Sports In The Making
Part 1: Ben Bouma - Sports TV Producer & Sports Management Consultant
Episode Summary
PART 1 - Ben Bouma works on the biggest sporting events for networks such as NBC, ESPN, CBS, and FOX alongside some of the all-time great announcers and reporters in history. In Part 1, we talk about his tv career and what his role is on the events he covers. In Part 2, we talk about his sports management experience and how he's been a part of ownership groups that have purchased professional sports franchises, as well as the National Women's Hockey League, women in sports and working with Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer on Amazon's Thursday Night Football.
Episode Notes
- 4:21 - What Ben Bouma’s title is and how he can’t fit into a title.
- 6:10 - How Ben got into sports television and how he connected with broadcaster Kenny Albert.
- 11:40 - How he started producing NHL games for Fox Sports and then later with ESPN on Sunday Night Baseball.
- 14:03 - What his responsibilities were as a sidelines producer, who he started working with and how he prepared for his responsibilities as a sidelines producer.
- 16:15 - How it’s nearly impossible to have a perfect show.
- 17:11 - How Ben builds relationships with his announcers and how important trust is with the announcer.
- 19:21 - What some of the qualities the best announcers in the business have and how they prepare for events.
- 21:18 - How the announce team handles blunders.
- 24:26 - A listing of Ben’s credentials and all of the major events he’s been a part of and which event(s) he has an emotional connection with. (2004 World Series & 2010 Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Final)
- 29:28 - How as a field producer he handles the “scrum” at the end of the game when reporters are rushing the field to get interviews.
- 32:21 - How adjusting to a game tying home run or other significant sports moment can be a rewarding broadcasting experience.
- 34:03 - How his friends see him on television occasionally and why he didn’t want to be an announcer.
- 35:21 - What a typical travel/sports year looks like for him and what his schedule is like in covering sporting events.
- 38:00 - What the craziest travel stories are for him.
- 40:09 - How his commute to stadiums and cities is no different than a typical commute.
- 41:22 - What Ben does apart from his work in sports television, and how he works at the highest level in trying to purchase sports franchises.