What is the Beyond Sports Initiative?
The Beyond Sports Initiative (BSI) serves as the bridge between emerging sports practitioners and an industry that will increasingly depend on their expertise to move forward. The Beyond Sports Initiative’s mission is to provide data-driven insights to current and future sport scholars and practitioners so they can adapt and thrive in a changing, global sport and gaming environment. BSI will drive the conversation and debate between the academy and industry to better inform both sides about the skills and knowledge the next generation of sport professionals need to be thrive.
Why Here?
Built on a strong (inter)national reputation for Alabama Athletics, the Alabama Program in Sports Communication (APSC) existed for 11 years and produced considerable work that advanced the imprint of sports communication at UA and around the world. In the past decade, fellows from the APSC have presented and published more sports communication scholarship than any other known institution in the world. In addition, C&IS now has graduated the most sports communication Ph.D.s of any place in America. If any university is positioned to advance a vision like BSI, it should be the University of Alabama.
Why Now?
The sports industry has seen significant changes during the 21st Century; future practitioners must adapt to meet the evolving needs of their employers. The rise of sports commentary on radio, television and digital media has increased the volume of information about sport that may or may not be always supported with factual evidence. Technology, particularly elements of Web 3.0, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, streaming services, and analytics driven by Big Data, is being used to enhance the fan experience to varying degrees of efficacy. These changes combine with widespread (and recent) embracing of video gaming–specifically Esports–fantasy sports, and gambling to enact profound impacts on traditional sport. In fact, considering that 96% of the top 100 media ratings in 2023 involved sporting contests, the center of the American media diet – and the attention of its consumers – is now very squarely centered in sports, even more so than ever before.