Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
She Can Be… A Digital Media Strategist
February 03, 2021 | Athletics, HailStateBEAT
STARKVILLE – Becca Opheim has been running around basketball gyms since she was three years old. Back then, her mother was a high school basketball coach, so she brought her along to practice.
"I was legitimately a little ball girl that ran around at practice and was probably super annoying at times, but I loved it," Opheim said. "That and throwing a baseball around in the backyard are probably my earliest memory of sports."
Today, Opheim can still be found in a basketball gym, but she's traded in the ball for a camera, a phone and social media accounts.
As Mississippi State's director of digital strategy and social media, Opheim is the voice behind the Bulldogs' main athletics social media accounts and State's men's basketball accounts. She also oversees email marketing efforts and helps guide the rest of MSU's social posting.
She always knew she wanted to work in sports, but she bounced around between a few different areas before settling in her current role.
It started, like it does for many girls, as an athlete. From those early days following her mom around the gym, Opheim was encouraged to chase her athletic goals. Her mother played basketball at Oregon, but for many years in the late 60s and early 70s, she was limited to only swimming and track and field. Hearing her mother tells stories of the restrictions she faced only made Opheim want to play more.
"Back in the early 90s when I was growing up, women in sport were still not as accepted as they are today," she said. "All that my mom has done for me, even to this day encouraging me through the highs and lows, she is truly my inspiration."
Opheim had other influences growing up as well. Her older sister played a little basketball before settling on cross country and track. Her brother spent his summers on the baseball field. She tagged along soaking it all in and playing a variety of sports until she found soccer.
"It kind of consumed me from there," she said.
In her senior year of high school, Opheim became the sports editor and eventually the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. When she left for college at Washington State University, she started majoring in journalism because she thought her future was in sports reporting.
Once she got to school though, she started working with the Cougars' marketing office and fell in love. It was the gameday promotion and enhancing the fan experience that captured her. Ultimately, she changed her major to public relations with minors in marketing and sport management.
"I just really enjoyed coming up with creative ways to get fans to be incentivized to come to a game and seeing that come to fruition," she said. "Once the fans were in the arena, I loved creating an exciting atmosphere to get the crowd energized to cheer on the Cougs."
During her time at WSU, Opheim was responsible for the marketing efforts for both basketball teams and volleyball. With that role came a responsibility to focus on engagement with students, something that was both enjoyable and challenging. Her favorite and least favorite moments would be when a student would come to a game, grab whatever promotional item she had offered that night and immediately leave.
"It would be so frustrating that they wouldn't stay, but they also had to make an effort to come get the giveaway so it was also rewarding." she said.
She's still helping promote games and the experience of a gameday atmosphere, but now she's doing it in a different way.
"I wear a lot of different hats, but my favorite part of my job is covering our men's basketball team on gameday," Opheim said. "It's a culmination of everything we've worked toward leading up to that game. During games, I get to watch the team compete and highlight their accomplishments on social for our fans to engage with."
When the Bulldogs take the floor in Humphrey Coliseum, Opheim can be spotted close by. She's often following them with a camera or filming on her phone. She has a team that helps her, working closely with whichever photographer is shooting the game and Dani Malakoff, the Hail State Productions team member assigned to men's basketball.
In the past, she's placed a heavy emphasis on behind-the-scenes content, filming the crowd and showcasing the atmosphere on Instagram stories, for all of MSU's teams. But with COVID-19 guidelines limiting fan attendance, her approach has changed this year.
"COVID-19 has changed the way we as creators showcase our teams at practices, traveling and on gameday," she said. "While it has been a challenge, I think it makes us stronger because we have to think outside the box of how we are bring content to the fan base."
Overall, her goal remains the same: entertain, inform, promote and sell.
"Every school and team has their own strategy," Opheim said. "What works for one may not work for another. It's figuring out what works best and developing a strategy around those key points."
Being the one to hit send during some of the most memorable moments for Bulldog fans brings with it a heavy responsibility. The expectation is perfection, even if it's just one person behind the keyboard. Sometimes, mistakes happen.
"That's always humbling," she said. "If I make a mistake, I have to tell myself to slow down because usually I'm like, 'I read that before it went out,' but then did I really actually read it?"
Opheim has high expectations for herself, because she understands the importance of her role for the next generation of girls and women.
"It's an honor to be a woman in sport because the industry is still a male-dominated space," she said. "It wasn't until later in my career that I had another female I looked up to because there weren't as many women I knew personally in my field. I hope that I am an inspiration and a role model for other young women."
"I was legitimately a little ball girl that ran around at practice and was probably super annoying at times, but I loved it," Opheim said. "That and throwing a baseball around in the backyard are probably my earliest memory of sports."
Today, Opheim can still be found in a basketball gym, but she's traded in the ball for a camera, a phone and social media accounts.
As Mississippi State's director of digital strategy and social media, Opheim is the voice behind the Bulldogs' main athletics social media accounts and State's men's basketball accounts. She also oversees email marketing efforts and helps guide the rest of MSU's social posting.
She always knew she wanted to work in sports, but she bounced around between a few different areas before settling in her current role.
It started, like it does for many girls, as an athlete. From those early days following her mom around the gym, Opheim was encouraged to chase her athletic goals. Her mother played basketball at Oregon, but for many years in the late 60s and early 70s, she was limited to only swimming and track and field. Hearing her mother tells stories of the restrictions she faced only made Opheim want to play more.
"Back in the early 90s when I was growing up, women in sport were still not as accepted as they are today," she said. "All that my mom has done for me, even to this day encouraging me through the highs and lows, she is truly my inspiration."
Opheim had other influences growing up as well. Her older sister played a little basketball before settling on cross country and track. Her brother spent his summers on the baseball field. She tagged along soaking it all in and playing a variety of sports until she found soccer.
"It kind of consumed me from there," she said.
In her senior year of high school, Opheim became the sports editor and eventually the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. When she left for college at Washington State University, she started majoring in journalism because she thought her future was in sports reporting.
Once she got to school though, she started working with the Cougars' marketing office and fell in love. It was the gameday promotion and enhancing the fan experience that captured her. Ultimately, she changed her major to public relations with minors in marketing and sport management.
"I just really enjoyed coming up with creative ways to get fans to be incentivized to come to a game and seeing that come to fruition," she said. "Once the fans were in the arena, I loved creating an exciting atmosphere to get the crowd energized to cheer on the Cougs."
During her time at WSU, Opheim was responsible for the marketing efforts for both basketball teams and volleyball. With that role came a responsibility to focus on engagement with students, something that was both enjoyable and challenging. Her favorite and least favorite moments would be when a student would come to a game, grab whatever promotional item she had offered that night and immediately leave.
"It would be so frustrating that they wouldn't stay, but they also had to make an effort to come get the giveaway so it was also rewarding." she said.
She's still helping promote games and the experience of a gameday atmosphere, but now she's doing it in a different way.
"I wear a lot of different hats, but my favorite part of my job is covering our men's basketball team on gameday," Opheim said. "It's a culmination of everything we've worked toward leading up to that game. During games, I get to watch the team compete and highlight their accomplishments on social for our fans to engage with."
When the Bulldogs take the floor in Humphrey Coliseum, Opheim can be spotted close by. She's often following them with a camera or filming on her phone. She has a team that helps her, working closely with whichever photographer is shooting the game and Dani Malakoff, the Hail State Productions team member assigned to men's basketball.
In the past, she's placed a heavy emphasis on behind-the-scenes content, filming the crowd and showcasing the atmosphere on Instagram stories, for all of MSU's teams. But with COVID-19 guidelines limiting fan attendance, her approach has changed this year.
"COVID-19 has changed the way we as creators showcase our teams at practices, traveling and on gameday," she said. "While it has been a challenge, I think it makes us stronger because we have to think outside the box of how we are bring content to the fan base."
Overall, her goal remains the same: entertain, inform, promote and sell.
"Every school and team has their own strategy," Opheim said. "What works for one may not work for another. It's figuring out what works best and developing a strategy around those key points."
Being the one to hit send during some of the most memorable moments for Bulldog fans brings with it a heavy responsibility. The expectation is perfection, even if it's just one person behind the keyboard. Sometimes, mistakes happen.
"That's always humbling," she said. "If I make a mistake, I have to tell myself to slow down because usually I'm like, 'I read that before it went out,' but then did I really actually read it?"
Opheim has high expectations for herself, because she understands the importance of her role for the next generation of girls and women.
"It's an honor to be a woman in sport because the industry is still a male-dominated space," she said. "It wasn't until later in my career that I had another female I looked up to because there weren't as many women I knew personally in my field. I hope that I am an inspiration and a role model for other young women."
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