JMS graduate Liam Farrell gains behind-the-scenes experience with NBC Sports at the Winter Olympics

When Liam Farrell received a call regarding NBC Sports' Winter Olympic Immersion Program, he was on the road.

“When I saw the unknown number and got the voicemail saying it was NBC Sports,” Farrell recalled, “I pulled over and called back.”

The call confirmed that Farrell, a recent School of Journalism and Media Studies graduate, had been selected for a position working behind the scenes on NBC Sports’ Olympic coverage. For Farrell, the opportunity represented a major step into the professional sports media industry.

Farrell, a Los Angeles native, attended SDSU after graduating high school in 2021. Although he initially explored campus journalism opportunities, he ultimately built his experience outside traditional student media organizations.

“I’ve always been a big Notre Dame football fan,” Farrell said. “It was something I knew the most about.”

Covering Notre Dame football for the Irish Tribune became one of the first consistent journalism experiences on his resume. He earned his first byline his sophomore year of school, and through a year of hard work and dedication, became promoted to the site's Senior Football Writer. On campus, Farrell worked for Aztec Recreation, where he held the top student leadership position overseeing the Competitive Sports program for two years. While his involvement with campus organizations remained specific, Farrell focused on gaining professional experience across multiple sports-related roles.

During and after college, Farrell worked various jobs within the sports industry, including both journalism and communications positions. He noted that gaining experience at multiple organizations, including CBS Sports, San Diego Mojo, Titleist, and the LA Clippers, helped him move into more competitive opportunities.

“It’s all about stacking experience and climbing the rungs of the ladder,” he said.

Farrell’s internship with NBC Sports took place at the network’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, located about an hour outside New York City. While Olympic competitions took place in Italy, thousands of NBC Sports employees and contractors worked from the Connecticut facility to support the broadcasts.

“As an intern, I was kind of a free roamer,” Farrell said. “If there was a task that needed to be done, I’d jump in.”

His responsibilities included monitoring news and social media, editing internal research documents and fact-checking statistics for distribution across NBC Sports’ production teams. In one instance, Farrell helped locate a Swiss butcher shop that had a sausage reportedly named after three-time Olympic gold medalist, Franjo von Allmen. A member of the production team asked the research room to confirm the story, and Farrell tasked himself with finding the shop’s contact information. The research room was able to reach the owner of the butcher shop and secure a quote for broadcast.

For Farrell, the biggest challenge during the internship involved adjusting to a new professional environment surrounded by veteran industry professionals.

“When you’re in a room with people who have worked multiple Olympics, it’s a lot at first,” he said.

However, he said the experience helped build confidence in his abilities as he contributed to research and editing work used in broadcast coverage.

“Once I got comfortable with the assignments and the people in the room, it became a great environment to work in,” Farrell commented.

He also emphasized the importance of patience when building a career in the industry as it has taken him years to progress through different opportunities. As he continues working in professional sports communications, Farrell said his experiences writing about Notre Dame football and working behind the scenes at the Olympics have helped shape his career path.