by Jonathan Michel, Matt Lucas, and Cody Roskens
What did you do your sophomore year in college? For most students, the answer isn’t starting a broadcast group out of thin air, but for Larry Larson and Joey Wright, both junior sports communication majors at Bradley University, creating Clutch Sports Media (CSM) was the path they chose.
“We wanted to start Clutch Sports Media in order gain meaningful experience within the realm of sports broadcasting,” Wright said. “What we perhaps didn’t realize at the time was that this meant telling real, meaningful stories of athletes in the Central Illinois area.”
The duo created the company on the belief that “the best high school sports coverage should be free for all to enjoy, rather than hidden behind a paywall,” according to the the Clutch Sports Media website.
Originally the team consisted of both Wright and Larson calling both football and basketball on radio which could be streamed both through YouTube and their website.
Behind the scenes of a CSM broadcast
CSM began to grow after pairing with the local Peoria Journal-Star to produce pregame shows after a month of existence. The shows began a good relationship with the Journal-Star, and one that paid off when former Journal-Star reporter John Komosa joined the staff in the fall of 2020.
Now, the almost two-year-old company has evolved through the years to covering the best high school events in Central Illinois. The staff has grown to nine and has allowed CSM to produce new and higher quality content. The sports coverage now includes golf, volleyball and soccer along with basketball and football.
“I got involved because they were looking for an intern so I reached out to Larry and Joey and I think that was a great decision,” Francisco Alonzo, a freshman sports communication major and media assistant from Guatemala said.
Adding other sports wasn’t the only change though. Graphics are always continuously being worked on, while live broadcasts and photos from the events have also been implemented to give a more professional feel to the brand.
Pictures taken at various games in Central Illinois
“I think the most impactful change that Clutch Sports Media has made this spring has been the addition of video broadcasts. Doing video has allowed us to expand our audience and brought our fans closer to the action,” Wright said.
Even after creating the brand just months before the coronavirus pandemic, the group has adapted and overcome the challenges in a performance that seems, well, clutch.
With limited-to-no attendance at high school sports, the team at Clutch Sports Media took it upon themselves to give the best possible broadcast for family members, students and fans who would have been at the game instead.
“With a lot of high school sports having capacity limits, it’s allowed us to grow our audience exponentially. Parents, friends, and fans want to be able to see their favorite athletes play and thankfully we’ve been able to provide that for thousands of people,” junior sports communication major and Clutch Sports Media member Josh Schwam said.
These circumstances only allowed the audience to grow even more for the broadcast company. @ClutchSportsIL, the groups Twitter account, is already nearing a thousand followers, but it hasn’t just been fans who have bought into the experience.
“The most rewarding part of the Clutch Sports Media experience has easily been the people. I love talking with area coaches and players and hearing feedback from parents and supporters who watch our broadcasts on a weekly basis,” Wright said.
CSM has seen a rise in average viewers on YouTube, this has enabled them to reach a larger group that will hopefully keep coming back for more content.
Viewership of CSM broadcasts in spring 2021
The success that CSM has seen since its recent creation has been more than just lucky. The group has taken a market used to paying for their high school sports coverage and has given them an outlet that which is free. The viewers speak for themselves, the hard work that the team at CSM has put into their product has far advanced their reach, and it’s only going to reach farther from here.
Normal West and Peoria High face off in a playoff matchup