Time and energy: HBS broadcasting veteran Monica Letellier-Leloup on keeping up with the demands of the job

Monica Letellier-Leloup, broadcast venue manager, at the Women’s World Cup 2023 with a friend

Monica Letellier-Leloup, broadcast venue manager, is a sports broadcasting veteran who has been with Host Broadcast Services (HBS) over a couple of spells since the early 2000s. She is currently working in the HBS Venue Management department and loves the speed and demands of her job. Read on for more…

How did you first find out about TV broadcasting as a career? What was your inspiration or idea, and why sports broadcasting?

My journey is very atypical. TV broadcasting found me, rather than the opposite. I was meant to be an interpreter and thus studied foreign languages. I landed in sports broadcasting by chance.

What got you from school to university and into sports broadcasting?

I studied foreign languages at University; I have a Masters’ Degree. Being a hostess at the start of the Tour de France 1990 gave me the opportunity to meet someone who then involved me in the 1996 Alpine Skiing World Championships in Spain as part of the ABC Sports Team.

HBS’ Monica Letellier-Leloup at Paris 2024 Olympics

What was your first job, how did you get it, what did it involve, and how did you feel about it?

My very first job was runner and driver for ABC Sports at the Alpine Skiing World Championships. I basically drove the talent from different places to their hotels or working locations, and organised the office, catering, etc. I felt really privileged to have such an opportunity.

What other jobs have you worked on that moved you along into sports broadcasting?

After being with ABC Sports I was contacted by Team Marketing to be their Madrid-based local assistant for the UEFA Champions’ League in 1997. From there I ended up in TVRS’98 as booking officer. I then was planning manager in a production company until I joined HBS in 2001 as booking officer, then supervisor, then manager and eventually senior manager of the booking front office. In 2014, after the FIFA World Cup Brazil, I decided to go freelancing to grow in other roles.

During my freelance career I have worked as broadcast liaison officer, project manager, production coordinator and broadcast venue manager, which is my favourite position.

Companies I’ve worked with are Eurovision, NHK Japan, BBC, PlazaMedia, Eurosport, Paris 2024, UEFA, European Championships Management, World Gymnastics Championships…

I have also worked for seven years on a freelance basis as risk prevention manager mainly with the company Arvest Prevention in concerts, exhibitions and similar events.

How did you get your current job role?

I applied through LinkedIn but also sent my application directly to HBS and the venue management team. It was literally my dream job!

What was hard about getting the job, learning the role, and keeping it?

Competition with the other candidates, how to be the chosen candidate. I am still learning the role since it is very extensive and hope to keep it as long as possible. You need to be flexible, proactive and respectful of the processes and procedures.

What’s the hardest thing about it?

Making sure that all aspects of the venue management related topics are properly covered.

What do you enjoy about it?

I would say everything: preparation and planning phase, travelling, operations and delivery.

What challenges have you faced over the course of your career?

I really must admit that I have been extremely lucky in my career, although in the past, I know that some opportunities were not given to me because I am a woman… Things are slowly changing!

What’s the most challenging thing about working in live sport today, or generally, and why?

Keeping up with all the new technologies, you need to be very interested in everything that is going on and changing at a very fast pace.

Monica Letellier-Leloup at the 2022 European Triathlon Championships with a large squirrel called Gfreidi

What draws you to your career in live sport?

I love the speed of the job, always on the move even if you are in an office, there is always some new challenge coming your way. And travelling is always very exciting, meeting new people, different mentalities, new places and new challenges.

The technologies used in sports broadcasting have evolved rapidly over recent years. What for you in your day to day job is the most exciting, and also what is the biggest gamechanger for this industry overall?

The biggest change, in my point of view, remains the remote and cloud-based production that drives more and more events.

We are looking into reducing the carbon footprint and therefore we need to aim for less travel and shipping of equipment and staff. The tendency is to reduce the impact of an event on the environment which has consequences on the way you plan, organise and deliver such an event.

Broadcasters also tend to do more and more remote production and a company like HBS offers a full range of feeds and services that help them go in this direction without needing to have a presence on site.

Another technology that amazes me is the virtual reality and all the changes that it means for the viewers at home. I had a demonstration earlier last week and was blown away by the range of possibilities that VR will offer to the viewer.

What do you think has been a particularly exciting or cutting-edge thing in sports broadcasting that you think your company has done?

HBS went from SD to HD back in 2002 and created the multi-feed offer to broadcasters. On top of that, the services offered in and around an event have increased incredibly over the years and broadcasters can produce a very complete match or event by using all the feeds that HBS makes available to them (pre- and post-match footage, social media access, multi feeds…) without being on site.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve worked on in the course of your career? Why?

There are three events that are particularly special to me: The AFCON 2021 in Cameroon for the incredible human experience, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia for the challenges I experienced (remote production led to a very different way of working on site), and the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France for the novelty, since I have mainly worked in football and rugby is very different.

What advice would you give to other women looking to move into a role in sports broadcasting like your own?

First of all, make sure that you wish to give a lot of your time and energy to your work; sports broadcasting is very demanding…

Try to build a solid network, use all the social media platforms available nowadays.

But in all cases, it you wish to join the business… never give up!