Ep 8: Matt Groom - World Cup Commentary Behind the Scenes

That's Not Real Climbing

Thanks for tuning into the podcast! Matt Groom is a freelance commentator best known for being the lead commentator at IFSC world cups. You may also find him hosting EpicTV Climbing Daily, writing for UKC, or commentating at other climbing competitions. There's a lot of talk online about Matt, and in this EXCLUSIVE interview we go over his response to criticism as well as his explanation for some of the mistakes caught on audio.

Guest links:

Instagram

Youtube

Reference links:

Commentary box behind the scenes video

Chaehyun Seo misclip commentary

European Championships speed finals Ukraine

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Timestamps of discussion topics

0:00 - Introduction

3:50 - Not an IFSC employee

7:20 - Journey to becoming the IFSC commentator

13:24 - What does the commentators box look like

18:08 - Behind the scenes of production/broadcast

21:47 - Finding a co-commentator

27:10 - The most difficult part of commentating

30:14 - Approaching comments and online hate

34:50 - Let's go through Matt Groom bingo!

42:25 - Trying to inform new viewers and still keep old viewers engaged

46:38 - What the IFSC does right

51:38 - The REDS hot mic incident

1:01:37 - Work outside of IFSC commentary

1:05:50 - Proudest career moment

1:10:39 - Commentating for non-IFSC broadcasts

1:13:08 - In defense of fanboying over British climbers

1:18:44 - Personal climbing goals

1:21:07 - Climbing with World Cup athletes?

1:22:17 - I just want to see Matt climb in a comp

1:24:57 - Discord: Do you get much feedback from athletes?

1:27:31 - Discord: Will Charlie Boscoe ever have a job that you won't steal?

1:29:31 - Discord: In a dream world, what kind of broadcast tech would you like to have

1:32:31 - Discord: We need to know the origin of sticky Sorato

1:37:23 - Where to find Matt + outro