Sports announcers provide commentary and analysis during live sporting events. They must have a deep understanding of the rules and history of each sport, as well as an ability to engage their audience.
Before each game, Sport and his color commentator Earvin start their prep work. They review the teams’ stats, their histories against each other, and their batting averages.
Skills
A strong, clear and melodic speaking voice is the most important skill that a sports announcer can possess. This professional is tasked with painting a verbal picture for their audience and must convey excitement during tense portions of the game, enthusiasm during exciting moments and even humor at appropriate times.
Other important skills include excellent public speaking abilities that are crucial for reading from a teleprompter or providing unrehearsed commentary. These professionals also need strong journalism and research skills to prepare for upcoming events or behind-the-scenes coverage.
Those interested in working in this career should seek out internships with local teams or broadcasting companies to gain experience and earn a foot in the door. A bachelor’s degree in a subject like communications, journalism or radio and television may help to set an individual up for success in this field. Some schools offer specialized degrees in sports journalism and broadcasting. These programs often incorporate classes in speech, voice and music to develop a compelling and appealing on-air personality.
Personality
The best play-by-play announcers notice the smallest details and relay them to the audience in the most complete way possible. They understand that they are the vehicle through which the work of dozens of people — broadcast analysts and sideline reporters, for example — is delivered to viewers, and they value their own contributions accordingly.
A linguist, Charles Ferguson, studied the utterances of famous sports announcers and identified specific syntactic features that define “Sports Announcer Talk.” He called it a register rather than an accent or dialect because it is recognizable in other sports as well.
Most sports announcers are artistic individuals, which means they’re creative, intuitive, sensitive, articulate and expressive. They also tend to be unstructured, original, nonconforming and innovative. Take our free career test to find out if you have the right personality to be a sports announcer.
Audience
A good sports announcer such as 스포츠중계 knows his audience. He can connect with a sophisticated sports fan while distilling information into understandable, simple concepts and terms that novice fans can follow. He can ask questions that engage the audience and deliver commentary that makes the game more interesting.
He should excel at identifying players, knowing their background and achievements. This enables him to add value to the broadcast by telling the audience something unique about a player, for example, mentioning that a baseball pitcher is left-handed or explaining what a certain play meant to the team’s record.
In addition to describing the action, sports announcers may interview athletes or other guests for live events. Effective communication and listening skills are important in this role, as is the ability to adapt to unforeseen situations and maintain professionalism. The NFHS offers several professional development courses that provide leadership training in public address announcing. The NFHS also provides online resources that support sports announcement and public relations initiatives at the high school level.
Training
The training a sports announcer needs can vary on a case-by-case basis. Some aspiring announcers enroll in courses such as the NFHS course Play-by-Play Announcing, which provides insight to the moment-to-moment action of a live sporting event. It demonstrates how to professionally prepare for the job, work with an analyst or reporter, and provide the audience with important information.
Other aspiring sports broadcasters may pursue a degree in journalism, broadcasting, or communications with a focus on sports, and can seek internships at local radio or television stations, online media outlets, or sports organizations. They can also take the opportunity to attend workshops and training sessions to develop their skills or learn about new technologies.
As with many creative media jobs, aspiring announcers must create a portfolio of audio recordings (for radio or TV) or videos (for video positions) to demonstrate their talents. These can be shown to prospective employers at interview time or to academic advisers or broadcasting professionals who have networked with the aspiring announcer.