Sports stats are his speciality, Gonzaga his home team. Hillsdale College alumnus Chris Sprow ‘02 finds ample time to play with his new puppy, travel the country, and develop his latest hobby—cooking.
He is also the senior editor for ESPN Insider.
“Chris is a rockstar over at ESPN—the perfect fit for the largest sports media giant on the planet. He is thoughtful, writes well, and also has unbelievable access to big names, but always does his work with respect and integrity,” said Hillsdale College alumnus Aaron Veldheer ‘01. The two became friends after Sprow broadcasted Veldheer’s Charger basketball games, and they continue to bounce sports-related ideas off of each other to this day.
These days, Sprow spends quite a bit of his time bouncing sports ideas off of his colleagues.
ESPN Insider self-proclaims its superiority in providing expert sports analysis and predictions to its readers. As the senior editor, Sprow oversees its entire digital content, works on the NFL draft with Mel Kiper, Jr., ranks NFL prospects, and writes his own expert opinions.
In other words, “I eat, drink, and sleep sports,” Sprow said. “There’s a lot of things I get a kick out of from working in sports. If you can turn your hobby into your job, then you gain other hobbies.”
While he was a speech major at Hillsdale College, Sprow enjoyed playing soccer, taking “a gazillion” economics classes for fun, and –of course– editing the sports section of the Collegian.
“Chris was always really engaged in the application of his major, moving from theory to actual performance,” said Kirstin Kiledal, Sprow’s former academic adviser. “He was also very proud of his liberal arts education. A couple years after graduation he emailed me a sports article about ice hockey and in it he had actually made use of the term ‘logos.’”
Following graduation, Sprow landed a job with a Chicago law firm.
“I thought about going to law school, but I decided to give the journalism route a try instead. I thought, ‘You’ll regret it if you don’t at least give it a shot.’ It was something I had always aspired to do when I was little,” Sprow said.
He went on to write for outlets like Chicago Sports Weekly and the Seattle Times, before getting his Chicago sports stories published in the New York Times.
“I was out covering a basketball tournament in Chicago and I saw a reporter from the New York Times there. I remember reading a lede he wrote and thinking he missed some things. So I realized, “Hey, I can do that too,’” Sprow said.
Sprow began networking with different people in the sports world and looking for opportunities to pitch his ideas.
“Going to sports events to meet people and trying to expand my reach were both really important. I was motivated to see how far I could go,” Sprow says.
Many would argue that he’s gone all the way to the top. Sprow spends his days working with NFL players, teams, owners, and executives. He crunches the numbers for stats, leads a team of top sports reporters, and directs how and when content goes digital.
“There’s no such thing as a magazine story that stops on the printed page. It goes online and goes mobile. We have long conversations about how things should look like on our phone, or iPad,” Sprow said, “Who can read this in Spanish? Swedish? Chinese? You have to think about everything.”
Sprow also writes about 35-40 sports articles per year and immediately touches base with his writers when anything big happens during a game.
“I didn’t major in journalism. I always felt like it was something you need to do by doing it. It’s not a theory-driven practice. It’s honestly a little like speech. You can sit and watch all of the great orators, but until you get up and do it you have to take the concepts and put it into practice,” Sprow said.
Sprow has certainly found his niche in the sports world, but it may not be entirely due to his memory for numbers and writing savvy.
“Chris’ ability to make connections, network, and build relationships makes him successful in any industry,” Veldheer said. “So much of it is what you know, but Chris balances that really well with who he knows. He has a lot of respect in the industry that would carry over to anything else he decides to do.”
