MATT O'LEARY

For as long as Matt O’Leary could remember, he was always passionate about sports. His dad was always a big sports fan. When Matt was five his dad coached him in baseball and continued to coach him throughout high school.

"My dad is a big reason why I love sports today, and my older cousin, Jason. He’s six years older than me, and growing up we were very close and I always wanted to do whatever he was doing. We played baseball and football all the time together."

After some self discovery, Matt realize he was not going to be a professional baseball player he thought the next best thing was to cover sports. He began to write for his high school's paper. When he went off to College he created his own show. After writing a successful story on his Highschool's Ultimate Frisbee team, Matt knew he wanted to have a career in the sports broadcasting industry for life. The story won second prize at a Long Island High School Journalism Awards Show.

“I still have the printed version of the paper with that article saved (Yes, I’m old).”

During Matt’s time as a student, he started freelance writing for various online platforms, which he still does today. Matt’s ultimate goal is to become a full time content creator. He loves digital media and the ability to write online, create podcasts, make videos, and interact on social media. Matt says, "In 2020, almost 2021, there’s a very real opportunity for everyone to be their own boss and do content for a living online. It’s not easy, but it’s absolutely possible"

In radio, Craig Carton is the gold standard for Matt. “To me, he’s the best talk show host in the country with his ability to get people to tune in and hang on every word he says. I might not agree with everything he has to say, and there are definitely people who are more knowledgeable than he is but I’m not sure there’s a more interesting personality on the radio.”

Matt also admires the work of Barstool Sports.

“I feel like this is really cliché for someone in digital sports media but honestly, I think they do a really good job of connecting with their audience and they have content for just about anything you could possibly be interested in. Working for/with them would be a dream.”

Matt’s Podcasting Pro Tips :

1) Create as much content as you possibly can. It’s not going to be perfect but learn by doing. You find what works and what doesn’t over time but too many times people try to be “perfect” before they start out which is just impossible and it pushes them back from ever getting started.

2) AUDIO QUALITY MATTERS! I can’t tell you how many times I have tuned into a podcast and the audio has sounded so rough that it turned me off from whatever the hosts were saying. I’ve done a podcast at Eyes on Isles for four years and one of the reasons why it is successful is due to the quality sounding good. You could have the best thing to say in the world but nobody is going to listen if it sounds like the audio was recorded underwater.

3) Be consistent. Make a schedule and stick to it. If you’re inconsistent it’s going to be nearly impossible to build an audience.

With the hockey season coming back up, Matt will be covering the New York Islanders for his fifth season, over at eyesonisles.com. He also covers the Jets on YouTube (youtube.com/mattolearyny) with daily videos and a weekly podcast.

You can follow Matt on :

Instagram @mattolearyny

Twitter @mattolearyny

Youtube