When Austin Monte tells people he "indirectly worked for ESPN" during his first semester at 5X社区, he's not exaggerating. The Long Island, New York, native graduated in May 2025 with hands-on experience that most students at some other universities don't gain until their junior or senior years. Now, less than a year after graduation, Monte is preparing to bring NBC's coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games to viewers around the world.
鈥業 Want to Push All the Buttons Right Away鈥
Monte鈥檚 motivation for choosing Kent State over other universities was clear: immediate hands-on experience.
"I knew I wanted to go out of state from New York and when I was looking at schools and I found the media program at Kent and all the things I could do right away - get that hands-on experience right away - I immediately fell in love," Monte said.
Unlike programs at some other universities where students have to wait years before they start doing real production, Kent State's digital media production program put Monte in professional environments from day one. "I know some of the bigger sports conferences schools, you don't get hands-on right away. You got to wait until your last few years," he said. "And I knew for me, I was like, no, I want to push all the buttons right away. I want to play with all the toys."
Four Years of Real-World Production Experience
Monte graduated with a bachelor's degree in digital media production and a minor in broadcast engineering technology. But his education extended far beyond the classroom. Throughout his four years at Kent State, he worked for both TV2 (now KentStaterTV) and TeleProductions (the university鈥檚 full-service video production center), gaining experience in studio productions and live sports coverage.
"If you're trying to go into the system similar path I did, I couldn't recommend it more," Monte said. "I really think getting both sides of the studio prep and those studio shows as well as the live sports and all the other events that TeleProductions covers - I think the skills you learn from both help each other out. And I definitely see myself using stuff I learned from both of those in my current work."
Monte worked virtually every basketball and volleyball game that TeleProductions covered, whether for the in-house Jumbotron or broadcasts on ESPN Plus. He also worked on nearly every show at TV2 at least once, building a diverse portfolio of experience.
鈥楾he Stuff You're Doing Already, It's What You Do in the Real World鈥
After his sophomore year, Monte applied to intern at NBC Sports in Stamford, Connecticut. He became their first studio operations intern, and his Kent State experience made all the difference.
"I sent him a five-minute reel of just the stuff I was doing at KSTV and at TeleProductions," Monte recalled. "And he said, 'The stuff you're doing already, it's what you do in the real world. And the fact you're doing it just at college where your first two years was really impressive.'"
Monte didn't stop with the summer internship. During breaks, he continued to build relationships at NBC Sports, even asking to observe in control rooms. "I just want to sit in the control room and just watch. I'll be quiet, I'll keep my hands to myself. I just want to sit there and watch them do," he told producers.
His initiative paid off. Monte worked on Big Ten basketball halftime and postgame shows, observed Sunday Night Football pregame productions, and made connections that would shape his career.
The Kent State Pipeline
Today, Monte works as a technical director for live productions with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Guardians and Cleveland Monsters, handling in-house jumbotron shows and broadcasts for the Rocket Entertainment Sports Network.
"I sit right next to the director, got a board in front of me about a thousand buttons and I push the buttons based off what the director tells," Monte explained.
His path from Kent State to professional sports broadcasting wasn't unusual. "I joke there's a Kent State pipeline because there's a good amount of Kent State alumni that I work with," Monte said. "But it really is just the program. If I can get hands-on right away - and I've done it and I did it for four years 鈥 so I worked for four years before even graduating. It was either just word of mouth or recommendations."
That reputation extends beyond Northeast Ohio. Monte knows Kent State graduates working at the Vikings stadium in Minnesota, throughout Michigan and as far as California. "Especially in this Midwest area, the program has a good reputation," he said.
鈥榊es. In a Heartbeat. Yes.鈥
About a month before this interview, Monte's NBC Sports connections reached out with an opportunity that doesn't come along often.
"They reached out to me asking if I could do the Olympics and I was like, 'Yes. In a heartbeat. Yes. What are you talking about? Yes,'" Monte said.
Monte will work on between-sports shows and daily recap programs during the 2026 Winter Olympics, helping viewers understand what's happening across multiple sports and time zones. "I'll be doing the between sports shows or the recap shows at the end of the days or the start of the days with host in studios and whatnot," he explained. "Going over, alright, we got these sports today and here's what happened last night while you were asleep."
When asked about his favorite Winter Olympic sport to watch, Monte didn't hesitate: "I really do like the alpine skiing when they go down the hills and try and hit all the flights."
On Feb. 1, Monte traveled to NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, to begin preparations for bringing the Winter Olympics to millions of viewers - a journey that began with 鈥減ushing buttons鈥 in Kent State's studios during his first semester as a 17-year-old freshman.
