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The School of Communication and Journalism launched a Sports Production track within the Journalism major in Fall 2020.
Students who love collegiate and professional sports and want to be part of the production teams who deliver live sporting events to our homes and mobile devices will be interested in the Sports Production track (JRSP).
The major provides courses and professional training in the live sports production field for those seeking positions as in-venue sports producers, field producers, producers for multi-platform shows, directors, control room operators and video editors. This track is the behind-the-camera work related to creating and producing live sporting events.
The School has offered sports production elective courses since 2014, when it created a partnership with Auburn Athletics’ War Eagle Productions as the SEC Network began broadcasting. War Eagle Productions produces more than 350 live events per year, ranging from in-venue video boards, such as the jumbotron in Jordan-Hare Stadium, to ESPN and SEC Network productions.
Through the sports production courses taught in the School and work experiences at War Eagle Productions, Auburn's reputation for training high-quality students in live sports production has only increased as students graduate with professional-level skill sets.
Some of the courses offered include Sports Video Production, Control Room Operations, News and Sports Announcing, Sports Media Management, Live Sports Producing and Sports Storytelling. Students learn how to shoot and edit content, such as soundbite packages, game highlights, teases and features. Students work in the War Eagle Productions’ control room to learn the various equipment and positions associated with a live broadcast.
Through their applied coursework, students are given the opportunity to learn the producer and director positions for studio and remote sports shows. In the News and Sports Announcing course, students practice announcing in Jordan-Hare as well as working in pairs to serve as play-by-play announcers and color analysts for a live sports event.
The sports production field has grown in recent years with the launch of new networks, such as the SEC and ACC Networks, and the many regional sports networks that hold the local rights to various NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLB games. Professional sports teams and university athletic departments likewise seek experienced production employees to staff their in-house production departments, such as Atlanta Braves’ “BravesVision” or the Atlanta Hawks’ “Hawks Studios.”