Sports News is going to focus on sports journalism for several issues. There are fewer available jobs in sports journalism than in management or retailing, but the topic should still be of interest to anyone who has wondered how people become sports reporters or commentators.
Rather than lump all journalism jobs together, I'm going to take a look at the different media (print, radio, television) separately. All sports journalism jobs require the ability to communicate to an audience, but often the different media require different skills and training.
I'll start with television jobs since those usually attract the most attention.
What Types of Careers in Television Are Available?
Television jobs fall into three basic categories: on-camera, off-camera, and technical. Of the three, on-camera work is the area most athletes think about getting into. It's the glamorous side of the business (e.g.,reporter, analyst, commentator, talk-show host). Off-camera work involves all the behind-the-scenes activities that are necessary to get a show on the air (e.g., writing, researching, producing). Technical jobs have more to do with running the equipment (e.g., camera operator, lighting director, audio technician).
There are so many different job options within the television industry that to cover them all in detail is beyond the scope of this newsletter. It would take a book to explain who does what to create a nightly news show or a televised sporting event. However, since there are often misconceptions concerning the hiring of television personnel, I will discuss some factors (including sports experience, sports knowledge, educational background, and on-the-job training) which play a role in landing a job in sports television journalism.
There are two primary routes to sports television jobs today: a high-visibility sports background and/or formal communications training. There are, of course, people who break into television sports journalism without either, but they are the exception.
Does Being an Athlete Help You Get a Job in Television?
Being an athlete, especially a famous athlete, will open some doors. But if you don't have the right skills, you won't get very far.
Many athletes naively think that when they finish competing, well-paying jobs in television will be waiting for them. But the industry doesn't work like that. Only a few athletes are ever offered the chance to work in television and even fewer of them will last in the business very long. A small number of athletes and coaches are naturally gifted communicators and can easily move into broadcasting jobs. But most are awkward at the beginning and will have to polish their television skills if they want to do more than occasional guest appearances.
Television sports directors are open to using former athletes and coaches in hopes that they will be knowledgeable about their sports, provide insightful commentary, and attract viewers. Examples:
But if sports celebrities can't do the job, producers will turn to those who may not have a competitive sports background themselves but who are better on-camera. Often it is easier to teach a skilled television reporter the ins-and-outs of sports than it is to teach a skilled athlete the ins-and-outs of television reporting.
According to Fox sportscaster James Brown "... the influx of ex-athletes and coaches (to television) can be a plus. Some of these fellows have just a wonderful way of telling riveting football stories, and they, more than anyone, understand what the guys on the field are going through. But unquestionably, the successful ones are those who know they have to put in the time, that they have to work as hard in television as they did in football, that they have to learn to track a story and how to talk around sound bites." (3)
Chris Berman (who works with former NFL players on ESPN's "NFL Sundays") said, "Our team members are celebrities, but they're not celebrities first, not the way we do it here. ... ESPN has hired those people so they could tell you what they are looking at. If their (celebrity) status helps, fine, but they are on the air because they know more football than most." (4)
Celebrity athletes are most often hired for commentator or analyst jobs. For example, among 15 analysts hired by CBS Sports to cover the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, only one wasn't an ex-athlete or former Olympian. (5)
Celebrity athletes are less likely to be hired as play-by-play announcers or news reporters unless they have also had formal journalism training.
As for off-camera and technical jobs, most of these go to people with the appropriate professional training. But sometimes athletes have an inside edge in terms of having access to television producers and their staffs. They may have a chance to talk to and observe crews working on location. In addition, if those crews need extra help, an athlete who volunteers to assist them can pick up skills which may pay off in entry-level jobs later on.