A National Leader in Sports Media

Building off Elon’s status as a national leader in student-centered learning and experiential education, supported by the Elon Innovation Council, and led by Professor David Bockino, the Sports Media Lab provides a structure for students, faculty and industry partners to pursue a variety of sports media-related research questions and creative projects.

An integral component to the Sports Media Lab is its mutually beneficial relationship with sport industry partners. These partners – media companies, leagues, clubs, digital brands – have the opportunity to both contribute questions and projects to the lab’s ongoing research and creative agenda and to gain insights about the evolving sports media habits of college students.

In recent years, the Sports Media Lab has partnered with the Atlantic Coast Conference, Charlotte FC, Pistoia Basket and the Charlotte Checkers.

Student-Driven Projects

Lumos Pistoia Basket 2000

Beginning in fall 2026, Elon students studying in Florence, Italy will have the opportunity to intern with the professional basketball club Lumos Pistoia Basket 2000. Besides day-to-day tasks such as event management, hospitality and marketing, the students will also be compiling behind-the-scenes and in-game video footage for distribution on Elon and Pistoia platforms. Here’s more information about this innovative new partnership.

Charlotte FC

Carlos Levy ’25 and Anthony Bamford ’25 collaborated with Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC to explore social media strategies of professional soccer teams during big events such as the UEFA European Championship and the FIFA World Cup.

Charlotte Checkers

Lena Gunn ’25 and Lindsay Feretti ’26 worked with the Charlotte Checkers to explore insights related to sponsorship value and fan engagement.

Publications

An unexpected history of gambling

The book cover for Professor of Sport Management David Bockino's "Over/Under" publication.Taking readers on a rollicking journey through the history of American sports betting, “Over/Under: An Unexpected History of Sports Betting” proposes a fascinating and unexpected theory: What if sports betting isn’t just a result of the multibillion-dollar American sports industry, but rather the primary reason for it? An essential catalyst for nearly two hundred years of sports fandom and obsession?

Written for those eager to explore the history of a recently legalized industry – one that’s been described both as a financial bonanza and an impending disaster – “Over/Under” is the definitive history of a controversial industry in the midst of incredible, yet uncertain, growth.

What others are saying

An excerpt from “Over/Under: An Unexpected History of Sports Betting,” published by Sports Business Journal

Examining the history of the sports media industry

Bockino wrote this green-covered book titled "Game On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, and Got Personal with Billions of Fans."Authored by Bockino, “Game On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, and Got Personal with Billions of Fans” is the first comprehensive, general audience history of the sports media industry. Written at a time of great uncertainty and rapid change, the book details the most important events, platforms, and personalities in the evolution of the industry over the past 100 years including:

  • What everybody gets wrong about the most famous football game of all time
  • How “Crocodile Dundee” helped reinvent one of the world’s most popular sports
  • The untold story of the long-forgotten Sports.com
  • Why Mark Cuban went from “king of streaming” to “king of being quite content with cable television”
  • How the United States went from betting on “the bowel movements of a large heifer” to widespread legalized sports gambling

Sports Business Journal

Appearances

  • NPR’s All Things Considered
  • Boston Globe op-ed
  • The Favorites Podcast
  • WGN Morning News

Click the icon to read or listen to the appearance.

Faculty