(January 22, 2013) A year ago, Michael O’Sullivan was asking himself if he should continue pursuing his sportscasting dream. O’Sullivan, an STAA client, decided to gamble and move from Chicago to California. The gamble is now paying off with an ideal opportunity. O’Sullivan has been hired as Sports Update Anchor at 570 Fox Sports Los Angeles.
“By performing updates for Fox Sports I am able to get both national and local exposure and it’s an opportunity to work with and learn from some of the ‘best in the business’. The people at Fox have been great, and I really can’t thank them enough for giving me this opportunity.”
O’Sullivan appreciates the value in gaining on air experience in the country’s number two market, and he is glad he decided to stick with sportscasting.
“I really can’t thank the people at STAA enough for what they have done for me. A year ago, like many young broadcasters I was questioning myself and wondered how or if I should go about pursuing a career in broadcasting.”
O’Sullivan is currently the Broadcasting and Multimedia Coordinator at the University of California, Irvine. He will continue to work full time for UCI, adding in his anchor shifts at Fox Sports LA on weekends.
“It will be a lot of hard work and I will have to manage my hours wisely both at the office and for games that I will be broadcasting for UC Irvine. That said, I am ready to challenge myself with this new part time position along with my responsibilities at UCI.”
After arriving in California, O’Sullivan became the broadcaster for Cal Baptist University, calling baseball, plus men’s and women’s basketball. Thanks to a family connection, O’Sullivan soon added a multimedia internship at UCI.
“Mid-way through the basketball season my cousin, who I lived with out here for the first couple months, informed me that he had sent my STAA Talent Page to a contact in the UCI athletics department. Shortly there after I was approached by UCI and started an internship in the department.”
When the Multimedia Coordinator job at UCI Athletics opened up, O’Sullivan was offered the position. He was certain to remind them of his broadcasting abilities.
“I also, of course, showed interest in calling games for them as well and have been able to perform both color and play by play for their radio broadcasts this basketball season and will continue to do so for their baseball team.”
O’Sullivan found the Fox Sports LA opening through STAA, and again used his Talent Page to apply.
“I took a chance and moved out to California and things have really turned out great thus far, due in large part to STAA. With STAA’s help, I kept working hard and had confidence in my ability, got my break, and now the real fun starts!”
(Visit Michael’s STAA Talent Page).