Social Media Specialist - Sports

Job Purpose:

The Social Media Specialist owns day-to-day organic social for Catena's US sports brands, with coverage of other verticals (casino, sweepstakes, prediction markets) as needed.

The job is to build and run a sports-native presence on the channels where bettors actually engage. Content includes data cards, live-game reaction, picks and lineups, legality explainers, and odds visualizations — all with clear affiliate disclosures and a path to email and product.

We are a media and affiliate company, not a sportsbook. We don't run operator ads. We produce sports-native content for a betting-literate audience: lineups, odds, legality, picks, and data storytelling.

This role executes the sports social strategy and is integrated with the broader Marketing team — Content and SEO (content amplification, EEAT), Lifecycle/CRM (email capture, lead nurturing), Multimedia (video production, design), and Legal/Compliance (disclosure, platform policies).

The role leverages AI tools to scale production and measurement, under mandatory human review and Legal compliance gates.

Job duties and responsibilities:

Content & Publishing

Plan, produce, and publish sports content across strategically selected platforms and based on a set content calendar.

Create event-driven, data-visualized content: stats cards, infographics, odds snapshots, injury alerts, lineup confirmations, and real-time sports moments.

Produce short-form video (TikTok, Shorts, Reels) from site data, existing long-form assets, and live events, with tools such as CapCut, Premiere, or equivalent.

Use AI-assisted workflows for content ideation, draft generation, and scheduling — all output goes through human QA and compliance review before publishing.

Repurpose and amplify content with the Content, SEO, and Multimedia teams across channels.

Tag every link with UTM parameters per the internal standard.

Community & Engagement

Monitor and grow a sports-native audience on X, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord.

Own the Sprout Social Smart Inbox for sports brands: reply to community, surface trends, and identify engagement opportunities around major events.

Coordinate creator and host content through the Head of Social, Legal, and Multimedia ahead of major sporting events and seasons.

Performance & Optimization

Track and report weekly on sports KPIs: publishing cadence, engagement rate by platform, email signups from social, inbound traffic, and branded search growth.

Own objectives for the sports brands and report progress to management.

Continuously test formats and content series — measure, log learnings, scale winners, and retire what doesn't work.

Strategy Support

Execute the sports social strategy set by the Head of Social; propose tactical improvements based on performance data and competitive intelligence.

Work off the editorial calendar and site data rather than inventing topics from scratch.

Feed insights back into the content machines (prompt repository, knowledge files) to improve automated output quality.

Collaboration

Work closely with SEO on content distribution, quality outreach, and EEAT signal-building.

Partner with Lifecycle/CRM (email capture funnels, Pick'Em, offers) to ensure social leads enter the nurture pipeline.

Collaborate with the Content team on the author social program (LinkedIn visibility for sports journalists).

Compliance & Governance

Ensure all content complies with gambling regulations (21+, responsible gambling messaging, affiliate disclosure, banned terms), platform policies, and state-level availability by working with Legal and Compliance directly or indirectly.

Any other duties as assigned by management from time to time.

Qualifications:

Required

3+ years of hands-on social media experience in sports betting, DFS, sports media, or sports-adjacent brands (2+ years acceptable with a strong sports betting or media portfolio).

Genuine US sports fluency: NFL, NBA, and MLB at minimum — understands spreads, props, lines, and DFS, and can write about them without a brief.

Native or near-native English proficiency with strong, platform-native copywriting, especially on X.

Short-form video production skills (CapCut, Premiere, or equivalent) — can ship a clip or card during a live game without waiting on design.

Experience with social media management platforms (Sprout Social, Hootsuite, or equivalent).

Basic to intermediate analytics (GA4, platform-native insights, UTM tracking).

Comfort with AI-assisted content workflows under human and Legal review rules.

Willingness to work US sports hours: Sunday, Monday, and Thursday evenings in NFL season are regular working hours, not exceptions.

Preferred

Background at a sports betting media brand, DFS platform, sportsbook, or sports affiliate.

YouTube packaging skills (titles, thumbnails, Shorts strategy).

Data visualization (Flourish, Datawrapper, Figma, or Canva).

Reddit and Discord community management experience.

Familiarity with US iGaming and affiliate compliance (state-by-state legality, responsible gambling, FTC disclosure).

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, or a related field (or equivalent experience).