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At �鶹��Ƶ, Christian Schrodt ’23 combined his passion for athletics with his skills in media production, storytelling, and data analysis to embark on an exciting career creating social media content for professional sports organizations, including the PGA Tour and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Christian, who grew up in Orange County and attended JSerra Catholic High School, saw an opportunity and seized it soon after transferring from the Colorado School of Mines to �鶹��Ƶ to play NCAA Division II golf and study business administration.

At �鶹��Ƶ, Christian excelled in the classroom and learned the value of networking. He used his communication and organizational skills to secure internships both on and off campus.

“I learned a lot about the importance of good communication,” Christian recalls. “Whether it is email or text or some other form, so many of the stressful situations we find ourselves in can be avoided by communicating better and being more transparent with our friends and coworkers.”

A long-time interest in photography led Christian to take on freelance assignments early in his college career. After transferring to �鶹��Ƶ, Christian was hired by the athletics department as a marketing intern to photograph and film Penguins’ sporting events. He also conducted interviews, cut audio soundbites, and produced sports-related content for social media.

The work helped Christian land an internship with Pebble Ventures, a San Rafael-based marketing firm, where he gained hands-on skills in market research for brand outreach, content generation, and in-market brand activation strategy.

It was at �鶹��Ƶ that Christian first experienced the excitement of covering professional athletics. He and a group of �鶹��Ƶ student-athletes received media credentials to attend a Golden State Warriors game. Christian was assigned a position about 10 feet from the court to shoot the game. He not only captured key moments but also networked with and received career advice from media professionals covering the game.

The experience inspired Christian to pursue a career in professional sports. Toward the end of his senior year, Christian applied online to more than a dozen content producer positions. Within a week he was contacted by a PGA Tour recruiter. He joined the PGA Tour’s social content team immediately after graduation.

“Had you told me when I came to �鶹��Ƶ, I’d be shooting an NBA game, and then I’d be working professional sports when I graduated, I’d say you’re crazy,” he recalled in an earlier interview. “The opportunities I have had. The people I’ve met. The memories I’ve made, and the relationships I have are all going to last me the rest of my life, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.”

Today, as social media coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders, Christian produces, films, edits, manages, writes copy, and publishes social content across the Raiders' Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok accounts to capture and communicate compelling storylines surrounding the players, coaches, and organization.

As a former student-athlete, how did your background prepare you to manage the PGA Tour's social media channels and build relationships with team members?

As a student-athlete, you are forced to treat yourself like a small business or a personal brand. You have to find the time to balance your course work, your training and recovery, and your social life in order to get the most you can out of your experience and maximize your potential. Throughout my college experience, I took it upon myself to experiment with my balance of training, studying, and socializing eventually settling on a routine that worked for me. Later on, when I attended the PGA Tour, and I was asked to generate content and tell the stories of the college and professional athletes I was working with, I was able to lean on my experiences as a student-athlete to better communicate their reality and humanize the players who seemed larger than life to the everyday fan.

How did the opportunity to work for the Las Vegas Raiders come about? Do you have a background in football-either as a player or a fan?

I grew up as a fan of the Raiders from a very young age. My mom’s side of the family has some roots in the Bay Area, so it was only natural that when I was born, I was inducted into Raider Nation. The job opportunity came about when I received an email advertising the job opening for the team. At first glance, I was happy with my position at the PGA Tour, and I didn’t think I genuinely had a shot at getting the job but I decided to send my application in on a whim because “why not?” Later that week I was asked to sit in for several interviews and skills tests before they eventually offered me the job.

What are the key similarities and differences between managing social media for a football team versus a golf?

At first glance, football and golf seem very different, but from a media perspective, I like to view them very similarly. There are obviously things that stand out such as the energy of the game, the physicality, the crowd engagement, the location, etc. But at its core, your job as a content creator is to tell engaging stories surrounding the athletes in a short, creative, and captivating way. Whether it’s an athlete trying to make it to the PGA Tour for the first time or it’s the Offensive Rookie of the Year, your mission is to share their story with the world and give the fans access to rooms and conversations they may never experience for themselves.

What does your day-to-day work look like? How does your workload shift between the season and the off-season?

Everyday is different, that’s what makes what I do so exciting. From a high level, my day-to-day consists of everything you think would go into running a social media account: writing copy, planning daily content, editing videos, brainstorming content ideas, designing graphics, filming practices, etc. What most people don’t think about from the outsider’s perspective is that there really is no off-season for the NFL. As soon as the Super Bowl is over, we pivot into draft season and prepare for the following year. There are constantly tentpole events and initiatives that we are responsible for covering so we are always on and trying to be at the top of our game.

Can you share any unique challenges you've faced or exciting "pinch me" moments in your career?

One of my favorite concepts is the idea that if you love what you do, it won’t feel like work. However, I like to tweak the wording ever so slightly: If you love what you do, even when it’s hard, it’s still worth doing. In short “This is what difficult feels like, and I’m the type of person that does difficult things.” Working in social media and even more so in professional sports, the internet never sleeps, you always have to be on. That’s one of my favorite parts of what I do. There are times when you step off a plane after a game, and your energy levels are crashing, and the last thing you want to do is more work, but remember that it’s a privilege to do this for a living and it’s easy to take for granted.

What skills, knowledge, or insights are most essential to your job?

There are two skills that come to mind specifically when it comes to working in social media: communication and flexibility. Communication plays a key role in your ability to quickly shift your tone and style to fit multiple audiences. The way I am going to email a coworker or my manager will be different than the way I am going to communicate with the fan base which will be different than the way that I talk to or communicate with a player or a coach. You have to be able to take different forms and tailor your approach to different audiences. Additionally, while it’s very important to go into every shoot or event with a plan, you rarely ever get everything you hope for, but sometimes you get opportunities you didn’t prepare for either and you have to be flexible and be able to pivot on the fly but still come through in the clutch. The ability to be flexible in the world of social media is an extremely underrated skill and helps you think quickly on the fly, embrace your creativity, and remain poised under pressure.

Do you stay in touch with any former professors, campus supervisors, or mentors? Are there any lessons from your time at �鶹��Ƶ that continue to guide you?

The person I stay in touch with the most is former athletic trainer, Carica Macariola, Mac for short. During my time at �鶹��Ƶ, she was always in my corner helping me get prepped for competition, rehabbing from injury, and to an extent, keeping my head on straight. Many of the relationships I formed during my time at �鶹��Ƶ I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and my relationship with Mac is just one example of that. One lesson I learned at �鶹��Ƶ continues to guide me is “take care of you first.” During college I found myself spreading my time and energy very thin which was not sustainable. But the moment I started emphasizing and prioritizing the things that are important to me such as my fitness and recovery, my relationships, and my work. Saying no to things that did not serve me became a lot easier.

What advice would you give to �鶹��Ƶ students interested in a marketing or social media career, particularly in professional athletics? What courses or internships should they pursue? For BSB students, how can they best work with career services to find opportunities?

My path to the sports and entertainment world looks very different than most. I didn’t have any flashy internships or specialized coursework. I made use of real-world experience to help build a stack of proof that I could do what I said I was going to do. For years before I got my first paid gig with a camera, I worked for free, reaching out to friends and roommates and anyone who would give me the opportunity to shoot content for them for free. The beautiful thing about content and the current state of social media is that if you’re good at it, you will know. The algorithms favor good content and are extremely in touch with their user's preferences. My one piece of advice to anyone who is thinking about a career in sports or content is to do the thing. If you are thinking about starting a vlog, starting a YouTube, making gym content, or being a photographer, do the thing. Don’t keep telling yourself you need to get ready. If you have a phone with a camera, you’re ready.