Freddy Oliphant

Current Employer/Organisation Name

Sky Sports

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

Since leaving Exeter, I went on to study for an MA in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. After taking on a small bit of freelance work during my time there I eventually got a job at Channel 4 as an Assistant Producer in their Sport team in Leeds. Two years later, I decided to move on to my current role at Sky Sports, now in London.

This role mainly revolves around creating concepts, planning production and directing shoots with athletes across Sky Sport’s rights portfolio. I work regularly with Premier League players and occasionally make content with tennis, cricket and darts players too. The features I produce and edit will then be shown across Sky Sports on their social media platforms and TV.

Outside of work I also run two social media pages on TikTok/YouTube, one on football (@freddyoliphant) and the other on rugby (@rugbypodxtra). These are both side hustles/passion projects and across all platforms, they have a combined following of over 500k.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

I loved sport and wanted to somehow revolve my career around it. I’m quite a creative person too, so making sports content every week with some of the biggest athletes in the world was the perfect blend of those two passions.

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

I played football for the University whilst I was there, but I enjoyed playing for the English Society football team the most on Sundays. That is where I met a lot of my best friends at Exeter.

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

My best piece of advice would be to just start making your own content, that is the best way to get your foot in the door. Whether that be posting on TikTok/Instagram/YouTube, making a podcast or writing a blog on a sport you love. Hiring managers love seeing candidates that have produced their own stuff as it not only shows your skills and passion, but also allows you to improve much faster in whatever skills you’re using.

Also, don’t be afraid to send emails out to any business or company that you’d like to work for. The smaller ones are better as you could get work experience or even part-time work with them and that will help you build experience. This is the exact strategy I followed and it worked for me.

What are your plans for the future?

The sports media industry is evolving pretty fast, which means it’s hard to predict your next steps. I’m at a great company at the moment so I’m just focusing on enjoying my work and hopefully future plans will fall into place.