Augustana University to Offer Sports Broadcasting Minor in Fall 2024

Augustana University will offer sports broadcasting as a minor beginning in the fall — adding to the list of interdisciplinary academic programs being developed as part of Augustana’s strategic plan Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030.

The interdisciplinary minor aims to provide students with technological and writing skills, as well as a critical understanding of sports in society. The minor will help students build careers in a field that includes both traditional broadcast and cable outlets, and new and ongoing digital platforms.

“The minor will be very hands-on, so you’ll learn journalism skills, whether that’s play-by-play (commentating), production or being the sideline talent,” said Scott Schmidt, assistant professor of business and coordinator of the sports broadcasting minor. “With the sport management courses, the hope is we’ll also give students exposure to hot topics within sports and how to appropriately conduct a conversation with an audience that isn’t right in front of them.”

The creation of the minor was first prompted by the development of Augustana’s multimedia entrepreneurship major in 2021 and the Midco Media Center in 2022. There was also an influx of prospective students looking to major in sport management, as well as a number of incoming journalism students interested in sports broadcasting careers. This led Schmidt to meet with Drs. Janet Blank-Libra and Jeffrey Miller, professors of journalism, and Frank Cook, director of multimedia entrepreneurship & innovative practices, to create the minor and address part of Viking Bold’s goal to “develop innovative undergraduate programs responsive to new and emerging student interests.”

The minor, housed within the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS), consists of required courses in journalism, multimedia entrepreneurship and sport management, as well as elective courses in media studies and Avid Technology. The gateway course, Sport & Society, is designed to promote systematic, issue-related thinking about sports and provide an introduction to the sociology of sport.

Sports broadcasting minors will also take a capstone course, where they will participate in an internship involving a professional broadcast or online organization. Students may also choose to pursue a long-term, campus-based practicum working with Augustana Athletics.

“When we talk about sports broadcasting, we’re maintaining the liberal arts foundation and giving the students their own paths to pursue,” said Schmidt, who’s also the director of the Augustana Master of Sports Administration & Leadership (MSAL) Program. “Maybe it’s a podcast; maybe it’s starting their own websites for sports or entertainment. Maybe they’d like to be a producer or writer, on-air talent, or maybe do color commentary. We want to give (the minor) that well-rounded, inclusive feel.”

Schmidt said the minor will pair well with majors in journalism, multimedia entrepreneurship, sport management and communication studies. 

“Students will be creating highlight reels, whether that’s broadcasting games or shooting and editing (footage) and creating a sports segment through Midco Media Center,” Schmidt said. “Ultimately, the idea is that students will leave Augustana with a portfolio that they can send out if this is a job they want to pursue.”

To learn more about Augustana’s major and minor offerings, visit augie.edu/program-finder.