Tags: stadium, DJ, announcer, music, The Equaliser, stadium DJs
For years, the role of the stadium announcer was merely letting supporters know who had bundled a ball over the line in a goalmouth scramble, or which England middle-order batsman had come up to his half-century. In 2024, with sports forever trying to innovate and capture the next generation, a ‘stadium announcer’ has transitioned into becoming a ‘stadium DJ’, spinning the records to get the home fans as excited as possible ahead of their latest match.
The modern stadium announcer:
One man who knows all about the modernisation of the role is Mike Peters, the stadium DJ at Lancashire Cricket Club.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve had to modernise it. I was the first announcer that did all of the fixtures because they’d had a presenter doing the T20 because it was more traditional.”
“Injecting a little bit of fun into it, more humour – while adapting to the style of cricket that you’re watching, whether that be Championship, one-day or T20.
“I love T20 – that’s when I’m like Michael Buffer [Master of Ceremonies at boxing and professional wrestling events] in those.”
Peters believes the role allows some creativity and innovation across all three formats of the game that excites him for years to come.
“I went to a game at Liverpool Cricket Club, turned around to my mate and said ‘I know that voice!’ – and it was John Gwynne, the old darts commentator.
“Leicestershire went up 180-odd and he did the classic – ‘Leicestershire are ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY for-whatever’.
“I was 39 when I got the job and all being well I want to still be here when I’m 75 – good health permitting.
“This is the one – I want to do this for a long time because I don’t really see it as a job.”
The importance of stadium announcers:
In a world where cricket is no longer Britain’s favourite pastime, with football becoming an all-consuming entity since the inception of the Premier League, Peters believes it is his job to capture impressionable minds who are seeing the sport for the very first time.
“I want to make sure the fans get the best experience, because it might be the first game of cricket they go to.
“I was of the generation where cricket was on terrestrial TV all the time, on BBC or Channel 4 after that – that’s how I got into cricket and kids don’t have that same chance now.
“If you asked a kid in the 80s or 90s who the England Cricket Captain was, they all would know but nowadays I’m not so sure.
“In comparison to football, obviously the Premier League is such a behemoth of a competition – and it depends where you go.”
Football and announcers:
On that point, Peters notes that as an Evertonian, his experience attending Goodison Park is a complete dichotomy with attending Anfield as a Liverpool fan.
“I want to make sure the fans get the best experience, because it might be the first game of cricket they go to.”
Mike peters
“The matchday experience is so different at Liverpool compared to Everton – at Liverpool it’s a huge number of tourist fans that come in, whereas it’s almost the opposite at Everton. It’s not so much of an occasion.
“At Anfield, you’ve got the ‘Mo Salah’ chant [to the tune of Sit Down by James], obviously You’ll Never Walk Alone, and at Everton, their last ‘song’ effectively was out in 1995 when they got to the FA Cup Final because FA Cup Final songs have gone by the by now, but there is a couple of songs that have taken on as a force of their own in the last couple of years, such as Spirit of the Blues.
“It goes without saying that Z Cars [the Everton walk-out tune] – there’s about 15,000 people at Goodison Park with that as their ringtone.
“If one person’s phone goes off in the Gwladys Street Stand then everyone reaches to their pockets – that song is just all-consuming for Everton fans.”
The importance of local music:
He believes that for Lancashire, who play at the other Old Trafford, just down the road from the 73,000-seater home of Manchester United, England’s most trophy-littered football club, spinning Manchester classics is crucial.
“With Lancashire playing at Old Trafford, the one that I always go to is the Courteeners.
“They’re a huge Manchester band, played at Old Trafford a number of times and have been supported by Johnny Marr.
“I used to play them on the radio back in the day and now they are almost a Manchester phenomenon.
“I first saw them in Ibiza at the end of a club weekender ticket, and now they headline Old Trafford and various festivals.
“With the popularity of music like Sweet Caroline, especially after Euro 2020, and in cricket sometimes you as the DJ have to orchestrate it because there isn’t as natural a chanting culture like in football.”
“Elsewhere in Manchester, music is so important so you play their bands – Happy Mondays, New Order, The Stone Roses – also things that everyone loves – your Springsteen’s, Fleetwood Mac’s, things everybody will dance to.
“At Liverpool, for example, they’ve got George Sefton who’s been their stadium DJ for 50-odd years.
“He still picks local bands to play for them to get that exposure which, in this day and age, it’s quite difficult.
“You haven’t got daily music TV shows on mainstream TV, radio is very very fragmented now and as such it’s important for new bands to get out there and sport is an ideal way to do it.”
Announcers across the pond:
On the other side of the pond, the concept of a ‘stadium DJ’ is much more familiar. The essence of ‘Americana’ and ‘sports entertainment’ is so intrinsically linked together – especially in NFL stadiums that want to get fans pumped up for gladiatorial combat.
James Waldon, known to his audience as DJ Gno (pronounced DJ No), is the stadium DJ at Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts, on Sundays from September through January.
He believes DJing in front of 63,000 rowdy American Football fans is an experience like no other.
“I’m just a big football enthusiast in general – I like the rowdiness of it all; everybody being energetic and amped up.
“It’s a dream come true. I always wanted to DJ in front of that many people.
“When you’re starting out DJing, you might not play in front of anybody – and after all those gigs I finally was able to land something lucrative like that.
“It’s a dream come true. I always wanted to DJ in front of that many people.”
DJ Gno
“You start with an empty stadium, then all of a sudden it’s packed – it’s just amazing, being in front of that many people who are football enthusiasts.”
DJ culture in America:
In America, the concept of a ‘stadium DJ’ seems to have taken off more than it has done in Britain, and Waldon expands on how seriously American sports takes the music aspect.
“Most collegiate and professional football teams have some type of music director or DJ or some type of music component and I feel all of professional sports has really embraced the DJing culture to infinity and beyond.
“There is a very rich DJ culture in Indianapolis. A lot of our pioneers like DJ Topspeed and Indiana Jones – they really consummated the environment.
“There’s all these different guys that are extraordinary, from this city, and now there’s a plethora of DJs and sporting events here for them to go to.
“Considering the size of our city, I think that we are right there with any city in the world.”
Further to the question of how American Football is different to ‘soccer’, Waldon says the NFL has been quicker to embrace the entertainment component.
“The NFL has a partnership with Roc Nation, and most of their artists are Roc Nation artists and they bring in a lot of talent from the best talent pools, so I just think that they’ve really done a good job of integrating popular culture, music and DJs with their everyday game operations in general.”
The future?:
With Waldon set to embark on his seventh season as the Colts’ official in-house DJ, he reflects on what’s the next step for this culture and what’s next for him personally in the role.
“I want to continue working with the Colts – this season is coming up, and next month we have our draft event. I’m looking to be more vocal instead of just having the DJ in the mixing component.
“I want to look to get on the mic more: be a DJ and a host, detailing the workflow and the production of pregame to be more of a festive environment for the fans and just keeping it fresh in new instead of the same thing every year.
“I’ll make sure I’m incorporating new music to my playlist, and I’m also producing music now. So not only do I just play other people’s music, I’m also producing my own music as well, and putting it out there, pitching it to labels and trying to get it played by DJs elsewhere.”
Being the ‘voice of the stadium’ certainly is different to the role a quarter-century ago, with the role continuing to expand as waning attention spans argue for more innovation – it may be interesting to see whether Britain leans into more Americana over the years. Will there be a half-time show at the FA Cup final? Will Anfield and the Etihad Stadium begin to employ music directors to shape the vision? Only time will tell, but the growing influence of music in sport can only be a good thing.
By Ryan Batty
Disclaimer:
(16 November 2019, North Rhine-Westphalia, Mönchengladbach: Soccer: European Championship qualification, Germany – Belarus, Group stage, Group C, 9th matchday in the stadium in Borussia-Park. DJ Teddy-O is standing at the desk at the edge of the field. IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the requirements of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga or the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it prohibits the use or have used photographs taken in the stadium and/or the match in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo sequences. Photo: Marius Becker/dpa)