Episode 253 Snippets: David Alter of Sports Illustrated

@njh287; www.dsmsports.net
On episode 253 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil
chatted with David Alter, Sports Reporter covering the Toronto
Maples Leafs / NHL for Sports Illustrated / The Hockey News and self.
What follows is a collection of snippets from the podcast. To hear the
full interview and more, check out the podcast on all podcast platforms
and at www.dsmsports.net.
Best Of The Digital and
Social Media Sports Podcast
Episode 253: David Alter

David’s Career Path
“I mean, look, I'm 41 years old and when I first got into this business,
whether it was broadcast or written or any sports content, I was 24, 23
years old, an intern at the all-sports radio station in Toronto. And the
model then was [you start out as] the intern, then you got hired, and then
as that company went along and I got hired, that turned into an eight year
employment at Sportsnet. Everything was good, my career was building
up. I became the [Toronto Maple] Leafs reporter for the radio station for
the final three years of Sportsnet radio there. And you know the way
things change and mediums change and priorities change, and what we
see with legacy media and my final year, my employment there ended.

“Then along the way, I wrote for the Leafs website for one season.
Then I joined the National Post as a Leafs writer, but also just a staff
sports writer in the fall of 2015. That job ended abruptly when they
cut the whole sports department in early 2016. That was two weeks
after my probationary period ended where you think you're the most
safe. From that [I got] employment at Twitter for about eight months
before I landed at The Athletic, [where I] was actually one of the very
first Toronto hires when they were only in the Chicago and Toronto
markets in 2016. But then after that, you know, startup culture was
what it was. They didn't know what they were and it wasn't really the
best fit.

“After that, for a few years, it was a struggle. I didn't work for a year as I
tried to find a job in my mid 30s that was better suited to my
qualifications. And for a year I think I went through like six different
hardcore interviews where you make multiple rounds and I was always
the last round of interviews before they went with someone else in those.
And they were not in necessarily in Toronto, I was ready to move, I was
ready to go to different markets. I just really wanted to be a reporter and
do it for whatever situation arose, and for whatever reason I just couldn't.
So a close friend of mine who works for another legacy operation in
Canada, after I told him about the most recent [job rejection] and how
dejected I was, he's like, Well, they have this web writing thing at my
[company], I know it's not what you want, but it's available.

“At that point, I just kind of rolled around like, yeah, sure. He's like,
really? It's like, yeah, I mean, for a year, I was doing nothing. I
couldn't really figure out, like, I may as well go out and have a
purpose to get out of the house, and go to an office and do that and
just maybe get a new experience at a place I've never worked before
and see what would happen. But what ended up being two years of
freelance work there, not really doing anything to advance my career,
it was actually the first time I just left a job outright, by myself, after
going through that stuff.

“From there an opportunity with The Hockey News came in the beginning of 2021
that I was ready to jump in on full stop. Very different model. That turned into
something with Sports Illustrated, because Sports Illustrated has a partnership
with The Hockey News. And now [I have] a model that I think we're going to see a
lot of, which is, you know, you have your own microsite and you do it as a business.
So that's grown now to the point where I'm able to operate somewhat
independently. Like, I mean, I still have to obviously adhere to guidelines and be
professional...but it allows you to operate independently that you can sell yourself
and not necessarily feel locked in to one particular situation. And if you are
entrepreneurial enough and you build a background enough and you learn things
along the way, I think it's actually one of the better situations, whether you feel like
you can — not merge to being an influencer, but if you can take the elements of
marketing and influencing into part of your job, I think it really can be super
beneficial for you.”

On getting into reporting and writing as his career evolved
“I got really lucky in my university days. So I went to Western University, formerly University of
Western Ontario, which is in London, Ontario, and I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I wasn't
sure. I was always really good at math in high school, and I thought I wanted to be an actuary, which is
statistical mathematics. So I was doing like hardcore math in my first couple of years. But what
happened was, you know, not necessarily knowing if I want to do math or want to do business…I was in
[the dorms] again for the second year…and they put me on a media faculty floor because of a numbers
imbalance. Usually they try to, like if it's a media faculty floor by design, they try to put someone up a
year who's also in there, but it just didn't work out that way. So because I was there and they were short
on frosh leaders, which are the people who helped the frosh during orientation week and stuff, they're
like, Well, can you work with them? I'm like, Yeah, sure. It's the media faculty floor, but my my best
friend also worked in media [on campus] and was doing that kind of major. And I remember at a
different university when I came to visit him, he was doing a campus radio station show and I came on
just to fill the time because he was doing the graveyard shift before they filled stuff. So I'm like, okay,
whatever. I mean, I don't know if it's for me because, you know, it's a lot of independent music, I don't
really have that interest. I really didn't want to go to this info session; the second week of school they
have all those in the big building, they have all these clubs that you can join and stuff. So I'm like, Oh,
okay, sure. But because I was on media faculty floor they kind of pushed me to go with them. I'm like,

“So I'm just sitting there and I'm not really paying much attention to
it for the campus radio station, and they're like, Yeah, here's this guy
Carlo, who's in charge of the news and sports department. I'm like,
Come again? He's like, Yeah, we do play-by-play for varsity sports.
Like that sounds like a lot of fun. To the point where I just leaned
into that and I enjoyed it so much that I spent more time doing that
than I was ever in class or doing homework, maybe to my detriment.
But I just loved it. I just loved calling play-by-play. It's kind of what I
always wanted to do, and also is a way for me to stay engaged in the
game because you remember everything you say, or at least that's
kind of my recall.

“So I did that. I called some hockey, some basketball, some football, and then between years
three and four, the news and sports director, that guy who was in charge of that department,
died suddenly at age 38. He had type one diabetes and he lived alone, and he had a
complication. I remember we had just done a broadcast with him where I was a sideline
reporter. He was a play-by-play guy for the football team, and we went to his memorial and
then,I don't know what it was, but like, I just felt more like I have to give this a try. Like I have
to give this career a try. So that ended up being after school I just kind of dropped down to
economics because the math started getting way too hard for me and I had no ambition to finish
that. That kind of dropped down to economics just to kind of get it out of the way as fast as
possible. Then I submitted my demo of the stuff I was doing at college to a guy who was a sports
director at the all sports radio station in Toronto. I got his email address from some contact that
I knew, and he got back to me pretty quickly…you know, when you're trying to reach out to
people, you don't know what to say. I think I put like full time slash part time slash internship.
Like I didn't know what to say, right? And I just sent him some MP3 clips. He's like, I don't have
any positions and I'm completely stacked with interns. But call me, I'm willing to hear you out.

“So my heart's beating a mile a minute. I have no idea what to say to this
guy or what it means. So after we spoke, he invites me to a meeting at his
office, and he's like, I wasn't lying when I said that I don't have space, but
I will have an intern spot open in a few months. Reach out to me in a
couple months, and then we'll see what we can do about getting you in
there. And so then those three months came [and I went] about making
sure he remembered me. He didn't remember me. Sometimes he doesn't
respond to emails I learned later as I worked for him [and] I remember
listening to the radio station that he was doing an on location, as a host
he sometimes hosted at the mall. I'm like, okay, perfect. I'm going to go
on location and reintroduce myself so that he remembers me and that
proved to be beneficial.

“Anyway, that internship turned into doing some on-air stuff. And you have to recall, like the sports
radio station that I worked at was like the fourth one ever in North America. It was such a
pioneering format. I wasn't allowed a TV in my room. [Growing up] when when the [Toronto Blue]
Jays were winning the World Series in the early 90s, I was listening to that station on my Walkman
and, like, I grew up with all those people. So working at that radio station was a dream come true.
So, yeah, that turned into an internship which turned into part time regular staff to eventually
becoming Leafs reporter. For a lot of my mid to late 20s I worked there and I never said no to
anything and just worked my butt off. I lived close to the station so that if there was a last minute
illness where someone had to do a sportscasting shift or whatever or a reporting assignment came
up, it was just immediately me. And I used technology to my advantage too, because back in 2006
when that started, you know, a lot of people didn't have smartphones back then. But I learned how
to get my work email, which they gave to interns, onto my BlackBerry. And whenever he would send
out opportunities to interns, hey, who could do this? I was usually one of the first to respond. I can
do it. I can do it. So that's how I found the love for the business. And, you know, despite some of the
pitfalls that come along the way, the love outweighed the feeling of ever wanting to do anything else
for my career.”

I think [leaning into the reporting side] was mostly when I was doing stuff on air at
the station it was more reporting than anything else. Because back then the Fan 590,
which later got rebranded under Sportsnet, but when it was its own brand, it held a
pride of making sure, no matter how important the event, that someone from The
Fan was there, whether it was an intern, a staffer or whatever, they made sure
someone was there so that, you know, they show that The Fan was everywhere. Like
that was the whole thing. So a lot of my stuff always came with reporting in mind.
You know, when I would do sports casting or I would do hosting. For me, play by play
was number one, but play by play didn't really — there wasn't openings for that there.
What I did do was…I did free myself up on Saturdays to still call football games,
which my boss at The Fan encouraged because he didn't have backups for these
people. So it was nice for him to know I was still getting that experience somewhere
else in the event they had to throw someone to do play by play football for the [CFL
Toronto Argonauts], for example. Like there's just that kind of stuff that can happen.

“So for me, reporting has kind of always been the thing. And then it really just changed
from Am I doing 40-second scripts to am I going to do other things? You know, I did a
podcast back in 2007 with some colleagues at The Fan when podcasts weren't really a thing
and no one was really doing them. But Apple had launched this concept, and that's why
they're called podcasts, because Apple really created it on iPods. And we would do these
things, we had a funny pun name called The Alter-cation, But there was nothing to it. We
were just shooting the shit about nothing. Now, when I look back on it, I wish we would we
would have continued it, but it's amazing how that stuff is kind of commoditized now. I
always just kind of saw reporting as part of it and storytelling, really, number one.
“I think that's what links everything. So as you evolve, it's like, okay, there's broadcasting,
sure, but everything's kind of being redefined. You really have to know how to just tell what
you need to tell on multiple platforms because video is changing, audio is changing,
written is changing, social media has changed everything. So you really just have to adapt
and find different ways to tell the story.”

On social media becoming bigger for the profession and for David
“2009 was when I opened the Twitter account, and that's where I kind of
saw a little bit of the value in it where it was like, you can say what's
happening. You can use the Internet as a platform to kind of tell more
than what you got to tell. As exciting as it was growing up on that radio
station, when I'd be doing these hits, I'd have, what, 30 to 40 seconds of
airtime an hour, and then at that point, like, where's it living? There
wasn't really anywhere for it to go. And so you start using the Internet first
because if I had longer interviews, I wanted people to hear longer versions
of that interview. So I would put those up on The Fan 590 website, which
is no longer in existence, but you can still find it on the Wayback Machine.

“There's also social media was just a way of making me aware that radio was kind of in
trouble because back in the day, before 2009, if you wanted to go to any medium for real
time information, you went to radio. Like, the radio station did updates every 20 minutes
for that reason, because they knew if you wanted to hear the latest, you would get it within
20 minutes or less, as opposed to TV stations [which] didn't necessarily break in for live
events in sports to disrupt their sports programing on medium range news or
whatever…But then once Twitter came around, I saw — was it the plane that went down in
Jamaica Bay where Twitter was the first to kind of break that story before a news outlets —
and was like, okay, you know what? This could actually start changing everything. And I
kind of saw Twitter as kind of the new radio because I would always break these things by
just going up on the next update and calling in and being like, Hey, we're at Leafs practice,
this person has showed up, it means he's been called up because the rules are so and so.
We can kind of explain that where it's like, okay, well now instead of doing that, I can put
that on Twitter the moment I see that and then I can go into further context on the radio
station.

“Then in 2010, 2011, the time frame to do those sports hits are getting
shorter and shorter. And you're kind of wondering, okay, what's the future
of this? So that's kind of where I started leaning harder into social media
because you started to see the power in that and and kind of changing
things in that regard in terms of consumption. And now you're seeing it
over decades that the way people kind of consume their content, it's not
like how we used to where we just flip on the tube or or put something on.
Like I probably spend more time on YouTube than anything else now. So
it's really kind of changed and just kind of staying current with the habits
and kind of seeing what's in there and what makes sense. So that's kind of
it started really early, just kind of having an awareness just to keep your
eyes open in terms of how people are consuming content.”

On thinking about content and information when fans are all seeing the same information posted
by dozens of reporters
“It certainly starts to to permeate in your mind, but I didn't think about it that way initially. It just
kind of happened organically. So I'll give an example. When I joined The Hockey News in 2021,
you know, I'm covering this stuff, but I'm also allowed the freedom to cover and do things the way
I see fit. But because I'm independent I'm covering my own travel. But I'm seeing the value in the
travel because I can get the cost to a minimum and then I'm able to kind of help build my audience
that way by showing a commitment to the beat. And you say that there's tons of people on this
beat, and while that's true at home, to some degree, it's getting lesser and lesser; there's more and
more aggregators…you know, we do some aggregation, sure, but it's got to the point where, as I'm
starting to put my own resources into travel, I start thinking about the business element. And to
some degree I feel I'm empowered to do so because I'm committing my own personal dollars to do
it. It's not like I'm at some other place and some other place is taking care of all that stuff. All of
this is investment in myself and the brand and the community that I'm serving.

“So, of course, naturally I started to think that way. So 2021 comes around and I'm seeing
TSN and I'm seeing Sportsnet who are, you know, the two legacy TV stations that not only
co-own the Maple Leafs, but have the main beats covered here, and I'm thinking to myself,
okay, I watched the TSN reporter and he would put out lines or whatever, but then he
started tagging TSN Edge, which is their betting brand, and I was just kind of curious
about that. You learn things along the way. They're doing that to enhance the brand. So I
started getting the idea, I'm like, okay, well if that's a value, then maybe it's going to be a
value to someone, and as sports betting opens up, you can start kind of seeing that value.
And, you know, Bodog in Canada saw the value in that and so did some other places. But
the deal I made was with with Bodog, so that's where it's like, look, I think it's a fair thing
to do if you're the one who's putting thousands of dollars to travel, it's you're totally fair
game to do that. As long as you're not doing anything that questions your allegiances and
your morals. But basically I'm not doing anything a newspaper or a legacy place does. The
only difference is I have to wear six hats [whereas] they have different people taking care of
all of that. That's really the only difference.

“So, you know, I'm the sales person, I'm the marketer, I'm the
webmaster, I'm the reporter. I'm wearing multiple different hats to
help grow it. Is it a lot to do? Yeah, But I'm still able to do things in a
way that I'm seeing a benefit of it.” And it it makes sense to keep
going and tell this story and tell this journey.

On building the brand and business of David Alter
“So to be honest with you, I haven't [expanded much] because of the limited time constraints. It's not
like I've spent a lot of time just putting out bulk pitches to different places. A lot of times it'll be places
reaching out to me and then it'll make sense one way or another where that can that can work or or
we can kind of figure out something that kind of makes sense and they see a value, then I kind of do it
that way. So one of one of those things was a podcast partnership for Leafs postgame podcast with a
company out of Vancouver called Go Goat. Another one was with Bodog and another one was with
little things like the coffee thing where I give away $20 to Starbucks [in a Twitter contest], that's out
of my own pocket, Starbucks has nothing to do with that. I literally just put that out there so that
there was a prize. And when I did that in 2021, that was more so a way for me to give back to fans
who couldn't be at games because I felt bad that I have this privileged situation where I'm at games
with an empty arena [due to COVID] and can see it in person, even if it's not the same experience
where people at home are kind of stuck, especially in Ontario, where it was really shut down
compared to any other state or province in North America for the longest time. For me, it was just
kind of a way to keep people engaged in the game, even if it was a blowout or a meaningless game.

“So I thought to myself, okay, do that. And it all kind of happened organically. Now I'm
starting to be a little bit more proactive with the sales pitch, but it's more so places
coming to me about certain things, although like, hey, okay, that sounds good, but what if
we tried this? I won't come at them with a pitch, like Hey, can you help pay for so-and-so?
It's usually just, Hey, do you want to meet? Like, if someone reaches out, Hey, let's meet,
maybe there's some synergies there and then we can work something out. Like, I have a
partnership that doesn't pay me any money — last summer, I got a really bad injury in the
gym in the summer time, and for a couple of months I couldn't get the right treatment for
it. Finally, my gym told me about this physio place. I saw her there and they like fixed it. I
was paying per session or whatever and I was fine with it. They learned through talking to
me what I do, and they were like, how about in exchange for free treatment, we do some
sort of [trade]. They pitched it to me. So I'm like, You know what? That kind of makes
sense. I'm happy to tell this journey…So just things happen organically just by getting to
know people and people getting to know you that they reach out.

“Part of the issue of being independent, too, is you don't have legacy
brands where like a lot of a lot of places don't even know to reach out to
you that they'll reach out to you on Instagram or social. Like Morgan
Reilly had this thing with Kellogg's for media to attend and I didn't even
know about it, but the PR person who is in charge there reached out to me
2 or 3 days prior. I'm like, Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for doing that and
keep me on all your lists. So you have to you kind of build and do things
organically. But you know, as October rolls around and I teased it when
we talked to you before we started recording, you know, I am going to be
launching a new product that will be all about this stuff from a broad
standpoint where there'll be a little bit more in terms of the trade secrets.
I'm really excited for that to come out before the season starts in October.”

On David’s content strategy and figuring how what to spend time on and platforms to
focus on
“Honestly, it comes from when you're first starting out doing this you have little to no
money, so a lot of the motivation is how are you going to grow this thing? And are you just
content with doing whatever the job was or are you going to try and expand your horizons
a little bit? And experiences come along the way where I see, you know, I keep an eye on
what other places and people and things and other brands are doing and it opens my eyes.
Like, I'm a big wrestling fan, but more than I am about wrestling itself, I'm more of a fan of
the business and marketing of wrestling than I am anywhere else, and the way they do
things I think is brilliant. I think they're just so smart with how they grow the audience
that way. And not even just wrestling, like the companies, but even the reporters who cover
it. You can learn a lot from them as well in terms of how they engage with their
communities that a lot of sports beat [reporters] don't take advantage of. So that's part of
the newsletter creation because that's being able to kind of do things like that.

“TikTok, for example, you know, I saw it was growing in popularity, but I
thought, Oh, is it for me, Is it not for me? I don't know. But you get to a
certain age and you're like, Oh, I don't know if Twitter has the same sort of
magnitude as it did before, you just have to stay current. So my brother,
who's six and a half years older than me, he's got five kids, I have zero, but
they range from different ages from 6 to 18 years old. They didn't really
know a lot about what I do. The older ones did, but the younger ones
didn't. So I started flirting around with some TikToks and then I was at a
family dinner in December and I sit down and they're like, Dave, Dave, we
saw your TikToks. I'm like, okay, it's working. Because if I'm getting
younger people that way and doing this kind of stuff, that means it's worth
doing because whatever I'm doing there is certainly grabbing [them].

“So I'll do random stuff in the off season, like a few days ago I went to the The
Ex, which is the Canadian National Exhibition. It's [this] big fair that happens
the last two weeks before Labor Day and they have all kinds of booths there that
are experimentations, but one of them was pickle-flavored cotton candy. So on
video, I'm like, okay, I'm going to try pickle-flavored cotton candy for the first
time and see how that works. Believe it or not, it actually tasted really good. But
like, even when I'm on the road [during the season], I review the media meals
now and just things I see on the road that people would not normally see. And
reviewing the media meals became this big thing that kind of took on its own life
because I looked at TikTok and saw what's popular on TikTok. Okay, food,
celebrity sightings, random stuff. So I started it with food where I'm like, okay,
here's the media meal. And like, that thing would get like 30,000 plays. I'm like,
Why? Like, it's just a meal for me. But people are into that stuff. So I did that.

“Then about a couple months in of doing that, I was sitting down in the
Leafs media room, I don't usually eat the media meals there because I'm
eating at home. But I sit down there and the guy who's head of culinary
for [Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment] approaches me, he's like, Are
you David? I'm like, Yeah. He's like, I'm a big fan of your TikToks. I'm the
head of culinary here, I love watching your TikToks because it gives me a
benchmark as to what I can compare around the league and see what can
be done, let us know if we could do anything else. I'm going to try a plan,
a thing before the season starts to try and review if they have any new
menu items coming up and try to do that kind of stuff. Like, I'm trying to
get more broad in that kind of stuff. So yeah, I do love that stuff.

“The Leafs are a niche and I love doing that stuff, but I do like the
broad appeal that multiple people can kind of factor in and enjoy as
well. Like even doing stories about tickets, Leafs stuff during the
playoffs you know would do better on traffic because you're pulling in
not just the hardcore fan but the mainstream fans who are just kind of
curious who are just kind of tuning in for the first time and they see
this and they're like, whoa, what's this about?

“So, yeah, it's just kind of just keeping your eyes open and just not being afraid
to try different things and and do that. And, you know, you'll get ridiculed along
the way; I have for sure. But I'm like, Hey, people are into it. If they're into it,
I'm going to keep doing it. It's funny because, say what you will about TikTok
and stuff, but some of the most engaging comments I see are on there. And now
because I have a certain amount of followers there, I can go live. And that's
where like I think on the road you do like a like a check-in from the road live on
TikTok and do those kind of things. So it's unique and interesting. I don't know
where things are going to go with [Twitter] and some of these other new players
in the industry, but you just kind of have to keep your eyes open. Someone I
know who worked in marketing used to say just find any 13 year old kid and see
what they're into and that's usually kind of how you stay relevant in the future.”

About the broader audience David may be creating for on TikTok vs. his Leafs fan
followers on Twitter
“I think you have to kind of separate it a little bit, right? Like that thing of cotton
candy. I was like, okay, I'll put it on all of them because I don't know, right? But you're
right. Like I won't put [forward] lines on my TikTok, I might just put the headline
story. One thing TikTok doesn't let you do, which I wish it would, is link out like
YouTube does where you could link out to a story and have your audience convert that
way. They don't do that yet, but maybe they will in the future. But yeah, the TikTok for
me was like, okay, a lot of it is just understanding the platform and seeing what works.
So on TikTok, I think I had like three posts for a long time. I didn't do anything on it
until December or November of this past year and that was like, I did a couple things,
but then when I go on the platform, I just look at it and I'm looking at the kind of stuff
there I'm just seeing, okay, what do people go on this social media platform for?

“So for TikTok, it's not the news. It's usually like a younger version of
how to do things that's like short bursts or interesting things that are
just kind of like, Oh, hey, this is kind of interesting, right? So, for me,
it was just like, I'm kind of scrolling through it. I'm like the stuff that's
on TikTok seems to be very evergreen and stuff that will just kind of
live for a while, like little clips like me trying pickled cotton candy.
Anyone could go to it any time and it doesn't feel old or new. With
Leafs stuff, it's a little bit different. Like people can go back to the
media meal from whatever and they'll be like, Oh, that's cool…

“So I don't know, that's what I found the value in TikTok, at least for me
anyway. But it's going to change because, like, my Instagram doesn't have
nearly as much as either of those two platforms, and that's the one you
could argue you probably should be invested in the most from a
monetization standpoint, but it's probably the one I struggle with the
most, although now it seems like Reels has replaced video, so there's
more of a clear cut direction now. So yeah, I just kind of read what people
kind of go to each one for. So for Twitter, it's the hard news and linking
out stories, for TikTok it's some of the interesting video; like people go
there for dance moves and trends and that kind of stuff…I think TikTok
can be like a funny experimental thing, maybe Instagram just seems a bit
more personal.”

About building his audience with his value as a reporter in mind
“For me, it's about growing the community and what they care about the most. I'll
give you an example. Like on my Twitter, I think today I have 42,500 followers,
which, you know, as far as Leafs reporters or Leafs enthusiasts that cover the beat,
it's not the highest by any means. But I would argue that my engagement rate is as
high, if not higher, than most on the beat for the reason that those people are loyal,
coming back to me and are repeat customers in terms of clicking on my links, in
terms of getting their information firsthand from me or whatever the case may be.
So I look at that and I kind of go in that regard where I'm trying to grow things
organically that way. Because when you do that and you're sending people to
Google to click on your story it tells Google's algorithm [to] rank them higher, do
whatever, and you're seeing it in all aspects of the business. So there's some
element of that to it.

“But then, yeah, for me, it's trying to parse out and find different things that work for different
platforms for sure. So, you know, TikTok will be more about me trying funny food products I
see along the way as part of the beat or travel tips or things that I do when I'm on the road or
places to go and kind of figure that part out and how I capture or figure out sleep and do all
these things. And for me, that's more so kind of where I think things are kind of going in this
regard. I was able to hire on a writer to help out with some of the Leafs content who's well-
known in the community and he's been helping out a ton and that will help me branch out to
do some more of this stuff. For me, I'm always about the higher engagement levels and I'm
about the [video] plays. So I only have 3200 followers on TikTok, but that grew from like a
couple hundred in December. And when I see the amount of plays I have in my top videos, it's
like, okay, this is a very engaged group here. And also the content monetization platform is not
live in Canada for TikTok yet. We have some other challenges in Canada; there's a bill that was
introduced that's going to remove a lot of Canadian links on [social and digital platforms],
which is very controversial and everyone's kind of worried about it. So we have to kind of see
where that plays out, so everything is just a constant adaptation of what the climate is.

“So if something happens, you can't look at it as just a sole setback.
You have to kind of figure out how do you get above this and figure
that part out. And for me, that's that's kind of part of this journey, and
that's why I'll have a newsletter about this journey, because I think
I've not done something yet that feeds into that particular part of
what I do.”

About the content that Leafs fans want and engage with
“People wanting to know about the players off the ice is a big part of it. Just
kind of what they are and what they're all about and learning more about them
and how they relate I think is is a big one. But when it comes to the team and
performance and stuff, there are a lot of hardcore fans who follow me who just
want context and kind of look at moves on the surface that don't kind of make
sense. Then what allows me in my position and my past experience, and that's
where the whole math and economics and all that stuff comes into play
wonderfully for me is I'm able to take all those past experiences and people I
know around the league and transpose that into explaining the why and how
something happened. So that will be a lot of my articles.

“So for example, today I just had a thing about like, why the [Ilya] Samsonov case
went to arbitration, why it took that long. Or why is Auston Matthews’s extension
just this short but he's making the most amount of money. Or even last year
where there were a lot of cap shenanigans and the Leafs were dressing amateur
tryout backups for the final four games of the season. I'm able to use the laws of
the CBA and things I know around the league that explain why this is happening.
Because on the surface of it, it looks like one big joke that for four straight games
the Leafs have to dress an amateur goalie as their backup, not as a third string
emergency guy, but literally as a backup, and I'm able to kind of explain because
they wanted this guy there and they kind of created this situation on their own,
the league said no, and I'm able to use cap rules and explain the why and the how
and and simplify it so people don't have to go through Article 13A of the CBA and
understand, well, the Leafs have to do this because of that.

“I actually now have an intuition that I'm able to kind of anticipate roster types of things
before they happen. Like when the Leafs signed Matthew Knies or at the end of the year,
you know I knew there was going to be a cap problem there and then a goalie got hurt
and how are they going to use an exception to create a spot? And I'm able to kind of see
this happen before it happens because I know, under the laws of the CBA, there's only
one solution to that. So like even a day before last season started John Tavares got hurt,
but it wasn't an injury that was long enough to go into injury exception. So before it was
even out there, my story that morning was Here's why the Leafs could start the season
dressing only 19 players. And it almost happened, and the coach confirmed Is it our
understanding that if Tavares can't play, you'd have to dress a man short? He's like,
Yeah, And that's one where just knowing the CBA, that's the only option and that's where
institutional knowledge comes in. And I think that's where where someone like me is
helpful in that regard because people don't have to memorize that. They know they're
getting the why and the how of why certain things happen with this team.”

On injecting his opinion and feelings vs. all information and objectivity only
“I do throw my opinions every now and then. It depends on the timing and the severity of
the situation or whatever the case may be and the climate. Like a lot of times the people
who go to you want to know your honest feelings about it…And you have to kind of
explain it. So a lot of times I've explained that the goaltending, the handling of that
position within the franchise could be better. That's an opinion I've always held. [Leafs
fan creator] Steve Dangle I know, he's a friend. I know him from when he was an intern at
that radio station that I told you about when I was working there. I was always a big fan of
his because I always felt what he was doing was aimed at the future and it was only going
to grow, and he's now built his own company out of that. And like, you see that and you
see the Jomboy Medias and you see a lot of that stuff that are opinion and analysis and
there's an appetite for it. You don't necessarily have to be there, but if you're giving sound
reasonable explanations and opinions that are not absurd there's value in that.

“And I think reporters can do it, too, to a degree. The only thing we as
reporters have to be very careful of is we have relationships with these people
and we're with them and we're around them on a daily basis. So you have to
be aware and sensitive to those as well. So while it may not be popular to give
the middle of the road opinion, sometimes my middle of the road opinion is
the opinion, but when necessary, I will go harder or lean into it. You know,
your audience expects you to hold the team accountable, too. If the team is
playing like shit, you got to call them out on it. If they're playing well, you got
to give them the kudos and you got to credit them. If you think a move is
good, it's good, if you don't and whatever. So I think there's balance in a lot of
the way you handle it. It's no different than the old journalism tenet [about]
they say make good columnists and journalism is ‘firm but fair.’”

On being on the Leafs beat when their GM left this offseason and a new one came in
“Well, a lot of it, just because it wasn't really expected, is just kind of absorbing it. So
that happened five, six days after the end of the season, and then it's just kind of
getting fallout and reaction and trying to understand why and trying to take a
balanced approach as to why it happened and trying to figure out what are the
things that led to that based on your experiences firsthand, based on what you saw.
So in that situation, I'm able to kind of extrapolate that I noticed relationships
between GM and president weren't the same as they were from when I was there
back in 2014, that there were differences and things happen. And the way the
economics are between MLSE and paying people to not play have changed since the
pandemic that like, you know, maybe if this was pre-pandemic, Kyle Dubas wouldn't
have been in a final year in his contract and some sort of deal would have been made
beforehand.

“So you start to go back and figure out how did we get here? But yeah, it's
one of those things where you kind of have to figure that part out and
then just let that breathe a bit because it was such a surprise and shock
and then kind of get around the horn and figure out, okay, who's coming,
who could be the next person in that regard and next in line. So I think
there's a detail-oriented process in terms of figuring that part out and
then just kind of getting to know what the new guy is all about. That's me
reaching out to the new GM and just saying, Hey, here's who I am. I cover
the team. Congrats on the position. Then, you know, I've had to text
[whoever] for about other things and, and just establishing that
relationship early on that this is going to be that person and I'm going to
be around, and that's essentially it, really.

“Going from that to kind of figuring out, okay, it's still new. I know a little bit about this
guy, but let's see how it is on the daily beat when I'm on the road and I'm going to see him
at every press box on the road and and like all that stuff that happens. So that'll be a
different dynamic because then we'll have, you know, face to face conversations, not about
hockey, about other things. One of the things I like talking to Kyle Dubas about is that he
was a big Detroit Lions fan because he's from Sault Sainte Marie, which is on the border of
Michigan and Ontario up in the northern part. So we would talk Lions stuff all the time.
And as the games were kind of getting closer and they were getting more meaningful last
year, we shared some of that stuff. That's pretty much the only thing we really talked about
outside of work-related stuff when I'd see him on the beat.
“So, yeah, you get into that habit and you kind of get to know people from a personal level.
And then at that point you get to establish that relationship. And I think that's more
important than anything else. You don't rush to judgment, you just kind of spend the time
getting to know what the person is about, really.”

On trying to keep up with relationships throughout the league as coaches, scouts, and
execs come and go
“It's tough. Usually if it's someone who is around the team before and I knew from
somewhere else, that's easier. Sometimes, if necessary, if I know someone else is closer
with them, I'll ask for an introduction that way so that person can vouch for me. At times it
used to work more in the past. It doesn't so much anymore. But thanks to a contact list that
came from radio and stuff and some other places, if I had to confirm something from
someone who worked somewhere else, I would just send a cold text, Hey, here's who I am
for whatever. Just wondering if you could talk to so-and-so or if you could confirm this.
Sometimes they’ll say [the confirmation] back or they won't or they won't comment or
whatever. You just kind of have to go with it and do the best you can that way. But the one
thing I've noticed is people respect effort, appreciation and notice. So, you know, you get
more agents following you as you start to cover the clients of their teams, for example. So
things like that can help in terms of setting up things like that.

“I'll give you an example. There was a fourth line player on the Leafs
who would get bounced up between the minors and the Leafs. Last year
he ended up getting traded. But after I was done with my interview
with him in the Leafs press, I put my phone off, which I had used to
record, he's like, By the way, I just wanted you to know that I go to your
website to see the Leafs daily lines all the time. I'm like, That's so cool.
Thank you for telling me that. But try and stay off social media as much
as you can. I thought that was really neat. You didn't have to do that. So
it's cool that there's people who start to get to know you that way,
right? So you're kind of aware of those relationships and figuring out
stuff like that that you're just trying to build it better that way.”

David’s favorite player, past or present, to interview and why and
favorite coach to interview
“Oh, that's a tough one. I think right now present is Ilya Samsonov.
Because I come from a Russian background, my parents, it's their
main language to each other. And he's the first Russian goalie on the
Leafs. So actually being able to communicate and talk to someone in
another language and that he's so refreshingly honest about
everything is probably my favorite right now.

“[For coach], I would say Paul Maurice would probably be the best.
He just seems to give really good anecdotal stuff and he just kind of
knows what you need when you're talking to him and he doesn't
belittle any question. I think he creates the most welcoming of any
type of question environment of any coach I've ever asked a question
to or or thought of. And I think that helps because he was at one time
a Leafs coach. Now, I wasn't on the Leafs beat when he was coaching
the Leafs back then, but I was around. He coached the Marlies [the
Leafs AHL team] before that too, but I got to see how he conducted
himself firsthand when the Leafs were taking on the Panthers in that
playoff round. I was just incredibly impressed.”

The writer/reporter David most enjoys reading and why
“That's an interesting one. Okay so for reading and hockey I think would be a tie
between Chris Johnston and Elliotte Friedman especially because there's context that
relates a lot to the Leafs. I admire both of them a lot and I really enjoy the context that
they're able to provide. Non-Leafs, and it's not really sports, but a reporter I kind of
admire, he's kind of new to the beat in that regard because I don't know if you've heard
of Sean Ross Sapp, but he's kind of an emerging go-to voice when it comes to wrestling
news and just the business model that he's created for himself. He just gives you the
straight goods of what's going on [and] I've found that to be very entertaining in terms
of learning about the business element of it. There's a few other sports business people
I do like following. I can't remember names — I'm a big sports business guy, so I like
Sportico, SBJ, as well, I do read some of the Front Office Sports stuff as well. I like
their approach to newsletters and so I'm a big fan of those as well.”

What David’s advice would be for an aspiring sports reporter
“Build an audience any way you can. Find something you love, stick to it and focus on growing it.
And consistency is key. Don't just do it if you don't feel like you can't make a multi-year
commitment to it because a lot of audience growth just doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of
passion and dedication to it. I'm a big tech nerd as well and didn't really get into that in the first part
of the podcast. So I follow a lot of tech journalists and it was actually something I thought I was
going to do if sports journalism didn't work out because I've always loved gadgets and stuff. So
there's a very popular YouTube channel called Unbox Therapy that was started by this guy Louis
based out of Toronto. And, you know, he started his channel as he worked at a computer store… just
kind of teaching people stuff there and he was doing stuff, it was whatever. But then it took one
video to go viral and then he became a sensation and he was the first one to do the iPhone6
bendgate where he took an iPhone, showed the metal behind it and was able to bend it just like that.
And that thing took off like crazy. Then he's been able to make that a business just straight out of
that. And that may not have happened, but because he had been doing it for years and built up an
audience to do it, that's how we did it.

“If you're starting out, you don't have that. Try and find some
internship work or stuff with a legacy place so that you could at least
have somewhere to start with your audience, but then evaluate
yourself every six months to see where you can go and push it even
further so that you can grow beyond the outlet you're working for.”

The most memorable story that David has ever written or reported on
“There are a couple, but one that stands out to me is when I was at the Athletic. You know, there
was this pressure where we're the new place on the beat and in addition to just writing for you,
you're writing for the platform to get attention. So there was a player on the Maple Leafs who's
now in the media because he's since retired who for two months he was just an eighth defenseman
on the team. His contract status was such that they couldn't send him down because he'd get
claimed and the coach wasn't playing him, so he was just kind of sitting there for two months. So I
kind of went up to him after everything and just did an interview with him and he poured it out.
“First off, I was appreciative to him for telling me everything honestly and candidly, and I went
with it and the thing took off like crazy to the point where the legacy outlets had no choice but to
say me of The Athletic and the story because it became the number one story in the market. So for
me, that was pretty cool because I felt I did my job in addition to telling the crucial story, but also
helping a startup brand. So for me, that was a real big thing.”

On how generative AI could help David in his job
“I've only used AI for one thing in journalism, and it's purely suggestive, I should say. And what it
is, for me, it's like now that I write for myself, I have to think about headlines. So what I'll do is I'll
take my suggested headline and I'll be like, okay, what's a better optimized headline for this?
Because I was never good at headlines. So I'll look at some free suggestions and I might go with
them if they are better, but a lot of times they aren't. So I'll look at it from a, Hey, you know what?
That actually sells it more than than my idea, and if it's optimized for SEO, that means it's actually
going to perform better in Google than the headline that I came up with. So as long as it's not
mislead leading or outrageous. I think there are places for it. But yeah, there is that concern. I've
never let it do copy for me ever. I've never let it really fact check because a lot of times it's wrong.
“I am curious from a planner standpoint, if it would make sense for someone like me in terms of
how to plan out my day, letting it do task management. From that standpoint, it makes a lot of
sense, but I'll never let it pick things for me. I'll maybe let it come up with suggestions, but in the
end I'll be making the final decision because you still need a human to discern everything.”

The most memorable game that David has ever been at for work or as a fan
“I have a few because I've been to a lot of things because prior to 2011, when I
wasn't the Leafs reporter, I was general assignment. So I've done absolutely every
sport. I've been to two Olympics, I went to Vancouver in 2010 and London in
2012. 2012 was especially cool because the radio rights holding team that I went
from, it was 14 people for Vancouver and it was only two of us for London, so that
meant I got to do a lot of crazy assignments. Like, I got to be in the main stadium
Canada radio spot for a lot of big events that happened at Olympic Stadium in
London. So I got to see the 100-meter final up close and personal. I've never felt
silence before in my life where you're in a stadium of 80,000 for a big event and
you go from ambient noise around to everyone completely silent before that gun
goes off that you could actually feel that silence. So that was pretty cool…

“In 2015, I was freelancing for [Canadian Press] while I was in between a
couple of hockey jobs and I got to string for AP Radio for the Jays playoff
series against Texas in 2015. So I got to be there in person for the Joey
Bats [Jose Bautista] bat flip moment. So that was pretty electric and cool
to witness. There's been a lot. For The Athletic my first day on the job —
so The Athletic launched in Toronto on October 13th, 2016. The first
thing I ever did for them really was October 12th, 2016, which was go to
Ottawa and witness Auston Matthews’s first game, and that was the four
goal debut. And that was pretty insane to witness because I had a lot of
first party accounts of what that experience was like, and people really
wanted that experience. So there's a lot of them. I've been very blessed.”

If David were commissioner of NHL for a day, what is one change he would make?
And then second, if he were head of Twitter for a day, what is one change he would
make?
“Head of NHL the big change I would make is from a marketing standpoint and
start changing the focus on the players. Like, more of a focus on the players and
marketing around the players than about the teams. As important as the teams are,
I feel the NHL really lags in that department. I was actually doing a podcast with
someone before where we were talking about just how important pthat is]. Like
what the NBA does and how the NHL can kind of learn from it, like mid-season
tournaments, I love that idea.I like a lot of different things that can grow the game,
but they just need to do more social media-wise that focus on the individual players
because that brings more league-wide awareness than just generic team stuff and I
don't think the NHL understands that enough.

“As far as Twitter goes, that's a tough one because I actually used to
work at Twitter. But I don't know what Twitter can do more than it is
right now in terms of just what they do, but maybe more of a change
in terms of educating and the partnerships and maybe more
moderation. When I was there, I was a human moderator for stuff
that would go in the Moment, in the news stuff, and I liked that part
of Twitter. So I probably would do a little bit more in terms of
moderation. I do think content creation and building a business is
important and they're doing some stuff there, but you wonder at what
cost. So that would probably be the change I would make there.”

The NHL rink with the best press meal and the
rink with the best press box
“The best press meal is in Detroit, Michigan,
hands down. I'm actually bummed that the
Leafs are not going to be there during the
regular season this year because their one game
on the road in Detroit is actually designated for
the games in Europe. But that's fine because I'll
go to Europe instead. But Detroit is the best.
Little Caesars Arena, they have this big buffet
for all Red Wings and Pistons games and it's
majestic. It's so great. They have like so many
different proteins, so many different things, it's
a scene, man. That's by far the best.

“The best press box experience is Montreal.
Montreal, you just feel the vibe of the
crowd behind you because it hangs. But you
can feel the energy of the Canadiens fans
behind you. I might be a bit biased because
every time I'm in Montreal it's Leafs-Habs
games, which is the Mecca. A Leafs-Habs
game in Montreal is by far the best
experience of any hockey experience. So
that's the best press box. It hangs in a really
good spot. You feel the energy of the crowd
and you feel like you're at an event. So
Detroit, best press meal, Montreal, best
press box.”

Who will end up winning more Stanley Cups — Auston Matthews or Connor
McDavid?
“I have no idea. I'm going to say Auston Matthews, and I'm only going to say
that because I think Auston Matthews has more of the contract flexibility to
pick and choose where he wants to go where that can kind of make sense.
There hasn't been a Canadian team winning the Cup since ‘93, and that's what
makes that question so hard to answer. But it's a fluky stat when you factor in
that there's been, I think it's seven Canadian teams that have gone to a Cup
final and I think it's five that went all the way to game seven. So it's really a
fluke when you think about it. But yeah, I'm going to say Auston Matthews just
because I think the circumstances will change. I could be dead wrong on that.

“It's a very impossible answer to kind of figure out because I think
circumstances, teammates, teams are going to change that. Connor
McDavid might be able to do more on his back in terms of pushing
that. He's definitely won more playoff series in that regard. But I don't
know, it's very tough. It's very tough to answer that question. It could
be the same. It could be Auston Matthews getting more. It could be
with the Leafs, it may not be with the Leafs, [Matthews is] only a Leaf
until age 31 for now. So we'll see.”

David’s Social Media All-Star to Follow
“If you're a hockey fan, definitely [follow] Elliotte Friedman [@FriedgeHNIC on
Twitter]. I think he's become the go-to insider. I think that's really important. I like a
lot of the sports business stuff, I think that's really important as well, like Front
Office Sports (@FOS) [and] Sportico (@Sportico) I think are really worth following.
The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) as well, even though they do betting, I
think they do a lot of the business element as well. I think those are some really key
follows.
“Outside of that just lean into what you're passionate about, what makes sense.
There's some tech stuff that I like as well. The Verge @TheVerge), I think that's really
good. If you kind of want to get a sense of what's happening in the tech world that
might be able to help you. The Verge and CNET (@CNET) are really good follows as
well.”

Where to find David and his work on digital/social media
David is @dalter on Twitter and @DavidAlter35 on TikTok and IG;
find his work on Sports Illustrated and on social

@njh287; www.dsmsports.net
Thanks again to David for being so generous with his time to share his
knowledge, experience, and expertise with me!
For more content and episodes, subscribe to the podcast, follow me
on LinkedIn and on Twitter @njh287, and visit www.dsmsports.net.

Episode 253 Snippets: David Alter of Sports Illustrated

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