BBC Sport U:SAY Application

What Hollywood is to film lovers, the sports studio is to sport fanatics. BBC Sport opened up their doors to University of Manchester students a couple of months ago, to have a look around the studios, where shows like Match of the Day are filmed, and go back stage to where output is controlled and producers swear. Now they want more people to join.

University Students were given the chance to play with the BBC’s brand new virtual reality toys too. Some set the mode on the goggles to send them to the top of the Empire State building, whereas other entered the virtual reality mode of University students not being in crippling debt.

This was part of BBC Sport’s U:SAY programme. They are bringing in anybody from 18-25 years old to talk about every sport, from curling to naked mud wrestling. They are looking for anybody with an interest in sport, to join a group of 18-25 year olds and have their brains picked, in exchange for access like no other.

The next session will be on Wednesday 5th April, 1pm, at Media City, where the team will get students together to talk about sports they love. It’s a bit like being at the pub, but instead of a gin and tonic (yeah, I know), it’s a glass of fancy lemonade and cookies… all on the Beeb.

Fuse FM’s Josh Jenkins went to the last event: “We’d walked around the ground floor, past TV presenters and reporters, having a look at all the back-stage stuff. It surprises you just how much work actually goes into producing each show or piece of content.”

Ross Taylor, Head of Audiences at BBC Sport and Radio 5 live, had this to say on why they’re doing the event: “At the BBC, audiences are at the heart of everything we do. Our Universities: Sport & Youth (U:SAY) programme provides us with the platform to speak to students directly and for them to tell us what they really think about what we do. This feedback is invaluable and helps to inform what we at BBC Sport create, produce and deliver across our platforms.

“The U:SAY sessions are designed to be interactive and experiential, so that by the end of each one we have a better understanding of the audience – and they have a better understanding of what we do too.

“I hope you’ll join us for a future event!”

To register interest for any future events, click here. Events are planned to run throughout the rest of the year.