ESPN Host Talks About Making Jump from Local to National

By Kevin Eck 

Before she was host of NBA Countdown, which airs tonight on ABC ahead of the NBA Finals, ESPN’s Sage Steele was a local sportscaster that saw all three members of a three person department in Tampa, Florida make the jump to the national stage.

TVSpy’s sister site, TVNewser, spoke with Steele about making the jump from local to regional to national.

TVN: Talk to us about your transition from local television to national television. You came to ESPN from CSN Mid-Atlantic, but before that you were at WFTS, the ABC affiliate in Tampa, along with ESPN’s Jay Crawford and NFL Network’s Scott Hanson. Heck of a sports department. Can you talk about that time?

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Steele: First, I was working in Indianapolis before Tampa. I loved my time in Indianapolis, but I wanted to move on. Jay (Crawford) was the person who signed off on me being hired in Tampa in 1998. I was the third member of a three-person sports department, and it was a really great time. I got married in Tampa to my college boyfriend, and Jay and Scott were at my wedding. My kids still refer to him as “Mr. Jay.” It’s so cool how this whole path has evolved 18 years later. Jay remains one of my best friends and a mentor. Back when I was so green and felt so in over my head, he took care of me. Now, we’re more peers but I don’t forget those days. Tampa was pretty great.

TVN: There are plenty of young sportscasters looking to make that next step in TV. Talk about the importance of having a talent agent to help navigate this cutthroat industry.

Steele: I have the best agent right now in Nick Khan at CAA. He’s a friend and I trust him with everything. “Trust” is very important when having an agent. In terms of being on the local side and trying to move up, it’s hard to say. I remember back in the day going to Wal-Mart and buying 20 VHS tapes and dubbing them down for hours at a time before sending them out via snail mail. In retrospect, I guess I could have used an agent to make the right phone calls to the right people. But I also think it is different today for broadcasters who are trying to move up, maybe a bit easier because you can just send a link out to someone. Today, everything is so much more accessible with new technology and all the different ways to view things online. Back in the 90s, there wasn’t as much accessibility. With that in mind, I think you can wait as long as you want before getting an agent. Do it on your own for as long as you can. Sometimes, these employers are turned off by agents. Once you get to a certain level, though, it’s different.

Personally, I never had what it took to walk into an office and negotiate my own contract with a GM. I have a lot of strengths and weaknesses, and one of my weaknesses is negotiating. For me it was tough because I never wanted to seem greedy, and I always wanted to seem appreciative. I never cared about the money I made. But I learned after a while that it is a business, and if you don’t take care of yourself, no one will. So when you get to my level, it’s important to have someone on your side that knows the market, knows the marketplace, and knows what you truly deserve based on the position. I would never be comfortable at this level without the right one.

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