When play-by-play broadcasters ask me what segments their pregame show should include, I tell them to think less about content and more about sponsorable segments. The more money your show can bring in, the more your sales staff will love you and the more job security you will have.
I hosted pre game shows in two markets — McPherson, KS and San Diego, CA. The formula worked equally well in both places.
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A frustrated young play-by-play broadcaster told me that his ability would shine through if only he were provided sufficient resources – statistics, biographical information on players, etc.
I told him that I couldn’t disagree with him more.
Standout athletes excel even under adverse circumstances. Talented play-by-play broadcasters do the same thing.
Working high school and other games where background information is unavailable will reveal your ability as a play-by-play broadcaster. If you are going to execute an engaging broadcast, you are going to have to rely upon the two most basic fundamentals: storytelling and description.
I couldn’t have worked in sports broadcasting today. My skin is too thin.
Even if 99% of the Internet comments about my talk show or my play-by-play were great, I would dwell on the 1% that wasn’t. I would dwell on it to the point that I would consider tweaking what I was doing to appease the 1%.
Big mistake. Don’t be me. Be realistic. Be mentally strong.
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When I was on ESPN Radio, I used to hate when my producer Jason McBride would pop into my headset and say, “We have so-and-so on from the baseball game. They just won 3-1.”
Great. What am I supposed to ask the guy? I didn’t see the game – I was on the air!
Tired of getting caught unprepared, I put together some standard, off-the-shelf questions. Most of them aren’t very insightful, but at least they can get the interview started. From there, you can spontaneously ask more thoughtful questions based upon the answers you receive.
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Once you have the seven fundamentals of basketball play-by-play down cold, these five bonus tips will help make you a star!
This is the most common mistake in basketball play-by-play. There are a lot of changes of possession in basketball. You can’t count on all of your listeners knowing which team has it based only upon the names of the players.
Motown Records is one of the most successful, influential record-producing companies of all time. They reached their peak in the 60s and 70s.
What was unique about much of Motown’s songwriting was that it grabbed you right off the bat. It started fast.
The song “Get Ready” by the Temptations begins with a bold horns riff.Read More
How would you answer this question: What bad sportscasting advice do you hear being shared most often?
The bad advice I hear most often is that painting the picture is the most important aspect of great play-by-play. Painting the picture is important, but there’s something that’s more important.Read More
One of the toughest challenges for play-by-play broadcasters are pregame and postgame interviews. They can easily get monotonous because you feel like you are asking the same questions over and over again.
Keep this in mind, though: Every interview should be different because each game is different.
Here are some suggestions for keeping your interviews fresh. We’ll address postgame first, because it will partially set-up the following pregame interview as well.
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Play-by-play broadcasters all have access to information about fundamentals – time and score, ball location, etc. What sets apart great broadcasters is discovering and implementing advice that isn’t available to the masses. A great way to do that is to ask industry pros to critique your work.
Many sportscasters have shared with me critiques they have received from some of the top play-by-play broadcasters in the industry. Today, I want to share them with you.
Here are 5 tips to take your play-by-play from good to great:
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Years ago, I broadcast a high school football game in the worst conditions imaginable for a broadcaster.
Dense, impossible to see through fog.
At kickoff, the fog was hanging threateningly low over the field. By the second half, I couldn’t see fans sitting five rows in front of the press box, much less the field or even the sidelines.
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