Moody College of Communication is proud to announce that beginning in Fall 2025, University of Texas students will be able to minor in sports production and broadcasting. The new field of study will allow students of any major, even those outside communications, to gain real-world experience in sports production and broadcasting.

“Students come to Texas for a lot of reasons — we have a top communications school, but they’re also attracted to our sports environment,” said Cassandre Alvarado, senior associate dean for undergraduate education and teaching excellence at Moody College. “Through a collaboration with the Office of the Provost and UT Athletics, to be able to pull all of this together, it’s a real partnership. It’s a great example of how academics and athletics can work together in a positive way that can benefit our students.”

Drew Martin, executive senior associate athletics director for external affairs, said that the goal of the partnership is to provide students with meaningful experiences that enable them to leave the production control room or the broadcast studio, walk across the graduation stage with a diploma and then go right into a full-time job with a television production company or studio.

“This endeavor to pioneer a sports broadcasting minor with Moody College is an exciting opportunity to pair a world-class education at The University of Texas with our championship-caliber Texas Longhorns athletics programs,” Martin said. “Through our membership in the Southeastern Conference and its television agreements with ABC/ESPN/Disney, students participating in this new program will have an opportunity to produce live linear television and digital streaming broadcasts of Texas sporting events, complemented with hands-on experience producing live video board shows at our various athletics venues, including DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium through our brand-new Texas Studios powered by Dell Technologies.”

The sports production and broadcasting minor is housed within Moody College and will be led by faculty in the college’s Department of Radio-Television-Film.

Ali Forbes, an RTF professor of practice, brings over a decade of live sports broadcasting experience to Moody College. Originally from Canada, she has produced content for SportsCentre in Toronto, the PGA Live Network, the Pac12 Network, ESPN and others.

“You have to be a little bit of a dreamer in this industry, and as someone who started a career in this business some 15 or 20 years ago, it’s not easy to just figure it out, especially if you're not from a major city,” Forbes said. “So, we have lots of students who are from small towns all over Texas, and they are coming to Austin likely because they and their family have been Longhorns fans their entire lives. This program will take them into the control rooms, onto the fields, into the press conferences and offer a tangible and clear path.”

Forbes, who will be teaching some of the coursework, said that because of the support from UT Athletics and the overall vision for this minor, Moody College is positioned to have the premier program for this field of study in the country.

Though some sports production and broadcasting classes began in Fall 2024, the full curriculum is still being developed. The minor will consist of five classes ranging from introductory courses to more advanced studies. Students will learn multiple aspects of studio, game and field production, including cutting highlight packages, creating social media assets, producing stories and more.

Jordan Levin, another RTF professor of practice, will be teaching one of the minor courses focused on storytelling. Levin has decades of professional experience in traditional and new media, even serving as the National Football League’s first chief content officer.

“If you look at the overall media landscape, the importance of, and the value of, sports broadcasting and sports-related content is only rising because it’s the type of content that demands immediate attention,” Levin said.

Students have been able to gain professional broadcast production experience guided by industry experts since the 2019 launch of Bevo Video Productions, a component of Texas Student Media in collaboration with UT Athletics. The new sports production and broadcasting minor will allow students to take an even deeper dive into the hands-on aspects of sports production.

“There are a lot of students who are working on in-venue broadcasts, what you see on the big screen at DKR Memorial Stadium and Moody Center,” he said. “Not only will we teach production, but students can also learn skills that can be applied in those real-world circumstances and get a broader understanding of storytelling, the industry, and the forces that are shaping college sports, and sports in general.”

Both Levin and Forbes agree that student demand for this type of academic path has been increasing over the years and will continue to do so.

“Seize every opportunity, no matter whether it’s big, no matter whether it’s small,” Forbes said, offering advice to those interested in the field of study and career path. “Be patient with yourself and your trajectory because not everybody’s path looks the same.”

Those interested in learning more about the sports production and broadcast minor can find more information on Moody College’s website.