Meet Andrew Hawkins, Senior Researcher for the Seven Network's coverage of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, and newest member of the SportsGrad \"Circle of Grad\" club - from follower to member and now podcast guest.
Andrew's love of sport was sealed at nearly 10, watching the Sydney 2000 Olympics from ten minutes down the road.
At 19, he mailed a handwritten letter to his broadcasting hero, Bruce McAvaney, asking how to break into the industry, and Bruce wrote back. Years later, the two would finally get on a call, and today they work side by side on Seven's Commonwealth Games broadcast: Andrew building the research, Bruce using it to call the Games.
His first paid gig in sport was parking cars at Rosehill Racecourse, but it was writing that took him furthest. Andrew has since built an award-winning career in international horse racing - one of the most data-heavy sports on earth, spending five years in Hong Kong reporting for the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Jockey Club, with work syndicated around the world.
Then came the hard part - being told, again and again, that all that experience only counted for racing. When he joined The SportsGrad Method, he'd applied for 50-odd jobs and landed just five interviews. What changed everything was a single post that caught the eye of people at Channel Seven, and he hasn't looked back since.
In this episode, Andrew shares the mindset that got him unstuck after 50 applications, the networking habit he's leaned on since he was 19, and the hard-won lessons every career changer needs to hear.
We cover:
(02:41) - Interview Begins
(06:01) - Quick Fire Questions
(10:03) - What led Andrew to move to Hong Kong
(14:00) - What issues Andrew was facing before he joined the SportsGrad Method Program
(20:05) - How the SportsGrad Method led to Andrew's role as Broadcast Researcher for the Commonwealth Games
(23:38) - What a day in the life of Andrew's role looks like
(26:10) - What goes into building a broadcast research strategy
(34:20) - How does the archive of knowledge and research material get used across multiple events
(39:20) - How AI helps with Broadcast Research
(47:41) - How Andrew has had to upskill himself as modern media has
evolved
(53:16) - How to land a job in sport media in the next 30 days
(59:33) - What life would have looked like if not a job in sport
(01:00:29) - Biggest 'Pinch Me' moment working in sport
If you liked this ep, give these a go next:
#252: What it's like to work on the FIFA Women's World Cup with Media Volunteer, Vi Truong https://youtu.be/-l_-ld6Pv7U
#293: Careers in Sports Broadcasting with Lucy & Emma Race from Making The Call https://youtu.be/BLxvoFL41_4
#356: Career journey of FIFA World Cup Commentator David Basheer https://youtu.be/Vdu4esiAhNw
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Thanks for listening, much love!
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