Sports Media Lab
A Deep Dive into Sports Media Research
Building off Ƶ’s status as a national leader in student-centered learning and experiential education, supported by the Ƶ 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, where students have pursued projects developed in collaboration with the organizations.
Student-Driven Projects
Lumos Pistoia Basket 2000
Beginning in fall 2026, Ƶ students studying in Florence, Italy will have the opportunity to intern with the professional basketball club . 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 Ƶ 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 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 to explore insights related to sponsorship value and fan engagement.
Publications
An unexpected history of gambling
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
- A Most Anticipated Book of the Summer by AARP, Cultured Magazine, and The Information
from “Over/Under: An Unexpected History of Sports Betting,” published by Sports Business Journal
Examining the history of sports media industry
Authored by Bockino, “ 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
- “” – Bockino, Anthony Bamford, Heath Foster, Carlos Levy, Elliot Rezek and Bernardo Vargas-Lopez
- “” – Bockino, Anthony Bamford, Heath Foster, Carlos Levy, Elliot Rezek and Bernardo Vargas-Lopez
- “” – Bockino, Anthony Bamford
Appearances
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