Jun Endo ’13 returns to his native Los Angeles for a production career at Fox Sports, where he blends his love for journalism with athletics.
Raised in Southern California, where it’s always 75 and sunny, Jun Endo ’13 will never forget the changing Iowa seasons. He’ll also never forget the two seasons he was a member of the Mustang baseball team.
A Mount Mercy baseball scholarship lured Endo from those warm Pacific beaches to the green cornstalks of Iowa. His time as a student-athlete rewarded him with a positive support system and many lifelong friends, an experience that only enhanced his journalism studies.
Endo has spent the past five years at Fox Sports back home in Los Angeles, most recently as a broadcast associate producing statistics during major events like NFL football games and the U.S. Open golf tournament.
Mount Mercy Magazine recently caught up with Endo to learn more about his post-graduate professional success.
Jun Endo ’13 is a broadcast associate at Fox Sports in Los Angeles
He travels all over the country where various games are being played and creates the on-screen graphics during live sporting events.
Describe your role at Fox Sports.
I’ve worked at Fox Sports since graduation. I started off as a production assistant logging games for live shows being broadcast on FS1. I’m currently a remote broadcast associate. That means I travel to the cities where various games are being played, and I create the graphics you see during live athletic events. This can include performance statistics on a particular player, notes that give helpful context to the broadcast, historical info, and milestone stats. I can build some of these graphics ahead of time, but several I produce live as the game unfolds and under deadline pressure. Our announcers sit in the press box, but I complete my work in our production truck. My schedule during football season is non-stop, and I often put in 10- hour days. I worked a few baseball games this year, but not the World Series. I hope I get that chance someday.
What do you enjoy about your career?
The people I work with and seeing cities I’ve never been to before. That’s a huge perk. I’ve traveled all over: Dallas, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, Detroit, Buffalo. I recently enjoyed a trip to San Francisco, where I covered the 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals NFL game. Typically, I’m assigned one business trip per week. I spend Monday through Thursday preparing, then I’m on the road Friday through Sunday. When I covered the USGA golf season, a major highlight was the prestigious U.S. Open.
How did your MMU education prepare you for your success?
Even though I work in the communications field, my career took me along a different path than what I originally studied, which was mostly writing. Now I work in television, but not as a writer. The dedication and discipline that I put into my MMU studies definitely paid off when I accepted my role at Fox Sports. During fall and winter, that work ethic comes in especially handy when I have no life outside my job!
Did you have a favorite MMU professor?
Joe Sheller, associate professor of communication, was very helpful during my time on campus. Joe teaches journalism, public relations, and speech communications and is also the faculty advisor for the Mount Mercy Times student newspaper. He was not only a great professor but also my advisor, and he’s the one who set me on the path toward journalism.
What do you miss most about MMU?
Being from California, it’s the friends I made that I miss the most. With my work schedule, I haven’t had time to make a trip back to Iowa, and I miss being able to hang out with my friends. Life is busy, and we’ve all gone in different directions, but we try to keep in touch. ■