Fox Sports U partnership provides real-world experiences
Two years ago, Fox Sports partnered with Indiana University for the first time, bringing Fox Sports U to the Bloomington campus.
People are shown walking around the Sample Gates and in and out of Franklin Hall.
The program inspires students to take on Fox Sports projects to create strategies and get feedback from professionals.
The Fox Sports U logo, the sign outside Franklin Hall and a Media School studio are shown.
Dr. Galen Clavio, associate professor of sports media
Every single project that we’ve done with Fox Sports has been something new and exciting in a different area of media, and that’s really what our students need. In this day and age, you can’t afford to just be focused on one particular area of media. You really need a little bit of everything.
Students are shown broadcasting and working behind-the-scenes in a Franklin Hall studio.
I think this partnership with Fox Sports really gives our students an edge in that.
On Nov. 7, Fox Sports sideline reporter Shannon Spake came to IU, where she explained her path to becoming a sports broadcaster.
Spake is shown speaking to students in Presidents Hall.
Spake hosted Off Camera with Fox Sports’ Shannon Spake, where she spoke with about 50 Media School faculty and students about her journey to becoming a sideline reporter. Aside from sharing her path to success, she also gave advice and tips to students who plan to pursue a career in broadcast.
Clavio speaks again.
The thing that’ll stick with me the most from Shannon Spake to the students is the importance of hard work and the importance of having a focus on your career and developing yourself as a professional.
Spake also had a private lunch with IU’s Association for Women in Sports Media chapter to offer her advice.
Nicole Krasean, senior
She had one comment that I really stuck with, which was hard work is genderless. That’s something that I definitely agree with.
Spake, Clavio and students are shown in a studio.
During her time at the university, Spake took a tour of the new state-of-the-art Beckley studio, located in The Media School. With the latest technology, including eight high-definition cameras, a multi-view monitor wall and much more, students have the capability of learning in a professional newsroom.
The camera spans around Franklin Hall.
One of the things we’re really looking forward to with the studio is turning it into an even more professional environment for students: to get our students even more daily exposure to being on camera, reading off a teleprompter, asking questions, being able to talk about sports off the top of their heads.
It’s something we’re looking forward to partnering with Fox Sports on, as they’ve got the industry connections, they’ve got the industry know-how, they can help our students really learn the finer points of being on air or being behind-the-scenes.
Fox Sports U continues to create unique opportunities for Hoosier students to take their skills from the classroom to the field.
IU men’s basketball team is shown playing in Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall.
The school’s partnership with Fox Sports University continues to provide students opportunities to work on real-world projects with the potential to be used in broadcast and other network projects.
“The Fox Sports University program is an outreach program from Fox Sports meant to bring real world experiences into the classroom for students at leading universities,” said associate professor Galen Clavio, who oversees much of the school’s sports media program.
Fox Sports U includes about 40 universities around the country whose students address marketing, research or technology issues at the network. Through in-class projects, they devise solutions or campaigns based on a Fox Sports U’s requests.
Clavio began working with Fox Sports University several years ago when he was an assistant professor in the School of Public Health. He said he knew the partnership was perfect for the programs at The Media School, which he joined when the new school was established three years ago.
One of the first activities was last spring, when Clavio’s Applied Social Media in Sports class worked on promotion ideas for the MLB All-Star Game.
“The students developed and cultivated their ideas over the course of the semester, then they presented their ideas to a panel of experts,” he said. “The experts chose one of those ideas and Fox utilized that while promoting the All-Star Game.”
In a competitive industry, students benefit from real-world experience that enhances what they are learning in the classroom.
“If students can experience something that has a tangible output and create something that they could see on television, I think that gives them a much richer experience than they would get otherwise,” Clavio said.
The partnership also allows the school to partner with Fox Sports on events such as the Sports Media and Technology Panel and to hear the inside scoop from pros such as sideline reporter Shannon Spake. Students who met with Spake still are keeping in touch with her as they pursue the path to their own careers.
Currently, Clavio’s sports broadcasting class is working on a project with Fox Sports U about the network’s partnership with the Big Ten. Students will deliver a finished project at the end of the semester.
Clavio said the school and Fox Sports U will continue offering opportunities each semester for students to work on projects that have the potential to be used in the network’s various strategies.
“We’ve been able to build a bridge with the industry through one of the top sports properties in the world,” he said. “It’s allowed our students to have access to people and experiences that they wouldn’t have otherwise. And it’s important to have those experiences and those contacts to make a go of it from a career perspective.”