues such as gambling. As sports gambling is legalized, scandals continue to come up in collegiate and professional sports.
In what ways do sports teams reflect a community’s identity?
Nelson: Sports teams and franchises are usually the heartbeats of communities. Sports teams often serve as community hubs, the place where the community can all come and experience the games together. Sports teams also usually find ways to get involved in the community, serving the community’s greatest needs. At the pro level, this often occurs through sports teams’ foundations and in K-12, usually through booster clubs and fundraising events.
High school athletes continue to be some of the most polarizing figures in local communities, and team fundraisers often get everyone locally involved.
Sports usually include a tribute to the military, usually the presence of a government official and local celebrities. This gives a glimpse into community involvement at the top level.
Sports often bring together people from all walks of life, careers, and occupations. In the stands, you usually see a makeup of the larger community, but also a glimpse into who isn’t included.
That’s why, often when I am covering games, the first thing I do is speak to fans and see who is there once the game is ready to start.
How can journalists build trust with athletes, coaches, and families to create impactful stories?
Nelson: Trust is a two-way street in sports coverage. Building trust with athletes, coaches, and families often comes with consistency and building rapport. This means being present, objectively providing coverage, and painting a full and accurate picture of an athlete and their teams. Good reporting is key. Athletes and teams will often follow you on social media once they feel you are an established, credible, and reliable source who covers them fairly.
Many teams and athletes read and listen to what reporters and journalists say. Remember, public relations teams, athlete managers, and agents are all watching what you report. As a sports journalist, you should be able to stand by whatever you report. As a journalist, you should be constantly working to build your source list, speaking with teams and athletes, and learning about their families and interests.
Building trust is a journey, and once obtained, you must work to keep it. This comes from finding unique stories to tell of who and what you are covering. Going beyond the games and covering community and foundation events, important family moments for an athlete, and reporting on new business ventures can go a long way. It gives you unique content and helps the team and athlete know you are serious about your beat.
When building trust, it’s also vital to remember you are there to do a job, and that is to get your story. Establishing your role up front is always helpful, as you have a job to do.