Florida sports biz reporter leaves for government job

TALKING BIZ NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Sarah Talalay, a longtime sports business reporter at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, is leaving the paper for a job with the U.S. State Department.

In an e-mail to friends, Talalay writes, “I’m leaving the Sun Sentinel – my last day is today – to become a Foreign Service Officer working for the State Department abroad. I begin training in Washington, DC next month and in March will learn the location of my first overseas posting.

“I love my gig, but it’s time for a change. Keep fighting the good fight.”

Since September 1999, she has covered such sports business issues as sponsorship- and naming-rights deals, sports marketing and advertising, shoes, ticket sales, labor issues and the Marlins’ ongoing quest for a new ballpark.

A native of Baltimore, she attended New York University as an undergraduate and Northwestern University for graduate school.