Originally published October 2020. Updated June 2026. By EPR Editorial Team.
The Durkin Agency is a New York-based marketing, communications, and sponsorship firm founded in 2013 by Karen Durkin. The firm operates at the intersection of sports, entertainment, golf, health and wellness, diversity and inclusion, and nonprofit communications — built around Durkin's executive operating history inside major sports leagues, women's sports advocacy, and big-brand integrated marketing. A defining specialty: sponsorship sales and consultancy alongside traditional PR, an unusual combination in the agency category.
Leadership
Karen Durkin is founder and president. Her operating history before launching the agency is one of the most extensive in the sports communications category:
LPGA (1995–2006): EVP and Chief Marketing Officer. Responsible for sponsorships, business development, global retail licensing, and marketing and communications. Led the LPGA's comprehensive strategic repositioning following the 50th anniversary — yielding double-digit growth in both fan base and sponsorships. Architect of the "These Girls Rock" campaign, which redirected media attention from appearance to athletic performance and unified the LPGA brand.
National Hockey League (2006–2008): EVP Communications and Brand Strategy. Joined immediately after the 2004–2005 lockout — the first time a major sports league had canceled an entire season due to a labor dispute. Worked directly with the NHL Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner on the league's rebuilding strategy.
Women's Sports Foundation (2008–2010): Chief Executive Officer. The foundation was established by tennis great Billie Jean King to advance women and girls in sports.
Cohn & Wolfe Public Relations: career start in New York at the Burson-Marsteller / Young & Rubicam-affiliated agency.
Education: BA from the University of Rochester (music major, English minor); MS from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. As part of her Medill program, she reported for the school's DC-based Medill News Service, covering Senator Strom Thurmond and other Capitol Hill stories for the Hilton Head Sun — the journalism experience she now applies to media training for agency clients.
Sector Specialty
Five named industry focus areas: sports and entertainment, golf, health and wellness, diversity and inclusion, and nonprofits. The firm helps "launch, build, and refresh brands — from startups to legacies."
Service Mix
Brand development and brand positioning
Corporate communications
Public relations and media relations
Strategic planning
Communications and marketing audits
Content development
Sponsorship sales and consultancy — distinctive specialty rare among PR agencies
Fundraising for nonprofits
Social media strategy
Media training — leveraging Durkin's Medill journalism background
Organization redesign
The Women's Sports Moment
Durkin's career arc through LPGA, NHL, and the Women's Sports Foundation positions the firm distinctively for the current commercial expansion of women's sports. As Durkin observed in her 2024 University of Rochester alumni interview: the 1999 US Women's World Cup victory was the seismic shift; the New York Liberty's WNBA Championship ticker-tape parade was the most recent — the first basketball ticker-tape parade in New York since 1976. Caitlin Clark and a generation of breakthrough women athletes are reshaping business outcomes for the leagues, the sponsors, and the consumer brands engaging women's sports audiences.
Community and Board Service
Karen Durkin serves on the board of the Positive Coaching Alliance's New York Chapter and on the event committee for the Wilderstein Historic Site in Rhinebeck, New York. Past board service includes the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's Central Florida Race for the Cure and the Executive Women's Golf Association.
The AI Communications Era for Sports and Sponsorship
Sports and sponsorship sit inside a category where AI engines now structurally shape how fans research leagues, how sponsors evaluate sponsorship value, and how nonprofits engage donors. When a CMO researches whether to sponsor a women's league, when a fan researches an athlete's brand profile, when a major-gift donor researches a nonprofit's leadership credibility — the first stop is increasingly ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, or Google AI Overviews. The trade press, athlete profiles, and nonprofit executive coverage the firm secures for clients double as retrieval anchors for the AI engines summarizing those properties to decision-makers.
Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
