Sports Reporters Need Not Apply

If making it in TV is hard, making it in sports is nearly impossible. Not only is it hard to find open positions in the sports broadcasting field, but it is also hard to get hired on. At a news station there are several reporters and a handful of anchors, who also report on their “off-anchor” days. This makes getting a news position much easier than a position in sports.

In general, most stations max out at two people in the sports office. That’s it. Just two. One anchors during the week, the other during the weekend. On “off-anchor” days they report, although, it is not as necessary to have a reporter for the sports office, because most games can be recorded on TV. The only reason there are sports reporters is for local sporting events (such as high school football or a home game for the local professional team).

So, imagine trying to apply for a job in the sports office at a news station. Chances are you’re not going to find a station hiring for sports, and if you do, think all of the aspiring sports journalists that will be applying as well. A lot of sports journalists start out in news, and when their time comes, switches over to sports if a position opens up. Others start out in radio, or start by calling play-by-play for a local high school or college team. This allows them to create a tape that they can send out to stations when they are applying for a job.

Another problem with going into sports at a news station is that having sports reports on the news is beginning to die out. Few people watch the evening news for their sports update; unless you are watching to see highlights of a local high school game or see a local sports story, there is no point in watching the sportscasts.

ESPN has wiped out any need for local sportscasts. ESPN’s Sportscenter is an hour-long show dedicated to game highlights which runs about 10 times daily. They run a highlight for almost every professional game and for all different sports. They also show highlights for several college games, and definitely all important ones. They have clips of golf, tennis, and even swimming. If it’s sports, ESPN has it covered. So, why would anyone sit through 50 minutes of news to hear a 7 minute sportscast on a local station, if they can get an hour’s worth of sports and see highlights for everything? They don’t.

Sports lovers go to ESPN for their game updates, and when Sportscenter is not on, they go to the internet. The internet has become a huge detriment to local sportscasts because people do not need to wait to see highlights, they can watch live updates of games online and get up to the minute stats and scores. Fans can get online and find out how their favorite team or player is doing within seconds. No fishing through unimportant information. No waiting through highlights of games they don’t care about.

Since local sportscasts are being run off by ESPN and the internet, what are the aspiring sports journalists doing? Applying to ESPN of course! To apply to ESPN you must submit a resume online, then wait by the phone hoping for a call back. However, as hopeful as you are, the fact of the matter is that your resume is floating around with the other hundreds of resumes that are submitted daily.

So, my advice to all aspiring sports broadcasters: if you are good looking and know every score and statistic for every major league baseball game in every season since 1950, you’re probably in. As for the rest of us—good luck, we’ll need it.