BSM Writers
Beyond The Mask: Henrik Lundqvist Embraced 2nd Career in Sports Media
“It’s not a coincidence you see a lot of goalies working [on] panels and analyzing the game because that’s a huge part of playing in goal.”
Plucking the strings of an acoustic guitar, Henrik Lundqvist found himself beneath the bright lights once again, poised to put on a worthy performance. Just as he aimed to stop pucks from going in the net as the star goaltender of the New York Rangers for 15 seasons, Lundqvist sought to captivate viewers as half of a musical duo featuring former NHL forward Paul Bissonnette.
Their performance of “Good Riddance” by Green Day was in tribute to Rick Tocchet, a former NHL on TNT studio analyst who recently departed the network to serve as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.
Lundqvist serves as a studio analyst for TNT’s coverage of the NHL, breaking down players and teams throughout the broadcast and bringing his own unique style to the set. His pursuit of a post-playing career in sports media was no guarantee from the moment he retired in August 2021; in fact, he never intended to stop playing the game and competing for a Stanley Cup championship at that time.
During the 2019-20 season, Lundqvist had lost playing time to young goaltenders Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev, and by the year’s end, his deal was bought out by the team. In an effort to continue playing, Lundqvist signed a contract with the Washington Capitals – marking the first time in his NHL career that he would not step between the pipes for the Rangers.
Lundqvist never played a game for the team though, as it was discovered in a medical exam that he would need open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve while also having an aortic root and ascending aortic replacement. Less than two months after the successful five-hour operation, he was back on the ice rehabbing and attempting to make a full recovery – but a few months in, he began to feel unexpected chest pain. Following a medical checkup, Lundqvist was told he had inflammation around his heart. It was a significant setback that required him to step off the ice, take off his goaltender equipment and rest for several months.
After discussions with his family and friends, Lundqvist determined that the risk of taking the ice outweighed the rewards and officially stepped away from the game. Rather than conjuring hypothetical scenarios wherein he did not experience the misfortune and played for the Capitals, Lundqvist looked to the future amid the ongoing global pandemic and thought about how he could best enjoy his retirement.
“I was just mentally in a very good place,” Lundqvist said. “I didn’t have a choice; I guess that makes it easier sometimes when the decision is made because you can’t go back-and-forth – ‘Should I?’ ‘Should I not?’ Yeah, I wanted to play but it was just not meant to be for me.”
Before any definitive resolution on his future endeavors was made though, the Rangers announced that the team would retire Lundqvist’s No. 30 in a pregame ceremony during the 2021-22 season, making him just the 11th player bestowed that honor in franchise history. As a five-time NHL All-Star selection, 2011 Vezina Trophy winner, and holder of numerous franchise records, Lundqvist had the accolades to merit this profound distinction.
Moreover, he was an important component in growing the game of hockey and contributing to the greater community, serving as the official spokesperson for the Garden of Dreams Foundation and founder of the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation. He also was a two-time recipient of the organization’s prestigious Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, honoring the player “who goes above and beyond the call of duty.”
Throughout the night, attendees regaled Lundqvist with chants of “Hen-rik!” and were treated to flashbacks of some of his memorable career moments. The night was of monumental importance for Lundqvist, during which he expressed his gratitude to the Rangers’ organization, former teammates and fans. Then, Lundqvist — referred to as “The King” — promptly took his place among team legends beneath the concave ceiling of “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
“When I look back at my career, I know, to me, it was all about preparation; how I practiced and how I prepared for each game at practice,” Lundqvist said. “There’s no regrets, and I hope people, when they think about how I played, [know] that it was 100% heart and commitment to the game.”
Before this ceremony though, Lundqvist and Rangers owner James Dolan had held several meetings with one another. The purpose of these conversations was to determine the best way for Lundqvist to remain involved with the team, its fans, and the community. In the end, he was named as a lead studio analyst on MSG Networks’ broadcasts of New York Rangers hockey before the start of the 2021-22 season: the start of his foray in sports media.
This past summer, Lundqvist negotiated a new deal with Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment in which he maintained his in-studio responsibilities while increasing involvement in other areas of its sports and entertainment ventures. In this new role, Lundqvist supports the business operations for both companies, assisting in digital content development, alumni relations, and partner and sponsor activities.
When Lundqvist is not in the studio or the office, he can often be found at Madison Square Garden taking in New York Rangers hockey, New York Knicks basketball, or one of the arena’s renowned musical performances. Usually, when he is in attendance, he is shown on the arena’s center-hung video board as an “NYC Celebrity” and receives a thunderous ovation from the crowd.
“The network is just part of it, but it feels great to come there,” Lundqvist said of Madison Square Garden. “Every time I go there – to see the people that I’ve known for so long – but also I love that place; I love The Garden. I think the energy [and] the variety of things that happen there is something I really appreciate. It feels really good to be a part of that.”
Sitting alongside former teammate and studio analyst Steve Valiqutte and sportscaster John Giannone, Lundqvist appears in the MSG Networks studios, located across the street from the arena, for select New York Rangers games. From the onset, he brought his allure and expertise to the set and appealed to viewers – so much so that national networks quickly began to take notice.
“I enjoy watching hockey [and] talking hockey, but the main thing to me is the team; the people that you work with,” Lundqvist said. “The guys on the panel [and the] crew behind. I really enjoy that part of it and having a lot of fun off-camera.”
One month later, Lundqvist was on his first national broadcast for the NHL on TNT where he and Bissonnette famously performed a cover of “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica that went viral on social media. It had been known that Lundqvist was a musician, famously performing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in his Rangers uniform to celebrate the end of the 2012-13 NHL lockout.
In fact, during his retirement ceremony, the Rangers gifted him with a custom-made guitar painted by David Gunnarsson, the same artist who used to paint Lundqvist’s goalie masks.
Aside from occasional music performances, Lundqvist brings an esoteric base of knowledge to the NHL on TNT panel as its only goaltender. Whether it be through player breakdowns, interviews, or dialogue with other analysts, Lundqvist has a perspective to which few professional hockey players can relate. There are various goaltenders among local studio panels surrounding live hockey game broadcasts, and Lundqvist is in a unique situation with MSG Networks in that he and Valiquette are both former goaltenders. Yet on Turner Sports’ national coverage, he is the only voice speaking to this different part of the game.
“It’s not a coincidence you see a lot of goalies working [on] panels and analyzing the game because that’s a huge part of playing in goal,” Lundqvist explained. “Yes, you need to stop the puck, but a huge part of being a goalie is analyzing what’s going on. We can never really dictate the play so you need to analyze what’s happening right in front of you.”
In broadcasting at both the local and national level, Lundqvist is cognizant of the differences in each network’s studio programs. Lundqvist says appearing on the MSG Networks studio panel is more about being direct with the viewer, whereas the NHL on TNT views its panel as being conversational in nature. With Turner Sports, Lundqvist also asks his colleagues about the different teams around the league since he is most familiar with the Rangers both as a former player and studio analyst.
“I’m closer to the Rangers; I see more of what’s going on,” Lundqvist stated. “When you work [national] games, maybe you focus in on teams on the West Coast or [part] of the league you don’t see as often. You try to talk to the other guys on the panel and the crew and figure out things that are interesting about those teams.”
Hockey is a team sport, and Lundqvist felt grateful to play with his teammates and face his competitors over the years. Now as an analyst though, it is his job to analyze their games and critique them when necessary; however, he does not try to be excessively critical.
Lundqvist knows the trials and tribulations associated with the sport and can relate to scenarios many players face on a nightly basis. Therefore, he thinks about his own experience before giving an opinion, especially a critique, instantiating it with comprehensible, recondite knowledge and/or by recounting a similar situation.
“I’d much rather give them positive feedback obviously because I know it is a tough game,” Lundqvist said, “and sometimes it might look like an easy mistake, but if you can give the viewer a better explanation of why he did that, they might have a different view of that mistake.”
Now metaphorically being beyond the goalie mask, Lundqvist’s vision of the game has evidently shifted. He discerns just how intense the schedule is and the rapid pace of the game, axioms he was aware of while playing but inherently avoided thinking about. He has implemented his refined viewpoint of the game accordingly into his analysis, simultaneously utilizing the mindset and savvy he cultivated on the ice. It is, quite simply, a balancing act.
“I think people can be pretty quick to jump on guys and critique them,” Lundqvist said. “That’s where maybe you take an extra look and try to understand why it happened and give those reasons. I think that’s where it helps if you played the game [for] a long time and just love the game [because] you have a pretty good understanding of why guys react a certain way.”
The challenge tacitly embedded in the jobs of most studio analysts – Lundqvist’s included – is in presenting the information to the audience in a manner through which it learns without being confused. It is a delicate craft that takes time and genuine understanding to master, especially related to promulgating hockey analytics as Valiquette does on MSG Networks and within his company, Clear Sight Analytics.
“There’s a lot of educated viewers out there, but there’s also a lot of people that maybe don’t watch as much hockey,” Lundqvist said, “so you want to find that middle ground where you kind of educate both sides.”
By broadcasting both locally and nationally in addition to working in a specially-designed business operations role, Lundqvist is staying around the rink in his retirement while facilitating the growth of hockey. Despite the profusion of young talent, dynamic action and jaw-dropping plays, viewership of the sport on ESPN and TNT’s linear channels has dropped 22% from last season, according to a report by Sports Business Journal.
For Lundqvist though, he does not feel much has changed from playing regarding his responsibility to advance the reach and appeal of the sport. He played professionally for 20 years, beginning his career in his home country of Sweden, primarily in the Swedish Elite League (SEL). In the 2004-05 season, his final campaign before arriving in New York City, Lundqvist had won the award for most valuable player. Furthermore, he was recognized as the best goalie and best player, leading Frölunda HC to its second Elitserien championship in three seasons.
His NHL debut came five years after he was selected in the seventh round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers but unlike many rookies over the years, he came polished and prepared to embrace the lights of Broadway. Following an injury to starting goaltender Kevin Weekes, Lundqvist was inserted into the starting lineup and, from that moment on, virtually never came out.
By the end of his first year, he had been named to the NHL All-Rookie Team and was a Vezina Trophy finalist for best goaltender. Additionally, he remains the only goaltender to begin his NHL career with seven consecutive 30-plus win seasons.
“I think the league is doing a great job of growing the game,” Lundqvist said. “In the end, it comes down to the product and right now, it’s a great product. I feel really good about, the best way I can, to promote the game [by] talking about it, but… it feels like I’ve been doing that for 20 years.”
One means through which Lundqvist attempts to grow the game is within the studio demos he performs with the NHL on TNT, displaying different facets of the game in a technical manner. The show also embraces the characteristics of their analysts and implements them in lighthearted segments, such as zamboni races, putting competitions, Swedish lessons and, of course, musical performances.
“I’m huge on mindset and the pressure,” Lundqvist said. “I love to talk about that type of stuff and give the viewer a better understanding of what goes through their heads. In terms of personality, I don’t know if I can say [that] I’m a serious guy because I love to have fun and laugh and do fun things.”
Lundqvist thoroughly enjoys what he is doing both locally and nationally, and he ensures he surrounds himself with people he wants to be around. There are plenty of other broadcast opportunities for former hockey players, such as moving into the booth as a color commentator or between the benches as a rinkside reporter. At this moment though, he is more focused on being immersed in his current roles, performing them to the best of his ability while ensuring he allocates time to spend with friends and family.
“I see myself more as an analyst in the studio more than traveling around and being in the rink,” he said. “I think that’s another thing with the schedule; it works really well with my schedule to have one or two commitments with the networks, but then I have other things going on in my life that I commit to.”
Plenty of comparisons can be drawn between playing professional hockey and covering the sport from the studio in terms of preparation and synergy. Yet the end result is not as clearly defined since “winning” in television is quantifiably defined as generating ratings and revenue. Undoubtedly, Lundqvist is focused on doing what he can to bolster hockey’s popularity; however, he also wants to enjoy this new phase of his career being around the game he loves.
“In sports, you win or you lose,” Lundqvist explained. “With TV, you want to be yourself [and] you want to get your point out – but at the same time, if you do it at the same time you’re having a good time, I feel like that’s good TV.”
Once their careers conclude, many athletes think about pursuing a post-playing career and oftentimes end up taking on a role in sports broadcasting. On MSG Networks alone, there are plenty of former players who take part in studio coverage on live game broadcasts, such as Martin Biron of the Buffalo Sabres, Bryce Salvador of the New Jersey Devils, and Matt Martin of the New York Islanders. At the national level, Turner Sports employs Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter, and Wayne Gretzky for its studio broadcasts, while ESPN’s top studio crew includes Mark Messier and Chris Chelios.
All of these former professional hockey players had an obligation to regularly speak with media members, answering questions about games and the season at large. Lundqvist maintained a professional relationship with journalists and beat reporters, and he most enjoyed taking questions when the team was doing well. Regardless of what the end result of a game was though, he had a responsibility to divulge his thoughts and, in turn, be subject to criticism and/or negative feedback.
His stellar career and persona all came from emanating a passion for the game – and it continues to manifest itself beyond the television screen. Listening to those passionate about the game discuss it usually engenders euphony and lucidity to viewers, analogous to the sound of the puck hitting the pads or entering the glove. It is a timbre Lundqvist created 27,076 times throughout his NHL career (regular season and playoffs) in preventing goals, and one he now aims to explain en masse.
“The reason why I kept going to the rink and put all the hours in was because I really enjoyed it,” Lundqvist said. “If you decide to go into media or whatever it might be, I think the bottom line is [that] you have to enjoy it and make sure you have good people around you.”
Derek Futterman is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. In addition, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on Twitter @derekfutterman.
BSM Writers
Julie Stewart-Binks Is Going to Be Everywhere At Once
“The industry has changed so much from when I first started and I was first in journalism school. We were learning right then what Twitter was.”
Oftentimes, personalities around the world of sports media are former athletes themselves – whether or not at the professional level notwithstanding. The lessons one can take away from suiting up on a playing surface and being in a team setting are extensive and can serve as guiding principles in other professions. Having an understanding of this, Julie Stewart-Binks initially pursued working in sports psychology after playing intramural hockey, running varsity track and field and competing in figure skating.
Growing up in Toronto, hockey was naturally imbued into the fabric of her being, and her nascent passion for the game on the ice was evident. At the suggestion of her mother, Georgie Binks, who worked for various radio and television outlets as a reporter and anchor, Stewart-Binks inquired about volunteering at her university’s radio station, but was turned down due to a lack of opportunities. Resolute in trying to foster a career, she took a chance to work in television as a reporter for Queen’s University TV in nearby Kingston and began gaining repetitions in the field.
“I just loved that adrenaline,” Stewart-Binks said. “The preparation to the execution felt a lot like sports. That was sort of the mirroring of my athletic career as well.”
Although Stewart-Binks graduated the university with a dual degree in psychology and drama, she had cultivated opportunities to work in journalism as a student with some of the school’s media outlets. Upon her graduation, she worked as a reporter during summer 2009 at CKWS Newswatch and, with her focus set on building a journalism career, attended graduate school shortly thereafter in London.
“The industry has changed so much from when I first started and I was first in journalism school,” Stewart-Binks said. “We were learning right then what Twitter was. A journalism master’s, if anyone ever still does that, would be completely different from what it would be now.”
From the beginning, much of Stewart-Binks’ career has been predicated on developing and demonstrating widespread versatility across sports media. In her formative years, she worked as a hockey host and reporter on TV Cogeco and a co-host on Sports Night Radio, getting her accustomed with the multiplatform nature of the business. She then worked for TV Cogeco Niagara as a reporter and host on The OHL Tonight, producing and disseminating information about the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs.
Not only was she appearing on the visual medium of television, but she was also working as a sports writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s website and as a program assistant for its signature show: Hockey Night in Canada. Essentially, it was her way of ingratiating herself into the world of hockey, a sport she continues to play recreationally today at Chelsea Piers in New York, N.Y.
“It’s just been in my blood since I was a kid,” Stewart-Binks said. “….Getting to know these guys and watch them grow into NHL stars has been such a cool experience.”
Stewart-Binks had her mother to look to as inspiration in the broadcast industry, and as time went on, she discovered other mentors and role models to supplement her career. Michelle Beadle, who has worked for a variety of outlets in the industry, is someone who in particular stands out to her. In watching her report and simultaneously contend with the misogyny she faces as a woman working in sports media, Stewart-Binks views her as a “guiding light.”
“I think she just is a pillar and a huge role model of being not only authentic,” Stewart-Binks said, “but paving the way for women to straddle so many different avenues of being able to use personality; being able to use analysis; and [to] be serious and be funny, but be professional.”
As a native of Canada, Stewart-Binks moved to the United States and gradually assimilated herself into the culture. On one hand, she worked on losing her Canadian accent by writing words phonetically into teleprompters to ensure she would pronounce them in the American style.
Moreover, she recognized the broad array of sports consumed in the United States, and tailored her reporting to reflect the levels of interest. In exuviating senses of bonafide ethnocentrism, Stewart-Binks found a way to appeal to her audience while covering events both at the local and national level for FOX Sports.
Stewart-Binks regularly reported on regional broadcasts for the Anaheim Ducks, closely following the team throughout its season and reporting on pertinent storylines. Nationally, she contributed to studio and game coverage for baseball, football and soccer, along with being afforded the chance to cover the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi.
The amalgamation of countries and cultural diffusion was exhilarating to her– in addition to having the chance to learn the unique stories about the athletes. She believes those stories work to create a formidable connection between Olympians and spectators, communicated and gathered through deft reporting.
“We can all relate to athletes at the Olympics because they’ve all gone through having a dream and getting to celebrate and have this incredible moment,” Stewart-Binks said. “We’ve all kind of had to go through adversity as people. You hear their stories and [how they] go through adversity and they fail, and it relates to every single person on any level of their life.”
Maintaining persistence and confidence in oneself can seem insurmountable to those in any profession, and it is fundamental to eliminate the stigma around prioritizing mental health. In many ways, Stewart-Binks’ career as a journalist better informs people watching that there are a countless number of others enduring challenges and finding ways to overcome obstacles. “Seeing people train for years and years and years to get to that moment and it doesn’t go the way they expect it [is] real life for a lot of people,” Stewart-Binks remarked.
After several years with FOX Sports, Stewart-Binks signed a deal to work as a sideline reporter for Major League Soccer and on games for the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team with ESPN. During her time at FOX Sports, she had always had a hand in its soccer coverage, even making her United States national television debut anchoring FOX Soccer Report.
In 2013, she officially moved to Los Angeles to help launch FOX Sports 1 as host of FOX Soccer Daily, a studio-based show featuring news, opinion and analysis from around the sport. Furthermore, she reported from a multitude of on-site events, including the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which took place across various Canadian provinces, giving her increased exposure to an international audience.
In being ubiquitous, however, came a strenuous travel schedule resulting in road trips spanning not days, but rather weeks. It was a continuous cycle of preparing, traveling and executing, often juggling various tasks at once, demanding synergy and collaboration while maintaining a level of understanding about the grind of the soccer season. Reflecting on that time period, Stewart-Binks is in disbelief over what she achieved and ascertained that it would be considerably more difficult to do now considering much of her work has been from home over the last several years.
“The biggest thing is learning how to pack efficiently and keeping yourself physically and mentally sound,” Stewart-Binks said. “Mostly eating right and being on the road is the hardest thing. You’re in different time zones or you’re in hotel rooms and you’re not sleeping right…. [It is] important to just maintain your health and to eat right; to bring supplements; [and] to sort of plan ahead.”
Early in her tenure at ESPN, Stewart-Binks participated in an interview course which assidiously explored the craft and gave reporters insight into how to best elicit compendious answers from their subjects.
Whether it is actively listening; following up; or removing one’s ego from the conversation, she worked to develop comfortability and a distinctive style that relaxes guests and renders them interesting to hear from. To this day, she equips the esoteric knowledge gained from that course and applies it to her roles and responsibilities across different forms of media.
“People are always, in any answer, giving you Easter eggs; little nuggets – they’re dropping hints on something,” Stewart-Binks said. “The interviewer has to be able to pick those things up, see that open door and go through it…. Sideline reporting is different because you only have a certain amount of time, but if a coach or a player says something, you have to be willing to abandon whatever question you have next [and adapt].”
Up until this point, Stewart-Binks had been reporting for traditional media outlets and on typical platforms of dissemination, primarily television but also radio. While she was still working with ESPN, Stewart-Binks began hosting morning radio alongside Willie Colon and Francis Ellis on SiriusXM as part of Barstool Breakfast.
The program, which was under the auspices of Barstool Sports, allowed Stewart-Binks to diversify her digital portfolio and cement herself as a regular voice on matters pertaining to all sports. The job demanded having a passion for the work and fastidiously preparing to establish and meet expectations held by listeners and consumers of the brand at large.
Although she was working with two co-hosts, she was cognizant of the importance of being proficient in many different areas to the degree that she could talk about them by herself if need be. Additionally, possessing an understanding of the audience and how to produce content that keeps them informed, engaged and entertained was critical to allow her to stand out.
“Morning radio is one of the hardest things that you could possibly do and I think one of the biggest challenges for anyone, especially morning sports talk radio,” Stewart-Binks expressed. “I enjoyed it. I was able to show a lot of my personality and bring my insight and background from a lot of different sports.”
Upon her exit from Barstool Sports eight months later, her co-hosts loosely addressed the matter on the air, with Colon calling the company “a unique animal” and Ellis suggesting an ostensible initiation process for its employees. The time period also marked the end of her career at ESPN, signifying the start of something new with an increased emphasis on demonstrating her skills and utilizing her foresight. It brought her to the world of standup comedy.
Akin to appearing on camera in some ways, standup comedy is based on one’s ability to connect with and eloquently speak in front of an audience. Her original impetus in pursuing the endeavor was to accentuate her broadcast skills; however, it ended up leading her to find a unique niche in sports media and a chance to reset her career.
“It was horrifying to do,” Stewart-Binks said of taking a standup comedy class, “but I also really enjoyed getting up there on stage and getting instant feedback which you don’t get in broadcasting. I did that, and I was able to transfer that over; I was bit by that type of bug.”
Following a stint with the Upright Citizens’ Brigade comedy group where she performed improvisation and standup comedy routines, Stewart-Binks gained self-confidence and took on a plethora of new jobs – including with SportsNet New York on its daily show The Thread and as an anchor for CBS Sports HQ broadcasts. Her previous experience, combined with getting out of her comfort zone and exploring new approaches to cut through in the industry, allowed her to find her strong suits and emphasize them as a host.
“It’s about bringing my experience and my background and the perspective I’ve gained over the last 12 years in the industry by being Julie Stewart-Binks and remembering who I am,” she said. “That’s how you take your power back in any situation – knowing who you are.”
With a renewed sense of self-identity and aplomb, Stewart-Binks directly utilized the skills she had learned in becoming her own production team for two late-night shows through fuboTV, named Call It a Night and Drinks with Binks, respectively. Both shows were initially filmed in studios in Manhattan, but once the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country, transitioned to a remote production format. It gave Stewart-Binks the ability to book guests outside of the New York-metropolitan area and continue to communicate with her audience amid an abeyance of daily sports contests.
“I got to talk with so many people, really flex my interview skills, learn a lot, break news and kind of get below the levels and layers that we see on a normal, national scale and just get to know the people behind what they do,” Stewart-Binks said. “That’s what I think is the biggest thing. All these people that we see as athletes or entertainers – they’re actually just like all of us… and have their own fascinating stories or quirks; their highs or lows; and I love learning that and showing that to an audience.”
Now being immersed in the industry for over a decade, Stewart-Binks calls upon key figures and executives to give women opportunities to work and grow in sports media. From her standpoint, developing a culture that encourages women rather than acting aloof towards them will ensure entities continue to flourish and relate to changing demographics. The media ecosystem is dynamic in and of itself, and keeping pace with its shifts necessitates exigently adjusting and innovating to emergent technologies and the next generation of talent without prejudice.
“The more women there are in this industry, the less it is about our gender and the more it is about the work we do and the abilities we have and what we can do to be on the same playing field as men,” Stewart-Binks said. “….Because of sports being so masculine and male-dominated, it kind of leads to sports broadcasting itself being that way. I feel it’s kind of a better time for women to get involved right now, and there’s so many young women I watch doing everything.”
When Stewart-Binks sees women being criticized because of their gender, she has no qualms about speaking up and defending others, refusing to be a bystander in these types of situations. Not everyone thinks this way though, instead navigating the space and tolerating injustice displayed towards their colleagues and competitors.
She ponders how women do not always work in solidarity towards their common goal, instead reclusively focusing on their competition and scheming how to bring each other down. A particular phrase that stuck with her and transcended the bounds of her thought stated: “The greatest gift you can do is give something to someone else that you would want.” Displaying selflessness and a sense of altruism keeps her motivated to strive for more in sports media beyond wholly individualistic gains and hopeful to catalyze congeniality.
“We all can’t do this by ourselves,” Stewart-Binks said. “We all have to help one another. We’ve also been conditioned to sort of fight for that one spot at the table because of the world that’s been created for us by men. We [need to] realize, ‘Hey, we can create our own table,’ or ‘We can create more spots.’”
Today, Stewart-Binks is working in a variety of different freelance roles spanning traditional and digital visual media. She has remained with SportsNet New York as a host and reporter, and also carries out roles with Turner Sports and NBC Sports pertaining to hockey and fantasy football, respectively.
She recently inked a deal with BetRivers to evolve Drinks with Binks and also create a travel-based show with the intent of exposing viewers to different locales around the world of sports. Both are still in development and are projects she has been able to lend her voice and knowledge to ensure they are stellar and augment its content offerings.
“I get to bring my passion, my skills, my credibility and my background to a place that is really working, in real-time, as the next step in sports, which is what everyone is trying to be a part of,” Stewart-Binks said. “Especially with how we look at the economy and how we look at so many different industries, sports gambling and betting is just taking off beyond belief, whereas a lot of other places are cutting or aren’t really sure of their future. It’s really interesting to be a part of it.”
Following the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, states were given regulatory power regarding the legality of sports betting. Regardless of the speed at which different states moved to legalize the practice, the presence of concomitant programming and content simply is too much to ignore.
Various sportsbooks have started to produce their own content rather than outsourcing material, including BetRivers – owned and operated by Rush Street Interactive – which signed Mike Francesa to a multi-year deal to host an exclusive podcast and serve as a brand ambassador. The augmentation of these platforms further impugns traditionalist views of the media, encouraging laggards within the diffusion of innovation to adopt an updated and refined outlook.
“A quote from one of my good friends is, ‘You’re either in or in the way,’” Stewart-Binks said. “You’ve got to be in sports gambling, and if not, you’re kind of going to get left behind. Regardless of where you work right now, that’s where the entire industry is going.”
As her career in the industry continues to evolve, Stewart-Binks looks forward to the challenge of having multiple responsibilities and amassing repetitions on both traditional and digital mediums. She is not afraid to take risks, recognizing that she will be told ‘No’ many more times than ‘Yes’ in her life, but never willing to give up trying and embracing the response of ‘Maybe’ to an inquiry. Sports media is undoubtedly a competitive field, and it genuinely takes an indefatigable, unrelenting work ethic combined with talent and a professional network to build and maintain a formidable career.
No one succeeds in this industry alone, underscoring the importance of developing professional relationships and never burning bridges or slamming doors. From her time as an athlete to this point in her career, Stewart-Binks appreciates the opportunities she has had and will continue to have to express herself on the air to a supportive and engaged audience. As she embarks on the next frontier of her career as a trailblazer, she aims to inspire prospective broadcasters and embolden hopefuls to chase their dreams.
“For you to have success in this industry, you almost have to have a delusional belief in yourself,” Stewart-Binks said. “If you don’t, why would anyone else buy into you if you don’t buy into yourself?’”
Derek Futterman is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. In addition, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on Twitter @derekfutterman.
BSM Writers
Anatomy of an Analyst – Grant Hill
“I mean, think about his credentials, he checks all the boxes. NCAA Champion and Hall of Fame NBA Player. Credibility was never an issue. Fitting in was the only challenge.”
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
BSM Writers
Ken LaVicka Waited For His Elite Eight Moment…Then The Internet Went Out
“It crossed my mind that, after 17 years of doing this, this is the ultimate moment and it’s not even going to happen. It was a stomach churning, awful low point feeling.”
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.