Loved It,Miss It,Would Never Go Back: Why U.S. Local Television Sports Broadcasters are Leaving the Industry

Abstract

For decades, one of the most recognizable public faces of a local television news station was the sports anchor. However, as newsrooms across the United States struggle with employee burnout, sports departments have not been immune to low job satisfaction and high turnover. The purpose of this study is to examine what factors are causing sportscasters at local television stations to leave the profession. A survey of sports broadcasters who had left their positions at a television station for a job outside of broadcasting revealed that they felt overworked and underpaid, and many placed the blame for their problems directly on newsroom management.

Introduction

In 2011, Mark Nagi was a sports broadcaster at a local television station in Tennessee, covering major college football, the NFL, and everything else sports-wise in the Knoxville area. Despite what seemed like a dream job, Nagi said that something was off. Years later, upon reflecting on his life at the time, he wrote, “You know that pit of the stomach feeling you have when something is wrong in your life? I had that feeling most days going to work” (Nagi, 2015, para. 5). He would eventually leave his position at the television station and start a career in public relations, a career move that, at the time, was somewhat unique. Around when Nagi had that “pit of the stomach feeling,” most local television sports broadcasters were reporting they had high levels of job satisfaction and little feelings of burnout (Reinardy, 2012; Reinardy & Crawford, 2011). Even years later, the job appeared to be one that was in high demand. An executive producer in Texas said his station would normally get twice as many applications when they had a sports reporter opening compared to when it was a job in news (Hull, 2022).

However, while the interest might have still been there to get a sportscasting job, some of those already in the field were starting to follow Nagi’s lead and get out of the business. In the years since his post, the job duties of a local television sports broadcaster changed, as some television stations required their sportscasters to do more with less, while other stations downsized their sports departments in both time allotted during the newscast and number of staff members. In addition, social media has created a scenario in which sportscasters are seemingly “on the clock” at all hours, while the economics of broadcast television have resulted in pay freezes or cuts for those working on-air. With those changes, it is not uncommon to read about local television sports broadcasters who have elected to leave their position for a new career. Online news articles recalled the tale of a former Michigan sportscaster who wanted to “have more work-life balance,” while a departing Ohio sportscaster was looking forward to “being a normal person” (Kiesewetter, 2022, para. 4; Paul, 2021, para. 11). Another article summarized the state of the local television sports broadcasting profession with the simple statement: “Turnover is high” (Decock, 2021, para. 10).

There was a period of time when this exodus was unfathomable. A Sports Illustrated article recalled the golden ages of local television sports anchors in which they were “as recognized as the mayor” and “tentpoles of the community” (Wertheim, 2023, para. 8; 11).

In a story about a Raleigh, North Carolina sports anchor leaving his post, the author commented how the concept of a sportscaster having his or her job for life was seemingly no longer an option:

There was a time when that was possible, when sports anchors became local institutions, bigger in some cases than the athletes they covered…The days when they were featured by their stations on billboards and countless promos, breaking news and brimming with institutional knowledge, are clearly over. (Decock, 2021, para. 6)

With the knowledge that the local television sports broadcasters are leaving the industry due to evolving work responsibilities, technological advances, and industry economic struggles, the purpose of this research is to determine why they are voluntarily giving up these formally revered positions, while also addressing the implications of their departures for the profession moving forward.

Literature Review

Local Sports Broadcaster Job Description

There are many different job possibilities for those looking to get into sports broadcasting. Examples include working for a radio station as a sports talk show host, providing play-by-play describing the action during sporting events on an internet broadcast, or delivering the daily sports news on television. However, even two people with the same job title of “television sports anchor” might have different responsibilities as there are differences between working at a national outlet such as ESPN and at one of the hundreds of local television stations throughout the United States. This study focuses on the local television sports broadcaster, so it is worth examining further what that job entails.

A local television sports broadcaster is someone who traditionally works for a local affiliate for an ABC, CBS, Fox, or NBC station throughout the United States. These sportscasters report on events occurring almost exclusively within that local viewing area, with their stories appearing on the evening news broadcast (Hull, 2022). For example, a local television sports broadcaster in Lexington, Kentucky, will likely discuss University of Kentucky basketball during his or her sportscast but will not report on the San Francisco 49ers.

Local Television News Employment Issues

While this study focuses on those working in the sports department, it should be noted that the local television news industry as a whole is struggling with burnout and motivational issues. A 2023 survey found that more than two-thirds of newsroom leadership reported that staff burnout is worse than it was one year earlier (Papper & Henderson, 2023a). One of the researchers involved in that study called it a “crisis inside the newsroom that is threatening the whole system” (Papper, 2023, para. 6). Pay is low at many smaller television stations throughout the country, with one former media insider stating that typical newsroom salaries were less than a living wage (Barr, 2023). In addition, journalists are becoming stressed out almost instantly after hiring due to the amount of work and are leaving the field much faster than previous generations (Papper, 2023).

Challenges Facing Local Television Sports Broadcasters

Changes within the local television industry as a whole have impacted the jobs of everyone employed in a news gathering and reporting role, including those focusing on sports. For decades, many news stations had one newscast in the morning, one at midday, one around 6 p.m., and a final broadcast after primetime programming ended. However, over the years, the number of newscasts on television stations has nearly doubled from 3.7 hr dedicated to local news in 2003 to 6.6 hr in 2022 (Papper & Henderson, 2023b). While sports segments are not necessarily appearing in all those programs, some stations are requiring updates and stories from the sports department in more newscasts throughout the day. Also, in some cities, two previously competing television stations have entered into a shared services agreement in which they essentially become partners and share news-gathering resources (Hull & Coffey, 2015). In this arrangement, a sports broadcaster might appear on the 10 p.m. news on one station and then the 11 p.m. news on another station. Whether it is more shows on their own network or now having to broadcast on two different stations, appearing in more newscasts results is more work for the sportscaster.

However, those appearing more frequently might actually consider themselves lucky when compared to some of their counterparts. There are television stations that, instead of offering more sports options, are instead dramatically decreasing, or even eliminating, the sports segment from the newscast. For some, it starts simply with the time allotted to the sportscast. A Los Angeles sports anchor recalled getting 5 min for his segment in the 1980s, but by his retirement in early 2023, he was lucky to get 3 min (Wertheim, 2023). Around the same time, a Boston television station elected to move the sports segment completely out of its 6 p.m. newscast, a move that is perhaps surprising considering Boston was named “The Best Sports City” in the United States just two years earlier (Finn, 2023; McGrath, 2021). Other stations have eliminated sports departments entirely, citing research that demonstrates the sports segment is the least watched of the entire newscast (Lindquist, 2023; Mathewson, 2020).

Those who remain on the job have seen their job duties change dramatically, often being asked by management to do more with less support. For example, while ESPN has nearly 4000 employees in their main Connecticut office, with most specializing in doing just one job such as shooting video, writing social media, or anchoring the newscast (ESPN Press Room, 2023), the members of a local television sports staff can usually be counted on one hand. A 2020 study revealed that 67.1% of local sports broadcasters said they had just two people doing everything in their department (Hull & Romney, 2021). This means that local sports broadcasters are not just the reporters on television showing the highlights, but they are often the ones shooting the video for those highlights, writing the script, editing the highlights, crafting the web story, and updating social media accounts. This process, long referred to as “one man banding” in television, leads to a full plate of work responsibilities (Hull, 2022). The industry has also shifted to a “digital first” mentality, with a focus on updating websites and social media accounts before the evening newscast begins (Hull, 2016a, 2016b; Mirabito et al., 2022). This means that the journalists are expected to give scores and updates immediately on digital platforms, creating a scenario in which sportscasters are seemingly always “on the clock.”

Having a two-person department also leads to additional stressors for those in the field. With just two people, if one is on vacation, the other will likely work every day, without any days off during that period (Paul, 2021). In addition, most local television sports broadcasters work nights and weekends since that is when most sporting events take place. That means very few of them working the traditional hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No matter what time they are working, many do not consider themselves to be properly compensated financially. Local television sports broadcasters who had been on the job for less than five years reported earning an average of less than $30,000 a year, a number that one broadcaster said was nearly equal to the fast-food employees working next door to the television station (Hull & Romney, 2021). These job schedules, work requirements, and low pay are also impacting the broadcasters’ personal lives. For example, a survey of women working as local television sports broadcasters found that the majority have delayed starting a family because of the demands of the job (Hull et al., 2022). This is far from the only work-related challenge that women face in as sportscasters. Women in journalism face feelings of tokenism (Hardin et al., 2009; Hardin & Whiteside, 2009), a lack of respect from male colleagues (Hardin & Shain, 2006), being bullied based on their gender (Elmore, 2007), and harassment on social media (Eberspacher, 2019).

Burnout and Job Satisfaction

Despite the challenges facing local television sports broadcasters, previous research on the profession demonstrated that most in the field were pleased with their job. Reinardy (2012) found that 72% of local sportscasters surveyed were not experiencing a great deal of burnout. Burnout is defined by leading researchers on the subject as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion and cynicism that occurs frequently among individuals” (Maslach & Jackson, 1981, p. 99). Another study indicated that local television sports broadcasters were extremely satisfied in their jobs. Most felt supported by station leadership and felt positive about management’s commitment to the sports segment, which was a key component of why they were pleased with their profession choice (Reinardy & Crawford, 2011). This was consistent with the rest of the newsroom, as the majority of television journalists said they experienced just average rates of burnout (Reinardy, 2013).

However, as of this writing, those studies are over a decade old, and, as stated in the previous section of this manuscript, the responsibilities of and demands on a local television sports broadcaster have only increased in the years since their publications. In addition, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many local television broadcasters found themselves still working out in the public because they were classified as essential employees. This added additional health stressors to their already overloaded job responsibilities (Nee & Chacón, 2021). A survey of beginning local sports broadcasters published in 2021 revealed that most participants were already displaying some signs of burnout in less than five years in the field (Hull & Romney, 2021). The changing of the job requirements, low pay, and long hours have led some to rethink their careers and consider leaving the television news industry. This possible exodus is not unique to just sportscasters, as the head of a media recruitment firm published an op-ed in 2021 addressing what he called “The Great Resignation” throughout local television news. He wrote:

The number of local broadcast candidates who respond to my outreach by saying “I am getting out of the business” is at an alarming rate today. More so than at any other time during my media recruiting career. I would place the percentage of people looking to blindly leap from our industry today at roughly 20% of responses. Are we “weeding out” the bad or pushing great employees out of the business? I see the tilt to the latter today. (Carver, 2021, para. 6)

Therefore, with the concepts of burnout and job satisfaction as a base for this research, the following research questions are proposed:

RQ1: What factors are causing local television sports broadcasters to leave the industry?

RQ2: What jobs are former local television sports broadcasters taking after leaving the industry?

RQ3: Do former local television sports broadcasters regret leaving the industry?

Methods

After receiving Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for this research, an online survey was conducted to reach former local television sports broadcasters who were located across the United States. Similarly formatted surveys have been used previously in research involving the profession and were deemed appropriate for this study as well (Hull & Romney, 2020, 2021). Eligible broadcasters were located through three methods: (1) the researcher’s own industry connections, (2) online news articles that reported on the sports broadcaster leaving their position, and (3) snowball sampling in which participants were asked in the final question of the survey if they recommended anyone to be contacted for the study (Goodman, 1961).

Current email addresses for the former sportscasters were located through an online search or by contacting them directly through the job-focused social media platform LinkedIn. All emails were added to a potential participant list, while those for whom email addresses could not be acquired were removed from consideration. Ultimately, contact information was collected for 48 former local television sports broadcasters, and all 48 were sent the survey through their email address.

After confirming they were a former local television sports broadcaster, participants were asked a mix of 18 open-ended and two close-ended questions about their career path. Open-ended questions included asking about their favorite and least favorite parts of the job, and what made them start to consider leaving the broadcasting business. In addition, they were asked to write about their current position and how it compared to their career as a sportscaster. Looking back on their career change, participants were asked if they had any regrets leaving the industry, and what they missed and did not miss about being a sports broadcaster. The survey concluded with demographics questions and the opportunity for the former sportscasters to mention anything about their career change that they might not have written in previous answers. In total, there were 20 questions in the survey and participants had the opportunity to skip any they wished not to answer.

Of the 48 former local television sports broadcasters contacted for this research, 38 started and completed the survey. A 2022 meta-analysis of over 1000 online surveys in published research found that the average response rate for all online surveys was 44.1%, while studies with less than 100 participants had an average of a 72.7% response rate (Wu et al., 2022). Response rate for this study was 79.2%, putting it above both published averages.

Results

Sample Description

Of the 38 participants, 22 were women (57.9%) and 18 were men (42.1%). Previous research has demonstrated that there are more men than women serving as local television sports broadcasters (Lapchick, 2021), so locating more women than men leaving the industry was noted as a possible initial finding. Of those who listed their race, most wrote that they were White or Caucasian (31), while the remaining participants self-identified as Black (2) or Filipino (1). Examinations of the racial breakdowns of local television sports broadcasters demonstrate that those working in the profession are overwhelmingly White, so the percentages found in this study are common in the field (Lapchick, 2021). Of the 34 who provided their age, the average was 33.97, with a range of 26–60 (SD = 8.60).

The questions about their career path revealed that the average number of years spent as a local television sports broadcaster was 9.2 years, with the longest tenure coming in at 34 years and the shortest at 2 years (SD = 7.9). In addition, the participants had worked at an average of 2.3 different television stations during their tenure (range 1–7, SD = 1.2). Due to the evolving job descriptions of a sportscaster, a goal of this research was to survey those who had left their job within 5 years of the survey’s September 2023 distribution. Of the 38 who participated, two left local television in 2019, nine left in 2020, 15 left in 2021, eight left in 2022, and four left in 2023, meaning all fell within the desired 5-year threshold.

“Understaffed, Overworked, and Under Paid”

Research question one asked what factors are causing local television sports broadcasters to leave the industry. Similar answers were given repeatedly and could be best summarized by one participant’s succinct words: “understaffed, overworked, and underpaid.”

When it came to the concept of being understaffed, many cited their small sports departments still having the expectation to act like a larger one. One wrote: “We went from a three-team sports department to a two-team sports department,” but that did not mean less work, as he wrote they were still expected to report on the dozens of high schools, colleges, and regional professional teams in their viewing area. Shrinking sports departments were mentioned by several as reasons for pursuing a new line of work: “I started thinking about a career change when a new general manager came in and slashed our sports department from four to two, including letting our sports director go.” Small departments also led to challenging staffing issues: “We were a two-person sports department, so whenever you took time off, you were always making it tougher on the other person.”

A side effect of being understaffed was the fact that many felt they were overworked. With smaller departments, and little help from the rest of the newsroom to cover events, the sports reporters were expected to be at nearly every local sporting event. Working more than a typical 5 day a week, 8-hr shift was typical: “I worked 10–12 hr days and, of course, as the weekend anchor, I worked all holidays and weekends.” Regarding the hours and expectations, another wrote: “The relentlessness of it all became exhausting.” Working nights and weekends meant missing events outside of their career. Several cited not being able to attend family milestones, birthday parties, and weddings as motivation to get out of the business:

I still remember going out in between the 6 and 10 newscasts one night to get soccer highlights and realizing I was watching OTHER parent’s kids when my very own kid was playing in a little youth soccer jamboree at the same time just a few miles away. At that moment, I knew what I was doing was not sustainable.

As stated in the literature review, low pay is a concern in local television, and those who left their job certainly felt underpaid. One wrote: “I started at [television station] making $23,000 and I left after 5.5 years with my salary at $26,000.” Of the 38 participants, 30 mentioned their low salaries at some point during the survey (78.9%), making it the most cited frustration with the job of local television sports broadcaster. One stated that the money used to be better, but that had changed: “Overtime was slashed to zero and I lost tens of thousands of dollars,” while another longtime broadcaster was facing a similar loss in salary, but he elected to get out of the industry at that moment: “Management came to me with 2 years left on my contract and exercised the yearly out clause they had. They offered me a new contract with a 50% pay cut. It was an offer I had to refuse.” For some, the money was not only a concern at the time, but also a worry for the future: “I didn’t want to be 40 and living paycheck to paycheck.”

Many in the survey blamed the feeling of being “understaffed, overworked, and underpaid” directly on television station management. The frustrations were focused both on how newsroom leadership treated its employees and also the lack of interest that management seemed to have for the sports department in particular. Demonstrating a perceived lack of respect from management, two of the more telling responses were: “Every TV newsroom I worked in had a toxic culture. Management had the mindset that staff was replaceable and interchangeable” and “It seemed at most places, you were just seen as a number instead of a person.” One wrote:

I never received positive feedback from management, just criticism for not doing enough for the web, not responding to email immediately, or that my news director hated my hair or something I wore. I love the actual work but dreaded coming into the station and seeing my news director.

Others cited a lack of respect for the sports department as a sign that they were better off in a different career. Several discussed how they became frustrated at working all day on a story only to have it removed from the newscast’s rundown at the last minute by newsroom leadership due to issues earlier in the show. Others wrote how they were frustrated that management meddled in their daily sportscast—one called it “micromanaging”—telling them what they should and should not be covering, but not giving them any help to report those stories. Another wrote: “My least favorite part was the lack of respect in the newsroom from the news director. They never seemed to value the sports department despite working just as hard, if not harder, as other reporters and anchors.”

Several who left during or after 2020 listed the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor that sped up their interest in changing careers. For some, their job description changed when the sports world was shut down (“I had to become a news reporter”) and never returned to its former self (“my sports director did not let me go back to sports full time”). This change, and perhaps a reevaluation of priorities in life, resulted in several leaving their positions.

Based on the responses, the actual job duties of a sportscaster seemingly had very little to do with people wanting to leave local television. When asked what their least favorite part of the job was or what made them start to consider leaving the industry, just a few listed anything having to do with the actual producing of a sports broadcast or a sports report. For example, no one responded that the job had become too difficult, going to games had become unenjoyable, or telling the stories of local athletes had become less interesting. Instead, it was the peripheral aspects of the job, including pay, management’s lack of support, and the hours, that led to the exodus.

“It’s a Win-Win-Win”

Research question two asked what jobs the former local television sports broadcasters were taking after leaving the industry. Exactly 50% (19) of the participants went into public relations or media affairs. Those jobs involved working as either the media contact for or in-house storyteller for sports team and leagues, government agencies, schools, and small businesses. Public relations or media affairs seemed like a natural transition for many as they were using the skills they had gained from being a sports broadcaster. Some were creating videos, writing press releases, and telling stories of people related to their employer.

Three started their own business, two worked in content creation for a media organization that was not a local television station, and two entered the financial industry. Working in medical sales, joining the ministry, starting a real estate career, going into the military, and working as the leader of a non-profit were the remaining new jobs. Seven of the participants (18.4%) had no job lined up when they left their sportscasting job, but all reported being employed at the time of the survey.

The broadcasters did not just have a new job, they almost all universally said their new job experience was better than when they worked at a television station. Of the 37 who responded to the question, “How would you compare your work life now when compared to your work life when you left your position as a local sports broadcaster?” the vast majority said their current work life was better. 24 of the 37 (64.9%) said they were much more satisfied with their current work life, while 8 said they were more satisfied (21.6%). One person said it was about the same (2.7%) and the remaining four participants said they were not sure if their current work life was better or worse than it was as a sportscaster (10.8%). This means that not a single participant reported that they were less satisfied or much less satisfied with their current work life compared to when they were working in local television (0%).

When expressing their satisfaction with their new job, many participants specifically cited the factors that drove them from local television as perks of their second career. Better hours (“No nights, no weekends”), better pay (“I’m making good money”), more flexibility (“I can see my kids more often”), and better management (“It’s a really healthy work environment”) were common responses when asked why they were more satisfied in their new job. One who now works in public relations for a school district wrote of her new job:

The appeal was that I still get to tell stories, which was my favorite part of being a sports journalist. Now I am just telling positive stories for our schools and making more money while being on a team that values me. It’s a win-win-win.

Three of the four who stated that they were not sure if their work situation was better or worse from their previous jobs in local television wrote that they were happy with their new work life balance, but still felt the pull of being a sportscaster. One wrote: “I’m still searching for the purpose and drive that I felt early on in my career.” Another liked the freedom of working remotely and the perks that came along with that, but she said something was missing from her professional life:

I don’t get that same fulfillment with this job that I used to get working as a sports reporter. This job is so much easier and slow-paced. I don’t feel challenged. When you work at a station, you put your story together, a producer reads over it and then Bam! It’s on-air. In this job, I'll work on something, and it will take months to get approved by all different levels of management. That was definitely something to get used to.

“The Hardest Decision I Ever Made, but the Best Decision I Ever Made”

Research question three asked if former local television sports broadcasters regret leaving the industry, and the answer was an overwhelming ‘no.’ Of the 37 participants who answered the question “Do you regret your decision to leave your position as a local sports broadcaster?,” not a single person responded that they did. One called leaving “the hardest decision I ever made, but the best decision I ever made.” A few of the participants said they did miss being a sportscaster, but that did not mean they regretted their decision. One wrote: “In a perfect world, would I go back? Sure. In this world? Not so much.” However, some were much more explicit, with responses to the question asking if they had regrets, including: “Absolutely not!,” “Not a single day goes by where I regret it,” and “TV news felt like the abusive ex I never wanted to go back to.”

“No One Ever Hugged My Male Sports Director”

While not identified as an initial research question, the number of women who were located for this study and willing to share their story compared to the number of men was telling. As stated in the methods section, local television sports broadcasting is an industry that traditionally employs more men, but, for this research, women who left were both easier to locate and seemingly more willing to share why they had left the field. As perhaps is to be expected based on previous research (Harrison, 2021; Hull et al., 2022), the women listed issues involving sexual harassment and family concerns as why they had left the field.

Women in sports media have a long, unfortunate history of being subjected to harassment when on the job (see Antunovic, 2019; Crawford, 2023; Everbach, 2018; Johnson et al., 2023 for more on this topic). For some, that was very clearly an aspect of the job they would not miss, as demonstrated by one woman who wrote: “I’ve had male coaches hug me as a greeting. And since I am a woman, I am expected to just be okay with that. No one ever hugged my male sports director.” Another wrote: “As a woman, my least favorite part of being a local sports broadcaster was the sexism I was exposed to on a daily basis.” Others stated that they faced criticisms from management about their clothes and appearance, something with which men in the industry rarely deal with.

Other women said they left the industry due to concerns about how the hours impacted their home life. Several had not yet started a family, but envisioned a life that would be made much harder with a sportscasting career: “Though I was single at the time, I desired to have a family one day and did not see the sports broadcasting industry conducive to the lifestyle I desired to have.” Another wrote how they only needed to look at their fellow employees to see how motherhood and broadcasting mixed: “A co-anchor of mine would often talk about how she wished she could do it over again and not miss as much of her children’s lives.”

Those who were new mothers confirmed those fears and cited it as a reason why they left television: “Being away for so long all the time was really heavy for me as a new mom. It wasn’t worth it to me. Instead of celebrating other people, I wanted to pour into celebrating my child.” Another said station management was not supportive of her growing family:

It took my husband and I a full year and a half to get pregnant, so we were ecstatic! The station never blinked. I was asked to cover events that were overly risky and unnecessary. I had to really put my foot down and finally prioritize myself and growing baby. I faced backlash for saying “no” to a story ONE time in 2 years.

Discussion

While the former local television sports broadcasters all had stories about their reasons for leaving the industry, one response seemed to encapsulate what many discussed about the positives of their new career:

I work Monday through Friday 8 am–4 pm. No nights. No weekends. I got a $25,000 raise with no negotiations because, unlike my previous station, places know what people are worth and pay them accordingly. In addition, I get all holidays off, a state pension, 6 weeks of PTO, and flexible work-from-home options when needed and a boss that actually knows how to be a leader. I should have either never gone into tv in the first place or gotten out a lot earlier than I did. This job/career change was life changing.

The responses of the 38 former local television sports broadcasters in this survey should cause concern for those working in management at local television stations. As summarized by the participant above, many of those leaving are finding jobs with better hours, higher salaries, more work flexibility, and an appreciation for their new bosses. What should be of most concern is that it was not one universal concern or problem that caused these professionals to look for an exit from the industry. This demonstrates that, if newsroom leadership wants to keep the turnover down in these positions, there are many frustrations that need to be addressed.

“Truthfully, Most of My Workdays I Ended by Going Home and Being in Tears”

Using burnout as a framework, it was apparent from the responses that many felt exhausted from the hours expected for them to work and demands placed on them. This overwhelming feeling was a change from the research that had been published more than a decade ago. Previously, local television sports broadcasters had demonstrated positive job satisfaction, but that was not the case for this research (Reinardy, 2012; Reinardy & Crawford, 2011). The participants repeatedly demonstrated feelings of emotional exhaustion, a key aspect of burnout (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).

Several wrote about how being a sportscaster was a dream job, but they soon realized that, at least for them, it would not be a lifelong career. Some wrote about mental health concerns from the hours worked and the time away from family. The low pay only exacerbated the burnout, as there was not a large salary to make up for their frustrations with the working conditions. The former sports broadcasters wrote about leaving work in tears, being constantly tired, not wanting to go into the office, finding reasons not to go to sporting events, and simply being sad much of the time. One said she had a “very severe mental breakdown” about where her career was heading, while another, after taking time off for health reasons, wrote: “As the weeks got closer to my return, I was dreading it. That was it. No one should dread going to work.” Further demonstrating that burnout, one former broadcaster simply wrote: “I was worn out.”

“Leaving a Toxic Environment was the Best Choice I Ever Could Have Made”

Local television stations are wrestling with the departure of employees in the newsroom, and this research demonstrates that the sports department is not immune to the exodus. What should perhaps be most eye-opening for those stations is how much of the blame is placed directly on management by those leaving. Nearly all of the former sportscasters seemingly felt disrespected by newsroom leadership and the environment that was created by management.

While the economics may be challenging for local television stations, the low pay for employees appears to be a topic that must be addressed if the trend of departures is to be reversed. The fact that nearly 80% of the participants in this study mentioned the low pay at some point as why they left local television should be alarming for leadership. Most local television stations in the United States are owned by large corporations such as Nexstar, Tegna, and Gray (Jessell, 2023). Therefore, due to that ownership structure, changes in newsroom salaries will likely not come from individual stations, but instead from the corporate level. A company such as Nexstar, which reported having $5.16 billion in revenue in 2022 (Jessell, 2023), will have to be the ones to make the mandate that individual stations under their umbrella should raise employee pay. However, most of these companies are publicly traded with stockholders to whom they must answer. Therefore, while making pay raises will likely result in happier employees, it could cause a reduced financial return. That could make it a difficult decision for the corporate owners. Despite that, based on the responses of the participants in this study, the news industry will need to make some changes in salaries, or this exodus will continue.

In addition, many of the former sportscasters felt disrespected by management, both regarding their work and personal time. Those surveyed believed that newsroom leadership did not care about the sports segment, making it hard to get excited about the work they were producing. A few mentioned in their answers that were told explicitly some variation of “sports doesn’t move the needle” by their bosses, which one can assume would be a disheartening thing to hear from one’s supervisor. With a supposed lack of interest from management, many participants seemed frustrated that their daily efforts to cover games and events would go unrewarded or acknowledged by newsroom leaders.

Meanwhile, while being told the sports segment did not matter, many also noted that, at the same time, there was an expectation to cover as many sporting events as possible. Participants mentioned never knowing what their schedule would be each week, being called on their days off to preview what they would be doing the next day, and being expected to drive all over the viewership area to cover events. One broadcaster said she would work 12–14-hr days during football season, covering high school and professional games, but management focused more on what she was not doing: “If a competitor had a good story the question was ‘Why did we miss this?’” Another said that management simply did not care:

It truly didn’t matter how much effort I put into my broadcast, because no one in leadership particularly cared about sports. I could sweat blood or mail it in, and the feedback would be the same, non-existent. [I do not miss] constantly having to justify our existence and our content.

Newsroom leadership should be clearer about their expectations for the sports department and realistic about what can be achieved. If they do believe that “sports doesn’t move the needle,” then sportscasters should not be expected to work longer than usual shifts covering multiple games. Instead, these journalists should be given the opportunity to focus on storytelling and finding stories that would be of interest to viewers beyond just sports fans. In addition, as noted in a piece about shrinking newsrooms, leadership should be “empathetic and encouraging” (Papper, 2023, para. 63). If sports journalists feel supported by news directors and encouraged that what the stories they were producing and the hours they were working mattered, they might be more willing to accept some of the challenges that come with the job.

Limitations and Future Research

A potential limitation of this research is that, when using job satisfaction as a guide, surveying people who voluntarily left their job likely means they were not satisfied. However, it should be noted that the purpose of this research was to determine why they were not satisfied and decided to change careers. Those conducting future research in this field may wish to survey those who remain as local television sports broadcasters to find out what is keeping them satisfied with their job and remaining in the television news industry. Another limitation is that this research only examines local television sports broadcasters in the United States. A future study could examine if these struggles facing American broadcasters differ in other parts of the world. Finally, future research may also focus on those leaving their newsroom jobs in local television beyond just sports broadcasters.

Conclusion

While nearly every participant said that their current work life was better than their work life as a local television sports broadcaster, many also seemed to look back fondly on their time in the news industry. Some said they missed covering the big games, interviewing athletes and telling their stories, and the adrenaline rush of editing a story right up until deadline. However, as stated previously, none regretted their decision to leave their sportscasting career. The low pay, long hours, and lack of support from management made what was once a dream job for many become something they were ready to give up. For the news industry, studies such as this one should be an awakening that these sports broadcasting jobs are not becoming the life-long careers they once were. This constant turnover impacts newsroom morale and could have a negative impact on viewership. As one former local television sports broadcaster wrote: “I loved my job and I do miss my job, but I would never go back to my job.”