This spring, I had the privilege to spend time in Taipei and Paris, two cosmopolitan capitals half a world away but in which the lessons from the court were bountiful.

My sporty colleague, noted sports marketing and PR genius Joe Favorito, graciously let me take over his Sports Marketing & PR Roundup blog with two guest posts (one from Asia, one from Europe on storytelling around Victor Wembanyama). Here are three lessons for marcomms and PR professionals in the sports industry to be better communicators to global audiences:

1️⃣ Not everybody in the global sport industry shares the same understandings of history or perspectives. That’s why it is critical for marcomms and public relations professionals–especially those whose clients/projects include hosting of sporting mega events like FIFA World Cup 2026 and Los Angeles 2028–to have far more nuanced understandings of how history, geopolitics, and culture impact the international sports world today. And by transitive property, how these influence prospective fan attendees’ views of the United States.

2️⃣ Images, particularly emotive ones, can transcend different cultural constructs and contexts. They can communicate, represent, and negotiate different attitudes, perceptions, understandings wordlessly, effectively. Yet, while the percentage of female sports media members are frightfully low, their female photographer counterparts constitute an even lower percentage. Moreover, according to UNESCO, only 4% of sports media coverage worldwide is of women’s sports even as female athletes account for some 40% of professional athletes. Sports diplomacy to promote gender equality can be useful in changing these figures.

3️⃣ It’s important for sports communicators and storytellers to tell a diverse set of stories. We should focus on multiple examples of role models who embody a variety of ways to successfully notch careers, particularly when it pertains to international players.