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I'm way late on this, but this is why I'm supporting the Black Play-by-Play Broadcasters Grant by @adamgiardino, and I encourage you to do the same if you're able.
Entry-level broadcasting gigs pay nothing (often literally). People from poor backgrounds are effectively shut out. https://twitter.com/MarcJSpearsESPN/status/1275863669948071936
Entry-level broadcasting gigs pay nothing (often literally). People from poor backgrounds are effectively shut out. https://twitter.com/MarcJSpearsESPN/status/1275863669948071936
In my first baseball season out of college, I was unpaid for 3 months, then made $250 a month for the rest of the year.
The next year, I got a raise to $300 a month.
My parents aren't rich. At all. But they at least were able to help out some. I couldn't have hung in otherwise.
The next year, I got a raise to $300 a month.
My parents aren't rich. At all. But they at least were able to help out some. I couldn't have hung in otherwise.
"But Donny," you might say, "You could've worked a side-job to make ends meet, right?"
Ha. Well, I was working 17-hour days for 8 days in a row, then hopping on a bus to travel with the team. So let me know how I would've done that.
Ha. Well, I was working 17-hour days for 8 days in a row, then hopping on a bus to travel with the team. So let me know how I would've done that.
The point is, if your family doesn't have some kind of ability (and the willingness) to help you financially, it's unbelievably difficult to make it through your first years in the play-by-play broadcasting business. Especially if baseball's your sport.
I didn't crack $30k until I was past my 30th birthday, and that was because I was also driving 50 minutes each way to broadcast hockey games on weekends during the winter (after working my baseball office job all week).
It's always made me shake my head when I hear sports execs muse out loud, "Huh, I wonder why there aren't more minority broadcasters?"...and then see another job listing by a team looking for a voice to do full-time work for pennies. I get the economics, but this isn't a mystery.
So, major credit to @adamgiardino, because he's doing something we all should've done years ago...which is, well, something.
Join the effort here: https://www.adamgiardino.com/donate
Join the effort here: https://www.adamgiardino.com/donate
