Graham Whaples, UMBC Alumni ‘19

By: Sophia Blackwell 

Photo Credit: Ashley Harper Cottrell

Meet Graham Whaples,  a UMBC Alumni, ‘19, MCS & American Studies, as he talks about his fond memories at UMBC as an Athletics Broadcaster for the Retrievers and gives some advice for current MCS students.  

His fondest memory as a Retrievers Athletics Broadcaster:  “The relationships I was able to build with all of the coaches and Athletics Department staff, especially the student-led Broadcast Team.  Not only have I continued to keep those relationships alive, but I've actually used those relationships in my current position.  UMBC's Retriever Soccer Park has served as a host for professional soccer teams for practices that we've hosted over the years, and I've found myself working with the Athletics Department staff on planning, site visits, and other operations that go into logistics and planning.”

Graham is a Project Administrator at Maryland Stadium Authority, Marketing and Communications Group with Maryland Sports Commission. A typical day for him consists of the “regular administrative stuff: responding to emails, Zoom meetings and conference calls, etc.... However, our department is also outward facing, so that means I also get to attend conferences and tradeshows (in state and out of state), I do site and venue survey's and visits, attend sporting events and other events not related to sports, meet with potential partners in the Baltimore-Metro area and across the state.” 

Graham gives advice for students at UMBC pursuing sports broadcasting: “Sports and sports broadcasting are very competitive industries but there are more jobs in sports than a lot of people might think.  If you're in college, start with the university athletics department.  It's a great way to get invaluable skills and experience.  I've moved away from broadcasting just because it is such a grind and hard to juggle with having young kids, but I'm still able to work in the sports industry through sports tourism in my current position with the Maryland Stadium Authority/ Maryland Sports Commission.... so I'm lucky in that I've been able to find something that I truly enjoy doing.”

His future goals would be “playing some kind of role in getting the NFL Draft and MLB All Star Game to Baltimore.  We work closely with Visit Baltimore, the Destination Marketing Organization for the city of Baltimore, and hosting the NFL Draft in Baltimore is definitely on their radar, as it is for us at the Maryland Sports Commission.”