BY: AUSTIN DYKSTRA, DUBLIN ‘18 PROGRAM PARTICIPANT & GAME AND STUDIO PRODUCTION, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS
“We must be willing to wear many hats to put the best version of ourselves forward!” This is the advice that I carried with me after returning from the Living Sport program in Dublin, 2018. After graduating from college in California, I moved back to Las Vegas. When I moved back to Vegas, the city was only home to only 3 professional sports teams, two of which had just completed each of their inaugural seasons that summer. I was breaking into my sports career in the new sports hub, and actually, I still am breaking in.
I attended California Baptist University, where I majored in History. My aspirations heading into school and even into my senior year of college were to be a teacher. However, that same year, I started working for my school's media production team for the athletics program, introducing me to instant replay, specifically for college basketball games. There, my aspirations changed. This was the time when I decided that I no longer wanted to become a teacher and instead wanted to pursue a career in sports production! Now the only problem I had was, where do I start?
To the internet I went to scour the job boards for places I thought I could get a job or an internship that had to deal with something remotely in the world of sports. Many applications to jobs and internships around the Southwest region of the US one application came back: Living Sport. The email I received from Living Sport was the first positive email I had received in regards to working in sports in the months I had been applying. I jumped at the chance, especially since I loved traveling and loved the opportunity to go to Ireland to learn more about the business of sport!
Prior to heading to Dublin for the 2018 Living Sport Program, I accepted my first position outside of college with the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I started the day after I returned from Ireland as a Ticket Sales Representative - a combination of sales and customer service. It was my first breakthrough into the Vegas sports scene even, if it wasn’t the department I wanted to be in, but I was thankful for the opportunity of being fresh out of college and especially after Dublin, giving me the affirmation to try a new hat.
While in Dublin with the Living Sport Program I met some amazing people that I still remain in contact to over 2 years later! There we learned great advice from industry professionals about how we can better set ourselves up for success in the world of sport, while also being able to explore the beautiful country of Ireland. It was in Ireland on one of our lecture sessions that the phrase, “wear many hats’” stuck deep in my mind. At this time I was only focused on coming back to the US and working in Instant Replay in some way for sporting events but then I thought back to my college team and all the other people that sat in the same control room as me and all the different positions. This is when I decided to not limit myself to what I was applying to and start trying on some hats!
After this opportunity, I applied and was granted a position with the Vegas Golden Knights, an NHL hockey franchise that was coming off of their historic first season, as a part-time Runner/Tagboard Operator. I assisted the production department during game days with various tasks that could be helpful in any way to make sure the game runs smoothly for all those involved in the control room and on the crew staff. I was also in charge of Tagboard, the social media filtering website that allows us to post fan images on our “Knighton” (our nickname for our jumbotron). For the current season, I was promoted to Clips Operator, where I would take charge of playing pre-recorded content and fan engagement videos throughout VGK home games. During those two years, I was also cross-trained in various positions around the control room, so I can take on more roles on game days.
My approach to taking on various roles in the control room not only helped me gain a promotion but also led me to three more opportunities. My manager with the Vegas Golden Knights referred me to Xpressions, a motion graphics company that has partnered with various professional Vegas sports teams. Through this referral, I have worked with both the Las Vegas Aviators, the Triple-A Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, and the Las Vegas Aces (WNBA) as an Instant Replay/Clips Operator. I created and distributed computer graphics onto the display board for fan engagement and sponsorship purposes. With the Aces, I was able to jump around more and take on multiple positions. Recently, this referral led my next step to work with Xpressions as an Operator for the Las Vegas Raiders. My exact role is not set yet, but I am excited to take on this new role during their first season in Las Vegas.
So far, what I’ve learned working in the world of sports production is you can never know too much or too many people. As Vegas sports grows bigger and my network continues to expand, I look forward to continuing to learn and grow along with this new sports scene! I would love to work for a team full time one day, but for now, I’m amazed at the blessings of opportunity I have been able to get while still being so young. For future Living Sport alumni, remember no job is too small or below you. Wear as many hats as possible! A “small” job can lead to an amazing opportunity, just like what happened to me in Vegas.
UPDATE: Austin Dykstra has begun his new role with the Las Vegas Raiders in Game and Studio Production! Congratulations, Austin!