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Drive business growth with rural America marketing insights

Are you ready for actionable marketing insight you can apply to help you reach, connect and convert rural American consumers? Hop in the front seat as you’ll be riding shotgun with Cliff Callis, your OUTdrive host, as he takes you down the road to success.

Aug 17, 2021

Baseball may be America’s Pastime, but for play-by-play announcer Bill Brown, the sport spans a lifetime. In this episode of OUTdrive, Cliff visits with Bill about the journey from his childhood as a baseball fan in rural Missouri, all the way to the MLB broadcast booth.

Bill is a semi-retired sportscaster who spent 30 years as a play-by-play announcer for the Houston Astros from 1987 to 2016. As a veteran MLB broadcaster, Brown has been honored several times over the course of his career including a 2013 Texas Sportscaster of the Year Award by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. A Sedalia, Missouri native, Bill earned a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and started his career by calling local high school and college sports in the Jefferson City area. Bill made his way to the MLB scene with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970’s, joining the broadcast team following back-to-back World Series and NLCS titles in 1975 and 1976.

Bill shares stories about former professional players, winning and losing seasons, and what it’s like to live a day in the life of a sportscaster. Tune in to this week’s episode of OUTdrive to hear about the home runs, and strikeouts, of working in professional baseball.

What you’ll learn:

  • Game-day prep work for a play-by-play announcer
  • Changes in sports broadcast and marketing over the last decade
  • The characteristics of a great sportscaster
  • Bill’s personal encounters with baseball’s greatest players
  • Lessons from the highs and lows of working in professional sports
  • How to create fan engagement in losing seasons
  • Bill’s advice for aspiring sportscasters