LAW SCHOOL LEFT ON THE SIDELINES FOR SPORTS PR CAREER

Chip Namias ’73 intended on going to law school — or at least that was the plan. "My parents told me at a young age I should be a lawyer because I was good at talking people into things," he recalled.

Namias was headed to South Texas College of Law Houston after graduating from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in public relations. That summer, Namias stayed with his mother in Memphis, and looked for a job to make some extra money before heading off to law school.

He reached out to the public relations director of the Memphis Rogues, a new franchise at the time in the North American Soccer League, for a job in the department. The Rogues hired Namias. It would only be temporary, he thought. Namias didn’t know much about soccer, so he went to a library and started researching. The sport and the job grew on him. Then nine days before the start of law school, he changed his mind and decided to give public relations a try.

“My parents weren’t happy,” he said. “I wanted to chase a sports public relations job and see where that led.”

Well, needless to say it has worked out pretty well for Namias. He’s had a very successful career in the public relations industry. Namias worked for professional soccer teams and served as head of public relations for three NFL franchises before launching his own firm in 1988; the Los Angeles-based Athlete & Event Sports Public Relations.

Along the way, Namias found a niche he didn’t know existed. He began doing public relations for sports-themed movies. “Studios know everything about the entertainment world and media, but not sports,” he said. “That’s where I come in.”

Namias has promoted films like “The Blindside,” “Glory Road,” “Bad News Bears” and several others. He’s enjoyed working with celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson, Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Garner.

Jennifer Garner and Namias at a sporting event.

The most recent film he worked on was “Battle of the Sexes,” a movie based on the legendary 1973 tennis match between former male Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs and female tennis star Billie Jean King in which King won. Emma Stone (King) and Steve Carell (Riggs) star in the movie, which has made more than $17 million since it opened in September.

“It’s hard to explain what a big deal that was,” said Namias about the original match in 1973. “To see that made into a film 45 years later and to capture the personalities and those times, and what was going on in the country at that time, and having lived through it, it was really fun to be a part of that.”

Namias’ biggest strength is his contacts in sports media. A savvy and proven media strategist, he promoted the movie to national and local media ranging from print and television to radio and tennis niche outlets.

Los Angeles Times writer Glenn Whipp called the film a “crowd-pleasing Oscar contender.” “It’s game, set and match for “Battle of the Sexes”, a massively entertaining account of the momentous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter’s writer Todd McCarthy.

Namias told the story about how he reached out to his contacts at Sports Illustrated pushing for a cover story on the movie. Only two covers in the magazine’s 63-year history were related to a movie, he explained. Namias was persistent and Sports Illustrated planned to do a cover shoot of Stone and King at the U.S. Open with the top tennis reporter writing the story.

But Sloane Stephens, an unranked American tennis player, won the women’s U.S. Open. The magazine featured Stephens the week before the “Battle of the Sexes” was scheduled to do so. Namias knew that Sports Illustrated wouldn’t run tennis covers in back-to-back weeks, so instead he worked with the magazine to publish a five-page story with a portrait photo of Stone and King together.

Paramount Pictures gave Namias his first project in 2005 with “The Longest Yard.” His work caught the attention of Adam Sandler’s film company, Happy Madison Productions, which soon hired him and projects began to flow in after that.

His bread and butter, though, is sports. Namias was the public relations director for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, Houston Oilers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As president of his one-man company, Namias handles publicity for an array of sports products. He did public relations for billionaire Robert McNair, who brought football back to Houston with the Houston Texans, and Namias has also helped a number of former coaches and players land broadcast deals.

“Sometimes I feel like it happened to someone else,” Namias said. “Coaches, athletes, movie stars, legends of broadcasting, it’s been a great experience.”

At Cheshire Academy, his two biggest interests were sports and journalism. English teacher Rosanne (Balough) Ferraro ’74 remembers Namias as humorous and athletic. Everyone knew him, she said. Namias was the co-captain of the baseball team, played basketball and was also the editor of Midpoint, the school newspaper.

He wasn’t a fan of having to wear a jacket and tie every day, Namias joked, but he appreciated the school’s small class sizes and the personal attention, as well as the social and club activities that may not have been available at a larger school.

“He had a presence about him,” Ferraro said. “Everyone liked him. You knew he was going to do something special.”