Business of Sports Media

Business of Sports Media
3 Credit Hours

Instructor: Adam Lane
Office Hours: by appointment
Phone: O - 904-633-6217, C - 904-463-7644
Email: lanea@nfl.jaguars.com
Room: DeVos Offices

Course Description:

This course will give students the ability to understand how the media has evolved from radio, network television and magazines into the multi-dimensional world of regional and nation cable, the internet, the networks, huge rights fees and other new elements. It will explore the role of new media in everyday life and why old mediums such as newspapers, are dying. The course will also focus on the sociological role of the media and why decisions are made and the financial fallout from those decisions.

Objectives:

- Understand the evolution of the relationship between sport and media.
- Understand the way the media has come to dominate the way sports is played and organized.
- Understand business relationships that evolved between the various medium and sports
- Understand the emergence of regional and national cable, the internet and the power of media in sports
Assessment

The course will combine lectures and discussions with the instructor and guest lectures from the sports media. Assessment will be based on class discussion, two tests and two research/issue papers determined by the instructor.

Materials:

Two books will be required for this class –

Roone Arledge: A Memoir
The Weekend Begins on Wednesday








Course Policies and Professional Classroom Atmosphere


· No use of cell phones in the classroom at any time, including before class and during class breaks. Please step outside the classroom before class, during breaks in class, and after class if you have to make a call or otherwise use your cell phone. Cell phone use (including texting) will result in 10 points being subtracted from your grade for each incident.
· No more than one person should speak at one time; no “sidebar” conversations. Sidebar conversations will result in 10 points being subtracted from your grade for each incident.
· No use of profanity at any time once you enter the classroom and during class discussions.
· Always demonstrate professionalism, maturity and good judgment in all e-mails and other communications with Professor Cutting, Professor Bukstien, Dr. Harrison, Chris Moran, anyone else in the DeVos Sport Business Management Department, and all DeVos Minor partner organizations.
Student E-mail Accounts
· It is a policy of UCF that all students are required to have and maintain a “Knights E-mail” account. All students are required to provide the instructor with their Knights E-mail address and use this address for all communications related to this course. The instructor will recognize no other e-mail address for communications related to this course.
Important Information Regarding Course Assignments
· All assignments are due at 6: 00 p.m. on the due date for the assignment. Tentative due dates are provided in this syllabus. These due dates may change during the semester. Students must turn in a paper copy of all assignments. Electronic copies of assignments will not be accepted, unless otherwise indicated by the instructor. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you will be absent on the day an assignment is due, you are still obligated to make sure the assignment reaches the instructor by the due date and time.
· Unless otherwise directed by the instructor, students must type all assignments. The following are required typing standards for this course: one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, and double-spacing.
· All assignments must be written in APA format and style. Students are expected to follow all instructions for APA format and style contained in the APA Manual. For example, all citations must be correctly cited in the body of a paper and on a reference page
Make-up Exams
Make-up examinations will only be given upon prior arrangement with the instructor in those cases of students that meet the criteria established in University of Central Florida policy for those students
who are absent while representing the University, while observing a religious holiday, due to documented medical emergencies, or due to court-imposed legal obligations.
Ethics, Professionalism and Academic Integrity
As reflected in the University of Central Florida Creed, integrity and scholarship are core values that should guide our conduct and decisions as members of the University community. Plagiarism and
cheating contradict these values, and are very serious academic offenses. Penalties can include a failing grade for an assignment or in this course, or suspension or expulsion from the University of Central Florida. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with and follow the University’s Rules of Conduct (http://www.osc.sdes.ucf.edu/).
Disability Access Statement
The University of Central Florida is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for allpersons with disabilities. This syllabus is available in alternate formats upon request. Students with disabilities who need accommodations in this course must contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to discuss needed accommodations. No accommodations will be provided until the student has met with the instructor to request accommodations. Students who need accommodations must be registered with Student Disability Services, Student Resource Center Room 132, phone (407) 823 2371, TTY/TDD only phone (407) 823-2116, before requesting accommodations from the instructor.

The “Try Three Places” Rule
While DeVos Minor instructors try to be very accessible, we need your help, too. We respectfully ask that you attempt to find the answers to your questions about this class or the DeVos Minor in at least three places before you contact the instructor or his Teaching Assistant. The answer to your question(s) may be in this syllabus, on the DeVos Minor website, readily available on the Internet, or known by one of your classmates. If you cannot find an answer after three tries, then please contact the instructor. When you e-mail the instructor, expect him to ask you for the three places that you looked for the information you need. This policy should help all students develop research skills and problem-solving abilities that will be beneficial to students in their professional careers.

Policy Regarding Internship Opportunities
Students must remain in the DeVos Minor in order to be eligible to begin (or continue) an internship with any of the DeVos Minor partner organizations. In addition, any student who starts an internship but subsequently fails to meet the expectations of DeVos Minor instructors or DeVos Minor partner organizations (for example, by not continuing to excel in DeVos Minor classes, by not demonstrating the utmost level of maturity and professionalism at the internship, or by not fulfilling internship requirements such as keeping a detailed journal that highlights what the student is assisting with and learning at the internship) will be immediately removed from that internship. Do something, expect nothing, and blame no one. All too often students forget that they are interning for one of the program’s partner organizations and that Dr. Harrison and Professor Bukstein created the internship opportunity for them. Students need to remain loyal to the DeVos Minor if they want to be able to take advantage of the many excellent opportunities with DeVos Minor partner organizations.
Class Attendance Policy
The undergraduate DeVos Sport Business Management Program is committed to the principal that regular and punctual class attendance is critical to each student’s ability to comprehend the material covered in this course. Each student is required to attend all scheduled class meetings. Your grade in this course will be negatively impacted if you inexcusably miss class or if you are late to class. As a reminder, late assignments will not be accepted. If you will be absent or tardy on the day an assignment is due, you are still obligated to make sure the assignment reaches the instructor by the due date and time.

Excused Absences
The instructor must approve all absences in advance. It is the student’s responsibility to provide advance written notice to the instructor regarding any situation that will cause the student to miss class.
The following are examples of absences that will typically be excused by the instructor if a student provides the instructor with prior written notice before the absence:
· Medical illness (absence must be supported by documentation from a medical professional and must be presented to the instructor immediately after the student returns to class);
· Observance of a religious holiday;
· Observance of a death in the family or someone close to a student’s family; and
· University-sponsored athletic or artistic participation (does not include UCF Club Sports).

Unexcused Absences
Unexcused absences are not permitted. This class is scheduled to meet two times per week, and as such, each unexcused absence will result in a significant grade reduction of one letter grade increment per unexcused absence. For example, if a student has one unexcused absence during the semester and otherwise would have earned an “A” in the class, that student’s final grade would be an “A-” due to the unexcused absence. If a student has two unexcused absences during the semester and otherwise would have earned a “B” in the class, that student’s final grade would be a “C+” due to the two unexcused absences. If a student is inexcusably absent from four or more scheduled class sessions, the student will be awarded an “F” grade for this course.
The following are examples of absences that will not be excused:
· Participation in Intramural Sports or UCF Club Sports;
· Coaching youth sports or leadership roles for similar extracurricular activities;
· Sorority or fraternity events;
· Family or personal vacations;
· Missing class due to problems associated with a car or other method of transportation to UCF;
· Attending or watching sport events;
· Attending a wedding, birthday party or similar event in Florida (instructor has discretion to excuse one absence for weddings that take place outside of Florida);
· Requirements for your other classes; and
· Job and internship requirements (education takes priority).

Tardiness
Any unexcused tardiness to class will result in 10 points being subtracted from a student’s grade for each time the student is inexcusably tardy to class. If a student is more than 30 minutes late to class, or if a student leaves before the class is formally dismissed, then such conduct will be considered an unexcused absence.
Grading:

1. Class participation 30%
2. Final Project 40%
3. 2nd Exam 30%
Grade Distribution:

Over 93 A
90-92 A-
86-89 B+
83-85 B
80-82 B-
76-79 C+
73-75 C
70-72 C-
Below 70 see instructor

Academic integrity

Plagiarism, cheating and other form of academic dishonesty will be dealt with in a manner consistent with UCF policy. Anything with your name on it must be original work unless properly attributed.

Course Outline:

Everyone will be required to bring a sports related form of new media (Article, Twitter, Facebook, Blog, etc.) to each class and prepare to present and discuss how this has impacted the sport or athlete.

Each week a group of students will prepare a presentation on the required reading for the week. The presentation will require a PowerPoint and YouTube clip relating to the chapters. Two test question will also be required:
a multiple choice and True/False.

Chapters will be assigned each week, as outlined below. We will discuss these Chapters as a class, so reading is required. There will be pop quizzes throughout the semester.


This schedule is fluid based on availability of speakers and adjusting the topics to capture events in the news.

Jan. 11 Introduction - expectations for students and syllabus overview.

Jan.18 The Game behind the Game. Discussion – NFL game production: Video boards, Game Operations, Sponsorship, IT, Guest Services, Ticket Sales, HR, Suites, etc. Roone: 1-4

JAN, 25 Michael Vick – Pent House to Dog House to Pent House Again. Discussion - how sports has made athletes into larger then life figures. Roone: 5-9

Feb. 1 The Sunday morning paper on my laptop. - Guest Speaker – mike bianchi - Orlando Sentinel Roone: 10-14

Feb. 9 The Super Bowl – The biggest media event in the world.
Roone: 15-18

Feb. 15 Hey Rookie.- With the NFL draft around the corner what is expected of the players and their interaction with the media – Guest Speaker – Bahati Van Pelt – Manager of Player Relations and Youth Football
Roone: 19-23

Feb. 22 Do I need a lawyer – Law and New Media – Guest Speaker Sashi Brown Assistant General counsel. “Monday Night Mayhem”


Mar. 1 Race and Gender in Today’s and Yesterday’s Sports Bus. Media. Guest Speaker Dr. C. Keith Harrison and Darrel Fry.

Mar. 8 Spring Break

Mar. 15 Did I just say that? PR in Sports. - Guest Speaker –Ryan Robinson Manager of PR – Jacksonville Jaguars.
the weekend starts on Wednesday – Part 1 and 2

Mar. 23 “Jimmy the Greek” - The story behind NFL and CBS.
the weekend starts on Wednesday Part 3 and 4

Mar. 30 UCF Media Relations— Guest Speaker Doug Richards and staff. the weekend starts on Wednesday Part 5 and 6


Apr. 5 Media Sales and Sports- Guest Speaker - Bill Houston- Sponsorship Sales Jacksonville Jaguars.
the weekend starts on Wednesday Part 7 - 9

Apr. 12 Exam

Apr. 19 Client Based Projects--Presentations (10 minutes each group)

Apr. 26 Working in the sports media world & Kamm Awards Night - Sports Bus. Media Hiring practices and career options