ESPN Mobile Unit Gives Sports Media Production Students a New Classroom

Students will produce live Manhattan College sporting events beginning with the 2019-20 basketball season.

Student operating Television camera for live broadcast.Students in the Manhattan College sports media production program have a new classroom.

A new ESPN mobile production unit arrived on campus in March and will serve as a classroom for those students in Manhattan College’s Communication department. Students will produce live broadcasts for NCAA Division I athletics events, announce and produce pre-packaged segments to air during those contests.

“This mobile production unit is a game changer for our students,” said Thom Gencarelli, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Communication department. “It will serve as a lab to give them valuable real-world experience in sports production, while allowing them to advance their education in a wide variety of media.”

Sports Media Production is a 300-level course that is currently open to all communication majors, regardless of class year. The goal of the course is to train a group of students to serve as the production crew for Manhattan College men’s and women’s basketball games at the start of the 2019-20 season.

Students will learn techniques for producing a live, high-definition, multi-camera event from a remote location, scheduling, and methods for producing events in different sports. 

Already, students enrolled in Sports Media Production have had the chance to visit ESPN's main campus in Bristol, Conn. to get a preview of what is to come on the Manhattan College campus. In the mobile production unit, students will work with a Ross Carbonite switcher, graphics, replays and audio controls for a broadcast with 4K capability.

One of Manhattan College’s most popular majors, Communication department graduates currently have jobs at CBS Sports, NBC Sports, NBC, 60 Minutes, The New York Times, Nickelodeon, Fox News and MSNBC, along with many other major media outlets in New York City and across the country.

For more information regarding the sports media production concentration, contact Thom Gencarelli, Ph.D., at 718-862-7490 or thom.gencarelli@manhattan.edu.

About ESPN+:

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By Pete McHugh