A former Elon Sports Vision (ESV) student crew member, Bamford was recently named the initiative鈥檚 coordinating producer, overseeing live broadcasts of Elon Athletics events while working closely with students as they develop technical, creative and leadership skills.

鈥淚 was interested in the coordinating producer role because I saw firsthand what the role entailed while I was an undergrad and the seasonal diversity across the men’s and women’s sports,鈥� Bamford said. 鈥淓SV provided me with a wonderful opportunity to learn all aspects of sports broadcasting. I experienced everything from camera operation, to replay, to producing and directing a live broadcast 鈥撀燼nd I hope to offer the same for current and future students.鈥�

Following his graduation in May, Bamford gained professional experience as the director of multimedia for the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), responsible for the coordination and improved production of the league鈥檚 streaming efforts. The position placed him in charge of remote broadcasts, collaborating with schools and announcers nationwide.

鈥淢y role at the CWPA taught me how to work in extremely fast-paced environments while managing multiple projects,鈥� he said.

Bamford鈥檚 professional background 鈥� and the mentorship mindset he brings to the role 鈥� stood out to Bryan Baker, the School of Communications鈥� director of technology, operations and multimedia projects.

鈥淎nthony was a terrific student at Elon who consistently took full advantage of the opportunities offered by the School of Communications,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淗is background in sport management, media analytics, journalism, and as an ESV student producer uniquely positions him to be an outstanding mentor to students in his new role.鈥�

A native of Royersford, Pa., Bamford brings experience from professional and collegiate sports operations. During his semester in The Sport Experience in Charlotte, he served as an Atlantic Coast Conference Football and Game Day Operations Center intern, including managing a 30-member volunteer staff at the 2023 ACC Football Championship Game. He has also worked as a game operations intern for the Durham Bulls of the International League and as a producer/broadcaster for Pottstown Community Television.

In addition to his production experience, Bamford completed undergraduate research through the university鈥檚 Sports Media Lab, conducting a qualitative analysis of sports gambling, pirating and social media consumption. The results of that research were published in the Sports Business Journal.

Looking ahead, Bamford plans to build on ESV鈥檚 tradition of high-quality broadcasts while emphasizing student development. And Bamford and ESV are starting from a good position 鈥� the organization captured its first-ever College Sports Media Award last spring.

鈥淚 would love to continue and expand ESV’s legacy of producing professional-level broadcasts for college athletics,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a student, I was a member of a crew that won an award at SVG. As the coordinating producer, I want to make that the expectation for our future broadcasts.鈥�

福利亚洲国产精品 Elon Sports Vision

Elon Sports Vision provides students with hands-on experience in broadcasting, content creation, sports marketing and in-venue productions for Elon鈥檚 NCAA Division I athletic department. Launched in 2017, ESV works closely with Elon Athletics to deliver live coverage of university sporting events with professional production standards. As coordinating producer, Bamford oversees a team of nearly 60 student employees and manages the execution of broadcasts across camera work, audio, graphics, live commentary and sideline reporting.

In its third year, 福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 Sports Media Lab is building on early momentum, deepening relationships with sport industry partners and opening new pathways for student-led research and scholarship.

Founded by Associate Professor of Sport Management David Bockino, the lab was created in 2023 to give students and faculty a place to explore the intersection of sports, media and research, both academically and in applied industry settings.

鈥淚鈥檇 been immersed in sports media research for years, and I saw the lab as an opportunity to create a place where students could join those conversations and contribute to work that鈥檚 both academically rigorous and valuable to the industry,鈥� Bockino said.

He added that Elon鈥檚 structure naturally positions the university as a leader in this field, noting, 鈥淲e’re one of the few schools in the country that houses a sport management department within a school of communications. To me, that means we should be the leader in sports media.鈥�

In the past year, the Sports Media Lab has expanded its collaborations with the Atlantic Coast Conference, Charlotte FC and the Charlotte Checkers. These relationships have created opportunities for students and faculty to present original research, including a briefing with ACC executives in August 2024 and a research presentation for Charlotte FC in April. Assistant Professor of Sport Management Alex Traugutt also visited the Charlotte Checkers three times to present sponsorship and fan-engagement findings developed in collaboration with students Lena Gunn ’25 and Lindsay Feretti ’26.

Bockino said the mutually beneficial nature of these partnerships is central to the lab鈥檚 mission. 鈥淚 want to show our partners the value of our work,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e gaining something meaningful and our students are gaining something meaningful, that鈥檚 the ideal relationship.鈥�

Students also benefited from new research tools through a recent partnership with Relo Metrics, an AI-powered sponsorship analytics platform. The collaboration opens doors for students across sport management and media analytics to integrate real-world brand exposure and sponsorship valuation research into class projects and independent studies. 鈥淚t’s something we’ve never had before, and the opportunities are nearly limitless,鈥� Bockino said.

The Sports Media Lab鈥檚 recent activity has included several high-profile student research accomplishments. Anthony Bamford 鈥�25 presented to the ACC in 2024, and in spring 2025 he traveled with Bockino to Chicago to present their work at the International Association for Communication and Sport. Bamford and Carlos Levy 鈥�25 also presented research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Pittsburgh.

The lab celebrated two publications in the Sports Business Journal, including , and . Reflecting on the surge in student scholarship, Bockino said, 鈥淚’m trying to create a structure that’s sustainable and repeatable semester after semester.鈥�

Looking ahead, Bockino envisions the Sports Media Lab growing into an even more central academic resource. As the sport industry increasingly relies on digital storytelling, analytics and content creation, he sees opportunities for students to explore careers that merge these areas. 鈥淓veryone, all sport organizations, are creating content. Athletes are creating their own content, right?鈥� he said. 鈥淚t would really help those students find their own home, and I think it would attract new students.鈥�

The lab鈥檚 momentum accompanies Bockino鈥檚 latest scholarly work. His upcoming book, 鈥淥ver/Under: An Unexpected History of Sports Betting,鈥� , will be published in June 2026. The book traces nearly two centuries of sports gambling in the United States and examines how wagering has shaped the rise of American sports. As with Bockino鈥檚 earlier book, 鈥淕ame On,鈥� the new title highlights Elon鈥檚 continued leadership in sports media education and research.

The Sports Media Lab is supported by the Elon Innovation Council 鈥撀爓ith funding already extended into the 2026 calendar year.

Lilly Molina 鈥�27 contributed to this release.

turned a curiosity about fan engagement in professional women鈥檚 sports into a nationally published research project 鈥� the result of work the recent Elon graduate began as an undergraduate.

The strategic communications and media analytics double major recently co-authored a peer-reviewed paper with Assistant Professor of Sport Management Alex Traugutt. Titled 鈥溾�� the study was published in the Journal of Applied Sport Management. It analyzed attendance trends during the 2023 season and found that themed events significantly increased match attendance, while traditional promotions had limited impact.

Drawing on data from all 167 regular-season matches, the study also identified key external drivers of attendance, including post-World Cup timing, visiting star players, and local market demographics. These findings offer actionable insights for NWSL teams seeking to grow their fanbases and refine marketing strategies amid the league鈥檚 rapid expansion.

According to Traugutt, the paper was the result of multiple semesters of work and was first presented at the Applied Sport Management Association (ASMA) conference, where Gunn earned first place in the Undergraduate Research Competition. Gunn served as the paper鈥檚 lead author.

As that study made its publication debut, another Elon undergraduate-led project 鈥� also mentored by Traugutt 鈥� was accepted for publication. , a sport management major and member of Elon鈥檚 women鈥檚 volleyball team, led a companion study focused on NCAA Division I women鈥檚 volleyball. The forthcoming paper, to be published in the Journal of Amateur Sport, found that promotional events, match scheduling, and opponent quality all significantly influence fan attendance.

鈥淭hese publications exemplify the power of student-faculty collaboration at Elon,鈥� Traugutt said. 鈥淟ena and Lily developed as researchers by tackling real-world sport industry challenges. From forming research questions to presenting and publishing their work, they gained skills that will serve them long beyond the classroom.鈥�

Following their graduations in May, Gunn now works as a sports partnership coordinator with Novant Health, and Barker is pursuing her MBA in sport management at San Diego State University.

has already conducted research projects for both the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC.

He has experience with a variety of platforms including Excel, R, Tableau, Brandwatch, SEM Rush and Google Analytics.

While working as an intern for the Atlantic Coast Conference Football department during the 2023 season, Bamford witnessed first-hand the variability of college football game length.

While the ACC had some guesses as to what factors most influenced duration, they wanted to test those hunches with actual data. The task went to Bamford, someone who had been trusted with significant responsibilities and who Donald Moore, the ACC鈥檚 director of football, called 鈥渋ntegral to our football department.鈥�

Using a proprietary dataset (2019-2023) consisting of both in-conference and out-of-conference games, Bamford organized and cleaned the data before creating a regression model to understand the effects of total plays, scoring plays, penalties, replay stoppages, stoppage time and commercial format.

In August 2024, Bamford presented his results in person to the ACC. The findings both confirmed some of the ideas the conference had about game duration and gave them a few new concepts to think about, specifically in terms of replay stoppages.

In early 2024, Bamford and the rest of the Sports Media Lab team set up a partnership with Charlotte FC in order to help the soccer club better understand the social media habits and preferences of college students. The result was a multi-faceted project designed to assist the club with its social media strategy during global soccer tournaments such as the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

Bamford鈥檚 portion of the research involves the social media tool Brandwatch. Using data collected during three big events鈥搕he 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 2024 Euro Championship and the 2024 Copa America鈥揃amford will assess and compare the paid, earned and owned social media mentions for Charlotte FC and its competitors. The metrics being assessed include information on demographics, reach, trends, sentiment and sources.

Bamford will combine his research with results from the rest of the Sports Media Lab team and will present the findings to Charlotte FC in early 2025.

The Sports Media Lab Student Spotlight profiles the lab鈥檚 graduating seniors and their work.

This spotlight is on HEATH FOSTER 鈥�24, a media analytics major with a marketing minor. Heath has experience with a variety of platforms (including Excel, R, SQL, Tableau, SEM Rush, Hootsuite, and Google Analytics), and is pursuing a career in sport analytics.

Heath excels at communicating insights. He鈥檚 a natural storyteller and a gifted presenter, somebody that can both analyze the data and tell somebody why it matters. Here鈥檚 his and .

THE WORK

TITLE: Perception vs. Reality: How Fantasy Experts, Scouts, and College Students Value NFL Players.

ORIGIN: Both football fans and broadcasters often focus on the 鈥渆xciting play.鈥� A 70-yard touchdown bomb. A 45-yard screen pass. It鈥檚 perfect content for SportsCenter, ideal for Instagram or TikTok. And it feeds right into our obsession with fantasy football where touchdowns are prioritized.

But there鈥檚 so much more to football than these plays. Did the receiver run the correct route? Did the running back make the appropriate block? Yet these moments rarely make the highlight shows. And there are few social media accounts dedicated to good routes or blocks (although there are indeed a few).

Which leads to the genesis of this project: how does our collective emphasis on the exciting play affect fans鈥� perceptions of what makes a football player a good football player?

THE METHOD AND THE DATA:聽To answer this question, rankings of NFL wide receivers and running backs were created with three groups of data.

To determine the top NFL players from a scout or front office perspective, thousands of data points were collected, cleaned, assigned a weight, and analyzed聽using dozens of metrics favoring efficiency such as 鈥渢rue catch rate,鈥� 鈥渢arget separation,鈥� and 鈥渞un block rating.鈥� Each of these data points came from an athlete who played in 10 or more games and ran at least 10 routes or had 5 carries in each.

Similarly, to determine the top NFL players from a fantasy football perspective, metrics favoring opportunity and production such as 鈥渢argets/game鈥� and 鈥渞ushing touchdowns/game鈥� were used to assess individual performance regardless of team outcome or efficiency.

And to determine the top NFL players from a fan perspective, the top 20 wide receivers and running backs from each group were randomized together in a list and send out to 70+ football fans asking them to rank 鈥渢he best players鈥� at each position.

RESULTS: While the rankings for fantasy football and fans were similar, the scout/ front office rankings told a different story.

From a fan or fantasy football perspective, the usual suspects appeared at the top of the list: Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson,聽 CeeDee Lamb. But from a scout perspective, D.J. Moore, Nico Collins and (as we鈥檒l see below) an under-appreciated 49er all made the Top 10.

THREE聽 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PROJECT:

1) We really care about our fantasy teams: Public perception is heavily tied to fantasy performance and big play appeal rather than the mundane data points used by scouts and GMs. Maybe we should start paying more attention to 鈥淭op Coverage Draw Rate鈥� or 鈥淓PA per Target/Carry鈥� to see how a player is impacting the game outside of the final stat sheet. Exciting plays are awesome, and should be emphasized, but there鈥檚 a lot more that goes into this game that we often don鈥檛 recognize.

2) Somebody send this research to Brandon Aiyuk: According to scouting

metrics, Brandon Aiyuk is one of the best wide receivers in the league. He runs sharp routes, gets separation, and isn鈥檛 afraid to throw a downfield block.

But according to fans, he鈥檚 the 27th best wide receiver in the league, right behind Michael Pittman, Zay Flowers, and Jakobi Meyers.

Is it possible that this perception will affect the size of his contract or his sponsorship opportunities?

3) The role of NFL broadcasters: A constant emphasis on the big play is skewing our perception of what constitutes a good player. Moving forward, how can broadcasters showcase true on-field talent to give a more complete story of the game of football? In other words, how do we properly glamorize the more subtle (yet important) parts of the game?

SHARING THE FINDINGS: Heath presented this research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Long Beach, California and at 福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF).

JUGGLING PROJECTS: A week after NCUR, Heath presented research that explored how Formula 1 qualifying times and point systems influence global viewership at the annual conference of the Broadcast Education Association in Las Vegas, Nevada.

CONTACT INFO: Again, here鈥檚 Heath鈥檚 and .

Sports are a results-based industry measured in wins, losses and statistics.

So, it only makes sense to evaluate the first year of the Sports Media Lab at 福利亚洲国产精品 in a similar fashion 鈥撀燼nd the metrics look good.

Since the lab鈥檚 launch in September, the inaugural student cohort 鈥� led by Associate Professor of Sport Management David Bockino 鈥� has embraced opportunities and avenues to pursue sports media-related research questions. The five Elon students and their faculty mentor have examined topics such as sports gambling, fantasy sports, player/team content creation, broadcast innovations and the perceived value of streaming services.

Supported by an Elon Innovation Council grant, the lab has provided a structure for students, faculty and sport industry partners to workshop new ideas about relevant research and find ways to make them a reality. The lab鈥檚 objective is simple: to make Elon an industry leader in sports media research.

鈥淚t has been an exciting first year for our Sports Media Lab, providing our students with a cohort-based undergraduate research experience that supports their curiosity in sports media,鈥� Bockino said. 鈥淎nd we feel fortunate to find partners who have been eager to collaborate with us and expand our research.鈥�

The lab has had an active first year examining the sports media habits of college students, including multiple focus group sessions in November and March. The first set of focus groups covered sports gambling and player/team content creation, while the second group explored the perception and value of sports streaming services and content piracy.

Based on focus groups discussions, as well as interviews and surveys, the lab published in February a Sports Business Journal op-ed, titled 鈥溾�� The lab also garnered media attention in the days following North Carolina鈥檚 March launch of statewide sports wagering. Bockino was featured in several media interviews, including an in Greensboro.

In addition to their cohort experience, all five student participants in the Sports Media Lab tackled individual research topics. Subjects varied from how European soccer clubs market their team to American audiences to the cohesive aspect of sports viewership on college campuses among international students to the way different groups perceive the value of NFL players.

Elliot Rezek 鈥�24, a media analytics and computer science double major, spent this year using eye-tracking software to study viewers鈥� affinity for new camera angles in NFL broadcasts. He has worked closely with Professor of Strategic Communications Qian Xu to delve into the subject, trying to identify if viewer camera angle preferences are based on how familiar viewers are with the sport.

鈥淚 was initially drawn to the lab because it was a combination of my two main interests: academic research and sports,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s someone who isn’t a sport management major, it was a great way to study sports in ways I don’t often get to in my other classes.鈥�

Rezek credits Xu and Bockino for helping him tighten his project鈥檚 parameters, while pushing him to expand his skillset and look for experiences for personal growth. This includes his upcoming oral presentation in April at the (NCUR) in Long Beach, California.

鈥淲ell, I won’t lie. I’m pretty scared to present at NCUR,鈥� Rezek quipped. 鈥淚’ve never done anything like this before. I am excited however because I’ve worked hard to get my research to where it is now. I want to present what I have learned through my results and process. Dr. Bockino has encouraged me to present at NCUR because he knew it would push me outside of my comfort zone, and that’s what makes him a good mentor.鈥�

Anthony Bamford 鈥�25, a media analytics major, echoed Rezek鈥檚 sentiments, noting the benefits of working in collaboration with Bockino. Together, the student and mentor have partnered with the Atlantic Coast Conference to explore the variables behind college football game lengths. Bamford was recently accepted into Elon鈥檚 SURE program to continue with this research and to eventually present his findings to the ACC.

鈥淒r. Bockino is very good at asking questions that challenge me to think critically about not just the topic at hand, but how outside factors may influence my research,鈥� said Bamford, who completed an internship with the ACC last fall. 鈥淗is mentorship has been important over the past year in helping me narrow my project scope.鈥�

The Sports Media Lab鈥檚 latest news drop is the April 1 publication of Bockino鈥檚 new book, 鈥淕ame On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, and Got Personal with Billions of Fans.鈥�

, the book is the first comprehensive look at the evolution of the sports media industry and suggests that the increased personalization of content (i.e. social media, fantasy sports, gambling) is in stark contrast to the industry鈥檚 initial focus on the collective experience. The text delves into what the introduction of widespread legalized gambling 鈥� a key component to this evolution 鈥撀燾ould mean for fans, for sports teams and leagues, and for society overall.

According to Bockino, the idea for his new publication traces back to his Through the Lens of ESPN course, a Winter Term offering that explores the intersection of sports, media and culture. His past courses have traveled to Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Uruguay.

鈥淚t was during this class that I found myself wishing I had a comprehensive overview of the history of sports media. So, I wrote one.鈥�

鈥� David Bockino

Bockino鈥檚 text provides necessary historical context, pointing out that thanks to radio and broadcast television coverage sports was largely a shared experience enjoyed with others 鈥� at the same time. But since the 1979 launch of ESPN, which Bockino called the 鈥渢urning point鈥� of sports media consumption, there has been greater and greater fragmentation among sports fans.

鈥淔rom talk radio to fantasy sports, video games, and now widespread sports gambling, fans have more and more control of what they watch, who they watch, and who they root for,鈥� Bockino said. 鈥淭he book addresses this idea of the personalization of the sport fan experience, and whether or not it’s good for society as we fall further into a self-centered media experience overall.鈥�

While the academic year nears its conclusion, Bockino and the Sports Media Lab have already turned their attention to the upcoming year. The lab has already secured a partnership with Charlotte FC where students will pursue research projects developed in collaboration with the Major League Soccer team. It is a collaboration is Bockino is excited for 鈥� and something he envisioned when he initially launched the lab.

鈥淎n integral component to the Sports Media Lab is its mutually beneficial relationship with sport industry partners,鈥� Bockino said. 鈥淲e really look forward to kicking off our partnership with Charlotte FC this coming fall 鈥� a relationship we expect to be beneficial both to them and to us. And we continue to seek out additional partners who are interested in studying emerging trends within the sports media environment.鈥�