SVG Campus Shot Callers: Andy Liebsch, Senior Director, Video Services, Kansas State UniversityThe Wildcat alum has expanded production facilities and won Emmys at his alma materBy Brandon Costa, Director of Digital Thursday, October 30, 2025 - 7:00 am
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The pool of production and operations talent in sports media runs much deeper than the national networks. SVG Campus Shot Callers spotlights the behind-the-scenes leaders powering the massive wave of college sports productions available to fans today. Across athletic departments nationwide, these administrators manage teams, oversee technology investment, mentor students, and ensure that hundreds of live broadcasts make it to air each year. This series highlights their journeys, philosophies, and the vital role they play in shaping live sports production.
Kansas State University has long been recognized as a standard-bearer in collegiate live production, and few have been more instrumental in that rise than Andy Liebsch, senior director, video services, K-State Athletics. A 13-year full-time veteran who has been tied to the program since his student days in the early 2000s, Liebsch oversees all live and creative video operations of Emmy and Silver Telly Award-winning K-StateHD.TV.
Each year, his department produces roughly 90 live game broadcasts - primarily for ESPN - as well as marquee linear events on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and, most recently, CBS Sports Network, where K-State became the first school to host an on-campus linear production in January 2025. His team also manages videoboard shows across five campus venues and delivers a steady stream of creative content for marketing, recruiting, and social media.
Backed by a team of five full-time staff members and more than 80 freelancers and students, Liebsch has helped turn K-StateHD.TV into one of the nation's premier collegiate production operations. Recent investments - such as the multimillion-dollar renovation of an outside television/streaming production-control room and enhanced student training center in the West Stadium Center at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and a videoboard-production-control room in Morgan Family Arena (volleyball venue) in 2023 - have expanded both capacity and training capabilities, connecting control rooms and streamlining workflows across the department.
In this edition of SVG Campus Shot Callers, Liebsch shares how K-State continues to push the boundaries of in-house live production, the philosophy that drives his student-led crews, and the lessons he has learned from two decades behind the Wildcats' broadcasts.
What are the key responsibilities of your current role?
My primary responsibility is making sure our day-to-day operations run smoothly both technically and creatively. A lot of days, there is a lot of engineering work that goes into that and just making sure things work as expected. Other times, it is a lot of working with all our talented students and staff and finding ways to put them in positions where they can help us be successful.
In a career highlight, Liebsch directed a live production of this year's Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, where Kansas State faced Iowa State. (Photos: K-State Athletics)
What is one core philosophy you try to live by when managing your team/operation?
Trying your best and making mistakes and learning from them is better than doing the bare minimum and never getting any better. Like a lot of schools, we have a lot of student workers, and, for most of them, it's their first time walking into a control room. I want to inspire them to learn to improve their craft and take ownership over whatever they are doing that day. Mistakes will happen; that is part of the learning process. As long as they are putting forth their best effort, I know they will get better. We certainly try to make sure the viewer doesn't see the chaos behind the scenes, but we must give students the opportunity to grow and prove what they are capable of.
What is one key technology investment that your department has made that you feel has greatly improved your productions, workflows, or how your team operates?
Investing in connected control and rack rooms has increased our efficiency and has had a dramatic effect on our capabilities. Being able to have everything connected helps us quickly change from one sport to another. It also increased the technical capabilities of all our shows and allows us to scale them up and down in complexity as needed.
Liebsch (center, pointing) inside K-State's on-campus production-control room during a Jan. 29 CBS Sports Network broadcast of a Kansas State Men's Basketball game against Oklahoma State
How did you get started in sports production? What made you want to pursue this career?
I got started as a student at K-State creating graphics for our videoboard productions, which was all we had at that point. I loved the combination of technical ability and creative mindset that live sports blend together. The live component and fast-paced action of sports make you stay on your toes. It certainly can be stressful at times, but that is part of what makes it such a fun industry to work in.
What is your favorite event(s) you've ever worked?
Winning the Big 12 football championship at home in 2012 was an awesome experience and being able to play a part in making that atmosphere such a memorable one was really special. Hosting NCAA Volleyball and Basketball multiple times has also been a lot of fun. The added pressure and intensity of everything that goes along with postseason play is something I have enjoyed.
What's one piece of advice that you regularly give your student workers?
Own your own education. We try to provide lots of resources and opportunities for training, but we can only lead someone to the
