Undergraduate - Communications, Marketing and PR Intern

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

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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. 

More information on the Summer Internship program experience can be found here.  

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, which is comprised of five subgroups. Basketball Communications manages basketball media relations and institutes and enforces media policy and procedures for the leagues and the teams while overseeing media operations for all major events. Basketball Communications’ Editorial group creates content highlighting the game for dissemination to the media. Business and International Communications leads communications strategy and media relations for the NBA's business and global operations, covering partnerships, marketing, media, direct-to-consumer, social impact, government affairs, entertainment/celebrity initiatives, and international growth. Response Management monitors and analyzes media coverage and commentary, identifies issues impacting the NBA and its affiliated leagues, and develops communications responses on priority matters. Strategic Communications oversees league messaging and fan correspondence, leads internal communications and outreach to key league constituents, and manages the league’s fan relations function.  WNBA Communications, also part of the NBA Communications department, oversees business and basketball communications for the NBA’s thirty-year-old women’s league.

• Content, which develops, produces, and distributes digital and sports content across the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League. The team also manages the league's premier global events, including All-Star, the Draft, the Playoffs and the Finals.

• Direct-to-Consumer (DTC), which is centered around creating best-in-class digital and broadcast experiences for NBA fans. This includes our direct-to-consumer product offerings (such as the NBA App), various digital subscriber acquisition strategies including NBA ID (a membership program to reward fans), and the technology that powers digital operations and live game broadcast distribution (such as the Replay Center technology).   

• Fan Engagement, which is responsible for understanding and deepening fan relationships and driving business growth by personalizing experiences across the NBA ecosystem. The group integrates data strategy and analytics, consumer and fan insights, and marketing strategy to increase engagement across NBA platforms and products. Fan Engagement supports fan-facing functions across the NBA ecosystem including content, digital product, partnerships, ticketing, and merchandise, and works across the entire family of leagues and in support of the NBA and WNBA 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 who contact the NBA and all its affiliate leagues 

• 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 for relevancy and points of entry to identify new content strategies, technologies, and business opportunities 

• 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 with lifestyles and local morning shows 

• Publishing press releases for multiple different functions of NBA and WNBA Communications including Events, Player Engagement, Social Responsibility, etc.  

Required Education & Professional Experience:

• Enrolled in an undergraduate program and entering Senior year in the academic year following the internship  

• These roles are open to all but typically best suited for individuals in the following majors: Communications, English, Journalism, Marketing, Public Relations, Sports Management, or Sports Marketing 

Preferred Skills & Knowledge Attributes:

• 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  

• Facility and 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

Salary Range:

$26/hr

Job Posting Title:

Summer Intern

Employees and/or eligible dependents may be eligible to participate in the following Company sponsored employee benefit programs: medical; short-term disability; mental health coaching/therapy; and sick time.

Eligibility Note: Not all positions are eligible for these benefits; eligibility may vary by role.

We Consider Applicants For All Positions On The Basis Of Merit, Qualifications And Business Needs, And Without Regard To Race, Color, National Origin, Religion, Sex, Gender Identity, Age, Disability, Alienage Or Citizenship Status, Ancestry, Marital Status, Creed, Genetic Predisposition Or Carrier Status, Sexual Orientation, Veteran Status, Familial Status, Status As A Victim Of Domestic Violence Or Any Other Status Or Characteristic Protected By Applicable Federal, State, Or Local Law.

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. NBA rosters at the start of the 2025-26 season featured a record 135 international players from a record-tying 43 countries. 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. The NBA's Tap to Watch provides seamless access to local, national and global live game telecasts via the NBA App, NBA.com, third-party digital platforms and NBA partner 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.