Cardiff Met broadcast students and alumni set for FIFA World Cup roles

A large group of Cardiff Met Sport Broadcast students and alumni are set to play their part in one of the biggest sports media operations in the world this summer, with current and former students involved in broadcast roles connected to the FIFA World Cup.

Two Cardiff Met graduates and four current students from the MSc Sport Broadcast programme will be working for FIFA Host Broadcast Services at the FIFA / HBS London production headquarters in Olympic Park for seven weeks this summer.

Graduates Dan Rhydderch and Oliver Hampson will be joined by current students Jack Tapp, Eve Pearson, Dylan Odelet and Tom Flint as part of the operation, supporting the delivery of content and coverage for a tournament watched by audiences across the globe.

They are part of a wider Cardiff Met broadcast contingent involved with FIFA during the tournament, with a number of current and former students working remotely and in the USA across different areas of the media and production operation.

Among the alumni involved are Aaron Ackerman, Harry Lowe, Alessandro Foglinio, Harvey Rutherford, Alex Goddard, Jake Allman and Oli Pau, alongside current students Sam Cocker, Joseph Dali-Kemmery, Oliver Buck, Jonah Jones, Matthew Austin, Megan Bowen and Oliver Tuffill.

Joe Towns, Programme Director for the MSc Sport Broadcast at Cardiff Met, will also be working for FIFA as a Senior Features Producer, based in Philadelphia for the group stages in June and one knockout match on 4 July.

The involvement of so many Cardiff Met students, graduates and staff comes at a time when sports broadcasting is entering a new era. The tournament will feature more teams, more matches and more cameras than ever before, with innovations including AI avatars, enhanced player tracking, semi-automated offside technology, spider cameras, 360 cameras, referee-view footage and greater use of vertical and behind-the-scenes content.

Writing about the changing broadcast landscape around the tournament, Towns highlighted how FIFA is looking beyond traditional match coverage, with TikTok and YouTube becoming preferred platforms and fans increasingly expecting content that moves across television, mobile, social media and streaming platforms.

For Cardiff Met’s Sport Broadcast students and alumni, that shift reflects the kind of industry they are preparing to enter. Modern sports broadcasting is no longer only about the live match feed. It is about storytelling, data, digital content, short-form video, live production, fan engagement and the ability to adapt across multiple platforms.

Through practical experience, industry-facing projects and the work of Cardiff Met Sport TV, students are able to develop the skills needed to operate in demanding live sport environments, from production and editing to storytelling, reporting, camera work, social media and live broadcast roles.

The opportunity also highlights the strength of the MSc Sport Broadcast pathway at Cardiff Met, which continues to provide students with routes into major sporting events, global production environments and the wider sport media industry.

Joe Town said “This is a fantastic opportunity for our students and graduates to work within a world-class broadcast environment. To see so many Cardiff Met Sport Broadcast students and alumni involved with FIFA is something we are incredibly proud of, and it shows the value of giving students real industry experience throughout the course.”

As the eyes of the sporting world turn to North America this summer, Cardiff Met’s broadcast students and alumni will be helping to tell the story of the tournament, both on the ground and from the production hubs that bring the action to audiences around the world.