Working for ESPN is what most sports media majors at Susquehanna and other asipring professionals in the field dream of. Andrew Porzio is currently living that dream.
Porzio ’18, was once a communications major with an emphasis in sports media here at Susquehanna. Currently, he is a production assistant with the world-wide leader in sports.
While at Susquehanna, Porzio also excelled on the lacrosse field. His senior year he was named a captain by his teammates, and also received First Team All Landmark recognition. He had 53 points his senior year, leading the Susquehanna lacrosse team to the conference championship game.
“Porzio was the offensive leader of our team last year, and he earned a lot of respect from his teammates,” said teammate Dan Murphy.
After Porzio graduated from Susquehanna, he worked at the Monmouth Park Racetrack in Monmouth County, New Jersey, as a camera operator for the horse races.
“This job was actually pretty cool,” Porzio said. “I started as a camera operator in one of the big towers, which was like 70 feet off the ground, and after doing that for a little, they actually switched me to the winner’s circle camera, which was cool to be up close to the race and the horses.”
The skills Porzio learned at Susquehanna gave him an advantage when entering this field at the racetrack, and that advantage eventually carried over to ESPN.
“The variety of the courses I took both in the communications department and outside really helped me,” Porzio said. “I would say one of the biggest things was being able to get hands on experience so early in my college career.”
Those skills were developed from hard work and dedication as Porzio excelled in the classroom.
“He was a hardworking, motivated student, you could always count on him and never had to worry about something not getting done,” said Susquehanna professor John Foltz.
When applying for the job at ESPN, he wasn’t afraid to just go for it, which lead to him getting his foot in the door at the biggest sports broadcaster in the country.
“I just went for it and applied. I had been searching for a while, probably since before graduation and applying to everything and anything I felt I was qualified for and ended up applying to the PA position at ESPN,” Porzio said.
After applying, he went through a long interview process which consisted of two Skype interviews and one in person interview at the headquarters of ESPN. When Porzio went to the ESPN headquarters in Bristol Connecticut, it was a long day. He was interviewed by three or four different people and then later found out he got the job.
Porzio is starting off in the Content Associate Program, being an assistant to the producer and doing whatever they need that given day.
“As a PA resident, I basically do a little bit of everything depending on the day. I am usually in highlights and digital three days a week and the other two days a week I am running the teleprompter for SportsCenter, “ Porzio explained. Working at ESPN is something a lot of people in this world dream of, and only a select few of those people actually get the opportunity to do so. Porzio knows that going into work everyday with guys he grew up watching on TV is an incredible opportunity to have so early in his career.
“Guys like Scott Van Pelt, John Buccigross, Kenny Mayne, Kevin Neghandi, Sage Steele, and so many others, just being able to interact with them every day and talk to them about sports has been the coolest thing,” Porzio mentioned as one of his favorite parts about working for ESPN. He has made his dream become a reality. “Get involved now while you are still in school and get involved early because the things you learn from doing those football games broadcasts and live streams teach you a lot so that’s a big thing,” Porzio said.
