Sports Announcing

by Zach M.

 

NATURE OF CAREER

Sports Announcers work on radio and television stations. They give commentary and play-by-play announcing at sports events. Other kinds of announcers work as news anchors at a broadcasting station. They sit at desks and report news occurring in sports. At a sports event there are two announcers. The "play-by-play announcer" is the person who calls the action. The other announcer is the "color commentator" who fills in the gaps during breaks in play and hosts the pre-game and intermission shows. But sometimes a sports announcer will be both the play-by play and color commentator.

 

WORKING CONDITIONS

Some sports announcers go to live games and work in sky boxes or designated areas. An active sports announcer, normally a more young announcer, will stay on the field and go to the locker rooms and mostly do interviews. And some just work at the broadcasting stations and report news.

There are not a whole lot of sports announcers. In the US there are just 57,000 people who work as radio or television announcers. It is a very difficult job and is limited. There are just an elite few who make it big. These are usually people who have been associated with sports before. But it looks good for future announcers for employment opportunities for being an announcer because the number of licensed radio and television stations continues to grow. However the competition also continues to grow.

 

SALARY

The average salary for a broadcaster is around $40,000. Starting wages are much lower but can rise up for more experienced announcers all the way up to $150,000.

 

RELATED CAREERS

Related careers to sports announcing are sports scouts, coaches, agents, and officials who all deal with the knowledge of sports. Newscasters are similar to sports announcers but they report news instead of sports. In the sports-related jobs, the difference is that the sports announcers can become famous, unlike some of the other jobs.

 

EDUCATION REQUIRED

Many announcers obtain a degree in journalism. Students also take more hands on broadcasting courses at certain colleges or technical institutes. The colleges and technical in states usually require a high school diploma and an audition tape or interview. You need to have completed a four-year undergraduate course. To get to the master's level, journalism courses last from one to two years. Also, if you're involved in sports, it helps your resume.

 

COLLEGES

The University of Georgia has a School of Journalism. The in-state tuition is $2,500, and out-of-state is $6,795. They have related majors in broadcast journalism, journalism, and mass communications. 87% of UGA students return after their freshman year.UGA has over 2,000 faculty members, which include eight members of the National Academy of the Sciences. It has 173 major fields of study, and is nationally ranked sixth in public value. The university covers 605 acres of land.