Sky’s the limit for hype machine
On Tuesday afternoon, as the hype for today’s transfer deadline theatrics truly ramped up, the Sky Sports reporters were despatched to the pre-game press conferences in order to ask the question that would only further feed the beast.
“What’s your favourite transfer deadline day memory?” It’s the kind of line that makes the station all too easy to parody.
But, as we’ll see with the shots of Jim White arriving at the studio, it’s something they’re well aware of.
And, when you hear what the people involved really think of the day, you realise it is genuinely like Christmas for them. If Benitez’s club do decide to have a nibble today themselves, these will be relishing the prospect...
David Craig, location reporter: “Like the rest of the reporters, I’ll be up at about 4am and will head off to meet our crew at the training ground, where we expect the biggest stories to take place. We’ll spend the day hammering the phones and hunting for shots of people arriving.”
Nick Seymor, news editor: “I’ll be at my desk at 7am and I’ll be there until the bulk of the day is sorted out. We’ll spend the day chasing transfer stories and moving reporters around so, if we find out a player is at a hospital having a medical, it’s my job to get a camera there. We’ll also be trying to find the managers and the chairmen and getting as much information as we can.”
Mel Bartlett, director: “There are two days in the year when everybody wants to work — and it’s the two deadline days.”
Aisha Hughton, planning: “I’ve been a football planner for five years and my job is to liaise with press officers, agents, managers and football players to build relationships, set up the interviews that you see and hopefully break big stories. There’s nothing more thrilling than getting that phone call and breaking that story before anyone else; it gives you goosebumps.”
Gemma Davies, live producer: “We co-ordinate each of the reports that we have out with live satellite trucks on the day — this is usually around eight at one time but can be even more. We’re also often the person the reporter calls when they have a new line on a potential deal.”
Ben Bregman, cameraman: “The rest of the day involves waiting for players to leave the ground in their cars. We’d run out into the road, knock on their windows and try to interview them to find out anything we could. This went on all day and we got some pretty good leads.”
Bartlett: “The rundown is always subject to change. The plan at the beginning of the hour isn’t necessarily what happens by the end of the hour!”
Jason Landau, design: “We actually started developing the ideas for this year’s brand back in August. For me, it is like Christmas morning.
Bryan Swanson, reporter: “Nothing beats the adrenaline rush.”
Hughton: “My favourite bit of the day is always seeing Jim White walking into work with a camera following his every step!”
Natalie Sawyer, presenter: “I am the straight man to Jim and have been told I’m there to rein him in a little bit! He loves deadline day — as we all do — and he’s on his phone all the time during ad breaks because he’s got so many contacts. The set is really open and you hear a lot of things you have to filter out what’s true and what isn’t.”
Craig: “The other thing is that we’re usually surrounded by snow and ice — you’re almost guaranteed to be hit by a snowball by a supporter, but that’s all part of the fun!”
Bregman: “Just as we were finishing for the day, I got a call... ‘Ben, could you just nip to central London and get a shot of Big Ben striking midnight!’ Joy!”
Swanson: “My most memorable deadline day on location was standing in the freezing snow for two days covering Andriy Arshavin’s on-off move to Arsenal in 2009. After a tip-off around 1am, I was given the location of Arshavin’s hotel and, in sub-zero temperatures and hazardous driving conditions, we filmed exclusive shots before camping outside the Emirates long into the night.”
Sawyer: “Yes, I think I’ll be wearing a yellow dress again this time.”
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