Casey Bryant
Casey Bryant works endlessly behind the screen, cutting and directing clips of Carmelo Anthony shooting a 3-pointer, or of Henrik Lundqvist blocking a shot. He is sitting in a studio at MSG Networks in Manhattan, creating the commercials for one of the most renowned regional sports networks in America.
Casey is a senior communication major with a concentration in sports communication and a minor in theatre. He works as WMAR’s play-by-play broadcaster for Marist basketball, baseball, and ice hockey, and his personal light, talent capacity, an outgoing persona has led him to gain a position as a production assistant for MSG Networks—where he writes and edits commercials for the New York Knicks and Rangers.
From LaGrangeville, New York, Casey balances his commuter lifestyle with his overflowing campus involvement, as he serves as the director of MCTV Sports, the Rant Sessions radio show host on WMAR, and an active member of MCCTA.
During his sophomore year, he was the director of MCTV Sports, and appeared many times as on-air talent, launching, hosting and generating content for a sports trivia show on MCTV, Sports 101, which is now in its second year. “I took on a lot because I knew that I could, and because I was so enthusiastic about everything,” he said. “I wanted to really delve into it.”
Casey’s broadcasting skills and glowing persona were built as a child involved in community theatre, as he has grown to have acted in lead roles in both plays and musicals for MCCTA, most recently playing Demetrius in fall mainstage, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “I always knew I wanted to keep it in my life,” he said.
Accrediting his confidence in broadcasting to his theatre background, Casey has skillfully mastered intersectionality between the two lifestyles of sports and the stage—as he attends Marist on the Theatre Scholarship. “Theatre is all about presentation and being able to communicate,” he said. “It’s about engaging with an audience, and that’s what broadcasting really is.”
Bearing a bright smile and an openness to the public within his media craft, Casey showcases his passion for calling games and utilizing his personality as a tool for his stand-up persona. “I’m used to people watching me, and that definitely came in handy,” he said.
His natural ability to bring smiles to his audience members and his positive aura define him as an inherent standout in the broadcast media field and in the sports communication world. His lifelong involvement and enjoyment of theatre have pushed this persona a bit further, crafting his openness as a both human being and as a public personality. “I try not to be that Troy Bolton, but it does come in handy in both realms,” he said. He also regularly writes sports predictions in articles for GetMoreSports.com.
With working as an intern for MSG Networks last fall, Casey has parlayed that internship into a position in their On-Air Promotions department, where he works in Manhattan three days a week. He currently works in the On Air Promotions Department as a production assistant—writing and editing commercials for four major New York sports teams to be aired on national television every single day.
“They offered me a paying gig to come in and edit and write some spots for them, for the Knicks, Rangers, Islanders and Devils,” he said humbly. In the MSG office, Casey will undergo a workday where he is expected to get a month’s worth of Knicks commercials done for the upcoming year. Casey’s drive, efficiency, and commitment to the power of sports in communication kept MSG Networks clearly and wholesomely engaged by his overall persona in the workplace. “I usually do about a month a day,” he said. “I am able to get a lot done.”
Casey designed and launched the Goal Calls for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma charity project with his co-workers at WMAR, a Marist hockey-oriented charity that raises money through reaching Marist hockey followers through social media and radio.
After hockey team captain, Austin King, fought Hodgkin’s and returned to the game, Casey and his team sought a way to honor him through further engaging fans in a fun and creative way—through inspiration from ESPN broadcaster, Randy Mueller. Mueller took suggestions from fans of silly phrases to yell out while broadcasting, in order to bring the utmost listeners to that small market. Casey saw a similar parallel within the idea, translating it to Marist’s club hockey team and taking suggestions through their radio show’s Twitter, @RantSessionsMAR, and donating $1 to Hodgkin’s research with every suggestion provided. The stride received great support from the team and the parents, as it was even recognized by Mueller on Twitter.
Casey had mastered a creative marketing technique while giving back to the Marist team organization that has brought him as close to his dream as possible in his life thus far. “It is just this ridiculous way to get people to pay attention,” Casey said. “It is way to keep us loose and a way to keep people interested.”
“This is something bigger than my individual accomplishments,” he said. “It is about giving to other people, which everyone should do, but this was a fun way to do it.”
Carrying his optimism and work ethic, Casey plans to continue his work at MSG full-time after graduation, and he hopes to be behind a mic and in front of a camera calling play-by-play. “I would like to be there for long as they’ll have me,” he said.