Jake Humphrey is a nice guy. Not nice in the way that a used car salesman or estate agent is nice, but nice in the sense that he’s the type of bloke you wouldn’t mind your sister bringing home to meet the family.
The boy from Norwich (via Peterborough) has come a long way from getting gunged at 8am on CBBC, but after our brief chat, it’s no wonder that BT Sport have taken a punt on him to be the face of their fledgling channel.
We met in the brand new BT Sport offices at the Olympic Park in Stratford. The one-time site of what has to be the greatest summer of sport in this small island’s history – the bigwigs at BT must hope this is a good omen as they look to succeed where the likes of Setanta and ESPN have failed.
Through the glass wall of the interview room I can see the BT Sport office buzzing with activity. Televisions greet you at every turn, while techies, journos and builders in hard hats rub shoulders as everyone prepares for launch.
Suddenly, after what looked like an animated phone call, Jake bounds into the room like a Labrador pup, furiously shaking my hand and inquiring how I was. Before I get the chance to answer, he asks: “Have you seen the new studio yet? You have to see the new studio!” And drags me out of the room to enthusiastically point at a screen above my head where production staff and construction workers scurry around a football pitch that looks like a scene from Tron.
Once back in the room Jake sits, takes a deep breath and suddenly looks every inch the anchor – so how did he first hear about BT Sport?
“It feels like we have been talking about BT Sport for quite some time.
“I remember becoming aware of it right when we were out at the Euros. Alan Shearer had just got off the phone and told me that BT Sport have got rights to the Premier League – my first question was: what does that mean?
“I think though now that I have seen it, it will really open people’s eyes.”
Jake had been a part of the furniture at the BBC for a number of years, hosting Football Focus, heading the channel’s Formula One coverage and playing a major part in the London 2012 programming, so why did he jump ship to a channel starting from scratch?
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“I think what is really important is that we have guys that are passionate and right at the heart of sporting events.
“We are going to be right in the middle of the contemporary stories. For us, Michael Owen can tell us how Stoke finished four points off Liverpool and give an insight into both sides.
“David James – you can look at all the times he has played in internationals and he can then give us an insight into why the national team isn’t performing as well as it should be.
“Then you have Steve McManaman who has been out of the game for a few years but he is no less of a pundit for that. There is a lot that he brings which is good and plenty of experience in broadcasting.
“It is about getting that balance right, if we just have a load of fresh young footballers, then we won’t have any broadcasting experience, whereas it is important that we have a bit of both.”
A preference for current or recently retired footballers as analysts however, was something that got him into hot water soon after he agreed to join BT Sport, prompting sport’s other ‘Mr Nice Guy’, Gary Lineker, to tweet: “Be careful Jakey in the choice of your words.”
Was there any animosity between Jake and his former colleagues?
“I actually called all the guys to make sure they didn’t take offence and they all said don’t worry about it.
“I think the guys at BBC sport know what the problems are and they are constantly trying to work hard.
“Match of the Day is a little different too because you are trying to show all the people, all the games from the day and cover all the talking points and you have about an hour to pack all of that in.”
A committed Norwich City fan, it’s clear that with his new role Jake could certainly afford to get van Wolfswinkel on the back of his Canaries’ shirt – but what does he think about their chances this season?
“They have done really well actually. It is a difficult thing for Norwich because to be a lot stronger than they were last year where they finished in 11th place, then you are really talking about stepping up to compete with the Liverpools, the West Hams, the Evertons.
“I am not sure whether they are quite ready to take that step up yet, but I do think we have the quality now to be a mid-table side.
“I think all the clubs in the Premier League apart from the Champions League teams are in really difficult situations when it comes to strengthening their squads.
“Brendan Rodgers is being questioned what he can really do at Liverpool, as is Martinez at Everton.
“When you go to chat to these players they are always going to sign for the Champions League teams ahead of you. I think it is a really difficult situation for those guys just outside the top four to try and make that step up in quality.”
After experiencing a number of different pundits and experts, he is adamant that the most knowledgeable person he’s worked with is former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon, but after I questioned whether Dixon gets the same exposure as someone like new media darling Gary Neville, Jake spoke about the doors that the former United defender has opened for footballers consigned to the scrapheap.
“I think Gary Neville has really done this industry a favour.
“I think in times gone by, past footballers have gone down the route of I can’t be bothered with that. I have my money in the bank I just going to knock around and play golf.
“I think what Gary has done is he has really shown that you can change people’s perception of you. People thought Gary Neville was a pretty tough, hold nothing back player and he was, but now even loads of Liverpool fans love him.
“His punditry is brilliant and he is now coaching for England because of his excellent work. I think that has now opened up really top level contemporary footballers for us, who have seen what Gary has done and really thought ‘I would like a slice of that.’
“They miss the adulation of being a footballer and see that they can get loads of opportunities from their enthusiasm in broadcasting.”
With some impressive additions to the line-up at BT Sport already, I asked him whether there was anyone missing – a person he’d love to interview but hasn’t had the chance as of yet. Jerry Goss was his first pick, as he regaled me with the story of how the former Norwich City legend scored a wonder goal to knock Bayern Munich out of the 1993 UEFA Cup. But he also mentioned Diego Maradona, who he described as an “amazingly gifted footballer” adding that he’d like to know “what made him tick.”
However, Jerry and Diego aside, and with my interview fixer cautiously glancing at her watch, I wrapped it up with asking what he hopes people will get out of BT Sport?
“I have to hope that we can really change the landscape of British sport.
“I hope that people tune in and go ‘I love this’ and it just becomes the destination people come to in order to watch the best sport.
“Hopefully we can use what we have got to bring a whole new raft of young sports fans. We are not taking ourselves too seriously – half the time people will come to us purely because it is fun.
“I think it can become as much a part of the British sporting scenery as Sky Sports has become. That is all we can hope for. We have everything in place, good pundits, broadcasting and the sport.”
And with another eager handshake, a toothy grin and a parting remark of “Let me know what you think”, that was that.
Jake Humphrey will anchor BT Sport’s coverage of 38 exclusively live Barclays Premier League Football matches. BT Sport launches tonight at 6pm and is free with BT broadband, to find out more visit www.btsport.com
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