From F1 to Esports: Gregory Leporati on Sports, Technology and Finding Great Stories

Formula One watch parties packed with new fans. Esports athletes dealing with real training loads and real injuries. Driverless race cars hitting eye-watering speeds in Indianapolis. Gregory Leparati lives at the intersection of culture and competition, and he’s built a freelance journalism career that turns “niche” communities into stories with wide appeal.

We sit down with Gregory to trace how he got started in journalism, why an English background and a college newspaper mattered, and how he balances a communications day job with years of freelance writing and editing. He shares the practical way he chooses story ideas: read constantly, know what outlets are publishing, and chase topics you’d personally want to read. That mindset has helped him write for major publications while staying selective about the work that fits his voice and his time.

From there, we go deep on the beats he’s known for: motorsports, esports, gaming, technology and travel. Gregory breaks down why Formula One exploded in the United States, how Netflix and social media shaped fandom, and what people miss when they dismiss competitive gaming as “just pressing buttons.” We also talk about emerging tech like AI and autonomous vehicles, and what it means to report on innovation when the human element changes.

If you’re a PR professional, you’ll want the straight talk on pitching: how to tailor outreach to a journalist’s wheelhouse, what instantly turns writers off, and why bait-and-switch interview offers poison long-term relationships. 

Subscribe for more conversations with the people who report on the world around us, and if you enjoy the show, share it and leave a rating and review.

Connect with Gregory Leporati:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gleporati/ 
• Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/gleporati/ 
• LinkTree - https://linktr.ee/gleporati 

Transcript

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Welcome And Guest Introduction

Angela 0:05

Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host, Angela Toole. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those who report on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world. From our studio here at Communications Redefined, this is Media in Minutes. Today we're talking with Gregory Leparati, a freelance journalist and editor whose work spans some of the most passionate communities in media, from motorsports and esports to technology, gaming, and travel. Greg has written for major publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, GQ, Business Insider, The LA Times, and many others. Whether he's covering the business of esports, emerging technology, the culture surrounding racing, or unique travel experiences, Greg has built a career around translating niche interest into stories that resonate with broader audiences. He's also a photographer and storyteller who understands how rapidly technology is changing the way we work, compete, travel, and connect. Greg, welcome to Media and Minutes.

Gregory 1:12

Happy to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me, Angela.

How Greg Got Into Journalism

Angela 1:15

Yes, let's start at the beginning. What first drew you to journalism?

Gregory 1:20

Well, you know, I always enjoyed telling stories. Um, I was an English major in college. I thought that that was um a major that could open itself up to more opportunities than just journalism, although I did study some journalism and uh and I was also the editor of my college newspaper. Okay. Um so I always liked telling stories, um, not necessarily fictional stories, though. Um, I liked telling actual stories. So that's really what drew me to journalism. And I always had a particular interest in uh sports journalism, um, to be specific. Um, but when I graduated from college, I uh I actually took a job working in communications in higher education. And uh and that's sort of become my main career. Um, but I always wanted to continue with journalism in some capacity. And so over the last uh 17 or so years, I've also been doing a lot of freelance journalism uh that I've added to my career. And uh it's been a really rewarding opportunity.

Angela 2:25

Wow. So you have like two full-time jobs pretty much.

Gregory 2:28

Sort of, yeah. I would say, I mean, I it's sort of a luxury to have a nine to five outside of the freelance writing. And um, I know I know a lot of people who are either full-time freelance and uh they're kind of uh trying to make ends meet a little harder. And then I know some other folks who have nine to fives and and do freelance on the side. So it's a it's a mix. You see it, you see both sides. So um, but yeah, it's good, it's good to have the nine to five, I will say.

Angela 2:54

Yes, you don't have to uh worry as much maybe on when the next freelance article is happening. You you cover a fascinating mix, I think, of topics: motorsports, technology, esports, gaming, travel. How did those interests evolve into your reporting specialties?

Gregory 3:11

Yeah, I mean, I I think it's it's a little bit based on the fact I had the luxury of that nine to five. I I really pursue the things that interest me the most. Um, I think that when I was younger, I think sports and video games were probably my two most uh most interesting hobbies that I uh that I enjoyed. And so those were the things I really wanted to write about. Um and where they met in the middle was esports, which is sort of like the sports version of video games. And uh so that was really something I wanted to write about, um, the stories behind all of that. Uh and from there, it sort of led to everything else. Um, you know, writing about um motorsports is sort of a um a direct line to video games. There's a lot of sim racing as well, which use um uh which use video game platforms uh to race. And then the technology sort of spawns off of that too, because there's technology involved in the video game world, technology involved in the motorsports world. And so they all kind of merge together. And then in terms of travel, that's something I've always been interested in, in uh in seeing sporting events in particular in different destinations, especially different countries. So that became something I really

Turning Hobbies Into Reporting Beats

Gregory 4:30

wanted to write about as well. And it's sort of just all melded together into my wheelhouse.

Angela 4:35

Yeah, that's great when you can when you can really make that about your passions as well. Was there a moment when you realized that freelance journalism could become a significant part of your career?

Gregory 4:47

Yeah, I think early on, um, when I had first began my career um in the my communications career, I uh I was writing some freelance pieces here and there. Um, and as time went on, uh it reached a point where after several years, there were some editors reaching out to me to work for them uh and to write pieces for them. Uh, and there were some editors I had worked with who reached out to me to ask me to do more consistent writing for them. And at that point, you know, the amount of things I was tackling increased quite a bit. And I realized around then, maybe around 2017 or 18, I realized that this could be a significant portion of my career and a much more significant amount of money. So um, so I think around then is really when it's sort of clicked that uh I could I could turn this into a very prominent part of my career.

Angela 5:39

Yeah. How many articles are you writing like a month, or is there an average?

Gregory 5:44

Well, you know, at one point I was writing quite a few per month back in maybe from 2017 through uh a few years, maybe a year or two ago. I was writing a lot per month. Um, it slowed down a little bit uh this past year. I think I've been trying to be more selective about things, um, just in terms of time management and taking care of some other things. Um, but uh at any given moment, I could be working on maybe three or four articles a month back back when I was at my at my uh most productive.

Picking Strong Ideas And Angles

Angela 6:14

Okay. So how do you decide which stories are worth pursuing?

Gregory 6:19

You know, I actually just think about what I would want to read about. Um I know it sounds kind of um maybe like a cop-out answer, but it's just if you read a lot, then you get the sense of what would make the best stories. And I think if you read a lot of the publications you want to pitch, if you keep yourself up to speed on you know what's being written about, um, it uh it helps give you a sense of what makes a good story. And so that's sort of how I find stories, just things that I would be interested in reading about. I also have some friends who um were either currently art writers or they previously were writers, and I bounce ideas off them. I'll just ask them, do you find this interesting? And they'll be, yeah, this is this is cool, and I'll pursue that. Um, or things like that. So bouncing ideas off friends and colleagues and just really going towards what I would want to read about.

Le Mans And Baseball Travel Stories

Angela 7:15

Do you have any favorite stories that you've done?

Gregory 7:18

Yeah, I mean, I would probably say my favorite story. Uh I I think I have two actually. One would be I went to um the 24 hours of Le Mans race in France, which is a day-long endurance race with uh cars. Yeah and uh I wrote a travel story for the Washington Post about surviving 24 hours at Le Mon. And basically I went to the race and I stayed up for 24 hours and I wandered around and I took in the whole spectacle. It was cool. I got to talk to random fans who were also staying up all night, who were from all over the world. Um uh it was uh quite the experience. And uh once you get into 4 or 5 a.m., it was like a really wild time out there. So that was interesting. Uh, and then I also wrote about uh several, several years ago, I wrote about Japanese baseball for the LA Times for their travel section. And it was sort of like how to how to plan a Japanese vacation that is revolves around baseball. And it was right around when Shohei Otani was coming to the United States. So there was quite a bit of interest in that, um, especially in LA. So um that was really cool too. I got to see uh a bunch of really cool um stadiums in Japan and uh got to really immerse myself in their sports culture, which was fascinating.

Angela 8:41

That is really cool. You've also interviewed uh famous athletes like Josh Hart of the New York Knicks, which we all know right now, right?

Gregory 8:51

Yes.

Angela 8:51

What goes into you know preparing for a conversation like that or landing those interviews?

Gregory 8:56

Yeah, I you know it's it's um it's interesting. I now I am from New York, so I happen to be a Knicks fan. So right off the bat, I did I did know quite a bit about Josh Hart um before that even transpired. But um I I really just stay up to speed on all sports aspects. Um, and I know that sounds weird, but I just I like to follow all sports, even ones that you never know when an opportunity might arise. Um, for example, I uh um I don't really like hockey that much, but I follow the NHL just so I can know what plot lines are going on, um, you know, who the characters are. And so uh wine enthusiasts reached out to me years ago and said that the Vegas Golden Knights had just won the Stanley Cup like the day before. And the owner of the team is a big wine guy. And so they wanted to do a story on him with a quick turnaround. And they asked me if I could do it. And I fortunately did know a bit about the owner of the Golden Knights because I just you know try to consume as much content as I can about sports. So I was able to pretty quickly conduct an interview with him, ask him pretty good questions, you know, as if I follow hockey uh closely and uh and make it work. And so similarly with Josh Hartman, when these things pop up, you know, I knew that Josh Hart had a an extensive love of wine. So um, so I wrote a story about him and uh and all about his wine fascination. And uh yeah, now obviously everyone's talking about Josh Hart, and uh it was fun to see that story make the rounds again um when they just won the championship.

Angela 10:38

Yes, and as a New Yorker, I'm I'm assuming you're a Knicks fan.

Gregory 10:42

Absolutely, absolutely um big fan. So uh it was very surreal to see them win that championship, but definitely a highlight of my uh sports viewing

Landing Interviews And Following Sports Plots

Speaker 10:52

life.

Angela 10:52

I'm sure. I'd love to talk a little bit about motorsports. I have a teenage son that's really into that now, you know, F1 and all of that. But it seems that it's exploded in popularity. Is that true? And what do you think is driving that growth, especially in the US? I should

Why Formula One Blew Up

Angela 11:07

say.

Gregory 11:07

Yes. I mean, absolutely. Uh the sport really picked up around um COVID when the pandemic happened. I think a lot of people started watching Formula One because it was um the one of the first sports that um returned uh after the pandemic. Uh and uh there also was that Netflix show, Drive to Survive, which explored the drivers' personalities and uh their off-the-track exploits. And I think that really popularized it with the U.S. audience in particular. Um and yeah, the thing about motorsports and particularly F1 is that there's just such a large uh amount of culture associated with it. There's pop culture, there's celebrities, some of the ritziest brands on earth are affiliated with the sport. Yeah. And it's so it's really like a snapshot into broader culture when you follow Formula One. So I think the um the amount of uh the amount of fans have increased because of all the the stuff that goes on, not just on the track, but off of it. I uh I did a story years ago for um nylon magazine, and it was about the explosion of Formula One um watch parties. There was a a bar in Manhattan that was doing dedicated watch parties. So I went and documented one of those experiences, and it was two to one um women fans to men. Yeah, and it was it was um it's become increasingly popular with women in addition to men. Uh, I think it helps that there's um the drivers are attractive European men. Right. Yeah, but many of them told me, you know, many of them told me they got into the sport for that reason, but now have stayed because of the competition. And so it was um it was just interesting to see how the sport has grown in that regard. And I think Formula One itself says that now they they consider 50% of their fans to be women now. So it's uh it's exploded with that demographic, and uh it's just it's just massive. You mentioned your son loves it. I think um younger people have have really taken to the sport and it lends itself to social media, to clips and highlights, and uh it's just it's perfect for that. So it's it's a sport that's kind of perfect for for the way we consume it right now. Yes, and his dad is a NASCAR fan, though, so that's completely different, I feel like uh um different uh audiences and yeah, there's some similarities, and I've done some NASCAR writing before, so I uh I've seen them both up close, and uh it's interesting. There's there's some clear differences. You know, NASCAR races can take um like four hours, and a Formula One race can can last 90 minutes. So there's a difference in in speed, um style, but the um I guess the core elements remain sort of the same. But uh, but yeah, it's interesting the difference there.

Angela 14:12

Yeah, that's a good point about the time. You know, I feel like now I sound old, younger generations. Something lasting that long might not be as interesting.

Gregory 14:22

Exactly. Exactly. And I think our attention spans have decreased. I know I think all of our attention spans have decreased, especially with phones and having, you know, constant um constant new things to distract us uh anytime we pick up our phone. It's tough to stay as uh focused on something for four hours.

Angela 14:40

Yes,

Esports Myths And Real Physical Demands

Angela 14:41

yes. Talking a little bit about esports and how it's evolved, you know, from a niche interest into a global industry. What misconceptions do people have that aren't, you know, as familiar with them?

Gregory 14:54

Yeah. I I would say that over the years that I've covered esports, the the biggest thing that people kind of get wrong about it is that it's a passive thing, like as if we they just sit there and touch a few buttons and that's it. Um it's uh it's actually pretty intense to watch. And the uh the athletes doing it, the gamers are really um putting their bodies under some stress to do it. There's a lot of rapid movements with their hands, a lot of coordination, um, and a lot of training that goes into it. I did a couple of stories years ago about um esports injuries and the physical demands of them. And it was surprising to see um the type, yeah, the type of injuries that they get um with their arms and the type of training that they do. You know, it's not like they just roll out of bed and you know, start playing video games. There's exercises they do, there's there's even training camps that some of them go to prior to you know their season beginning. So it's uh it's something that uh they they take pretty seriously, and there's really a physical element to it that a lot of people don't realize.

Angela 16:08

Wow, that's fascinating,

AI And Driverless Racing Futures

Angela 16:10

definitely. Correct me if I'm wrong, but technology touches nearly every beat you cover. What trends are you paying closest attention to right now?

Gregory 16:20

You know, it's interesting. Um, I would say that obviously um AI is something that everyone talks about uh at the moment. I think that a big, a big thing we're we're seeing right now are driverless cars. And uh it reminds me of uh an event I covered years ago. Uh it was at the uh Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was called the uh Indie Autonomous Challenge.

Angela 16:46

Yes.

Gregory 16:46

And it was, yeah, and it was basically driverless cars racing around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Yes, and it it was quite impressive. These cars actually got up to like 180 miles per hour as they were racing each other and had no drivers. And it was interesting to think of what the future, what that could mean towards the future of motorsports, in addition to our everyday lives of having uh driverless cars taking us on our on our Ubers or whatever. Um, so I think that's something that I'm looking at because I think that was years ago I covered that, and we've only made more advancements since then. So I'd be curious to see if if driverless racing could become a thing that could actually be compelling. It's a different story to tell because you don't have the drivers and the human element there, but you have the people who are developing the technology, which could be a totally different avenue to tell stories. So I'm curious to see where that can develop and how that can impact our everyday lives going forward. So yeah, that's something that I think is interesting. Yeah.

Angela 17:56

Yes, there's a lot that I think with uh the explosion of AI too, there's so much that that will change over the next few years for sure.

A Changing Media Landscape

Angela 18:04

You've written for outlets ranging from the New York Times to GQ to Business Insider, some of them that you just mentioned earlier as well. What outlets and types of stories are you currently focused on?

Gregory 18:15

Well, funny enough, um, many of the outlets that I've written for over the years have have changed and uh evolved in different ways. And I think everyone in the journalism industry sees that. Um, you know, the uh the New York Times sports section, which I contributed to, uh, they cut their sports section years ago. Um, the Washington Post, I used to write for their video games vertical quite regularly, and um, and they ended up cutting the video games vertical a few years ago. Um, I also wrote for their sports and book section, and at the end of last year, they ended up doing away with those sections as well. So everything's sort of changing. Um, and it's an interesting landscape. Uh at the moment, I'm doing some regular, regular writing for a motorsports magazine called S's magazine. Okay. And I'm also doing some pieces for Wine Enthusiast magazine, a lot of sports and wine crossovers. Um, and I'm trying to be more selective moving forward, just try to find some long-form pieces to write for some magazines. And that's sort of my my short-term goal right now for the upcoming year.

PR Pitches That Work And Fail

Angela 19:24

Okay. So for PR professionals listening, what kind of pitches are you looking for? What makes one stand out in your inbox, or maybe even uh something they shouldn't do?

Gregory 19:36

Well, I would say some advice is to craft the pitch really based on things that I cover, things that are in my wheelhouse. Um, I think that sometimes um PR professionals might blast an email out to people who maybe aren't the best fit for different topics they have. And uh I understand that. Like I get the hustle there trying to um spray as far a net as you can. But um I I really prefer pitches that are more tailored to things that are truly in my wheelhouse. Sure. Um so that makes a that makes a pitch stand out if it really speaks to something that's in my areas of expertise and which feels kind of custom to me. Um and some other some other things I would say that are just some sort of pet peeves among PR folks. I think sometimes I've gotten some pitches that do a bit of a a bit of a bait and switch. Like sometimes I've been like told that I could interview, you know, insert A-list celebrity here, and then the event comes to fruition and they say, Oh, this person doesn't want to be part of this actually, but I can give you I can give you this person, and it's like a B list celebrity. So the you know, that type of stuff has happened more than a few times. Um, and so I would say that's a big pet peeve in terms of um working with PR. Um, so yeah, those are some of the pitfalls I would look out for. Um and just yeah, just try to tailor something to what I'm interested in. Um I've also gotten a few times um working with a PR professional who will um, if you you work with one PR professional, they might uh email you right after working with them with more ideas that don't pertain to what your what your topic is. Yeah. So it's like I it's great that I worked with you, but I I don't I don't think I can write about every topic you have, you know.

Angela 21:43

Right. Definitely.

Gregory 21:45

Yeah. So I think things like that can be can be aggravating sometimes working with PR. Um, but the ones who who do it well and best really have good ideas that are customized to my interests. And um yeah, and I think also just understand that we're trying to tell a story um that's compelling to readers and so as much as we're trying you know as much as you want

Hosted Trips And Fan Communities

Gregory 22:10

to reference the brand you're working for it still has to be a compelling story in the end so you know sometimes there's trade-off there it's not um you know it's not just about your client that you're pitching you know yes that type of thing yeah how often are you going on hosted trips like you know to to sports sports events sports type stories yeah I used to go on more I think um as I've gotten older I've slowed that down a bit um but um I used to go on I would say a few a year um I know I'm I'm friendly with some uh freelance writers who will go on like multiple a month right right yes it really depends on your uh on your propensity for that I think with it in my case having a uh nine to five job um here in New York is something that precludes me from doing too much of that type of travel but I I certainly do find my moments where I can go on trips that um that that are a good fit for what I cover.

Angela 23:15

Sure. And you can be cheesy like you said which is good.

Gregory 23:18

Yes this is true. You've covered some incredibly passionate fan communities too which community surprised you the most yeah I mean I that's something that I I love to write about when it comes to sports and uh video games you know the communities around them are what I find the most fascinating whether it's sports fans or just crazy video game fans. And uh I would say that the coolest community I I wrote about was I went to the uh Portland Retro Gaming Convention years ago. And I I wrote a travel story about you know why one might travel to this large video game convention all the way out in Oregon. And the uh it happened to also host the Tetris World Championship uh which was sort of one of the thing it was yeah the classic Tetris World Championship and uh it's it's a bunch of people playing the original Tetris um for the Nintendo Entertainment system. And I I went out there and and wrote about the experience of being at the convention but particularly looking at the um experience around watching uh the Tetris championships and it was a wild uh scene over there it was packed house watching this and it was fans of Tetris who were just it was just such an interesting community of people who were competitive with each other but also supportive of each other. There were a lot of teenagers competing in addition to people in their 20s 30s 40s. So it was a really interesting mix of people um and that was probably one of the most fascinating communities that I've uh that I've that I've been able to cover and uh and and uh explore. Yeah.

Angela 25:07

That is really cool.

Dream Assignment And Where To Follow

Angela 25:09

Before we go I must ask this might be a hard one if you could spend a month reporting on any event sport or destination in the world what would it be?

Gregory 25:19

It's a good question. Uh yeah it's it's a it's a tough question. There's a lot of really interesting events all across the world I'd love to cover. And I've thought about this though and I I think if I could spend a whole month I would love to spend August the month of August in Japan covering the Japanese high school baseball championship. Really? It's yeah it's it goes on for most of August and it is intense in Japan. They um the the the fans are crazier for the high school championship than they are for even the professional leagues over there. And they they really go crazy um for for this event. So I would love to check that out I actually um a few years ago wrote a travel story about going to Williamsport for the Little League World Series here in the US and that was an interesting experience. I thought the fan base there was fascinating but I think the Japanese no in a good way in a good way I know his parents can get very this is true. Actually what I absolutely and it was funny I actually hung out with a bunch of Little League dads at like there was there's only one bar in the entire like vicinity of Little League place. So I uh I hung out with some dads at the local bar which was a funny part of the story. But uh but yes I would probably do Japan for a month so I could really check out that that high school championship and and see what the whole vibe was like over there. It sounds fascinating. Every time I've seen images it looks like a wild atmosphere so I'd love to check that out. Awesome how can our listeners follow your work or connect with you online you can always connect with me on LinkedIn um Gregory Leperati um and you can also follow me on Instagram at glepperati and uh happy to have people along to to follow follow along I often post stories and my travels and things like that. So um everyone can feel free to follow.

Angela 27:20

Perfect we will include those links in our show notes as well. Thank you so much Greg.

Speaker 27:25

Thank you very much. This was fascinating um and uh if you need anything else let me know.

Gregory 27:31

That's all for this episode of Media and Minutes a podcast by Communications Redefined. Please take a moment to rate review and subscribe to our show we'd love to hear what you think. You can find more at Communicationsredefined dot com slash podcast. I'm your host Angela Toole. Talk to you next time