Jim Nantz: ‘It’s OK to not have a hot take on everything’

With the prevalence of hot takes in sports media, Jim Nantz is beginning to wonder if aspiring play-by-play voices are a dying breed.

When Nantz calls the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills matchup this Sunday afternoon, it will mark the 40th anniversary of when he started his career at CBS. And as Nantz looks around the industry after 40 years, he sees less young people aspiring to call games.

Nantz joined this week’s episode of Jimmy Traina’s SI Media Podcast ahead of his 40th anniversary with CBS. During the interview, Traina referenced Mike Tirico recently saying he sees more students interested in being an opinion-maker like Stephen A. Smith, and less who are interested in play-by-play, a sentiment Nantz agrees with.

“It speaks to the power of social media, hot takes, creating conversation,” Nantz told Traina. “And they think that’s the business. They think that’s what they want to get into.”

Nantz said he receives and responds to letters from aspiring sports media personalities in high school and college throughout the country.

“When I try to distill what it is they want to do…they want to be famous. They want to be on TV. They want people to hear them,” Nantz continued. “And that was never the hook. It was the story and the ability to be a storyteller that was a draw. It had nothing to do with trying to get your face out there, your name out there, or say something profound. It’s just different.

“It speaks to the way we work today, everybody’s got a hot take on everything and it’s OK to not have a hot take on everything. People feel like they’re incomplete if they’re not able to converse and have something really sharp and edgy to say. It doesn’t have to be that way. But I do think the business is losing out on having a reservoir of play-by-play guys cause everybody is drawn to the idea of being on camera.”

Getting famous off the hot take route seems more attainable for students and aspiring sportscasters. Hot takes offer the potential for sudden fame and instant gratification. Play-by-play announcers have to commit to working their way up the ladder.

Additionally, there are only so many prominent play-by-play jobs in sports, but opportunities to drop hot takes on a social media platform are endless. And if an aspiring sports entertainer believes they can build a following by trying to go viral with hot takes on their own YouTube channel, it might seem more appealing than the grind of chasing a prominent play-by-play position. Start a YouTube channel and drop hot takes? Or commit to bouncing around the country scooping up announcing jobs in small markets for a decade? For many students, the former will be more appealing, while the latter will only be attractive to those who are truly passionate about the art form of play-by-play.

Media has changed in the last 40 years. Local news and cable TV doesn’t offer the same appeal or opportunity as it did when Nantz was breaking in with CBS. Today’s students are going to flock to platforms that offer more opportunity. But Nantz is right, aspiring broadcasters shouldn’t feel pressure to be edgy. And creating a generation of entertainers who believe the only way to succeed in sports media is by delivering hot takes, will ultimately a detriment to the industry.