PEORIA, Ill. – Some of the hottest topics in the world of sports were the focus of panels at Bradley University’s 9th annual Steiner Symposium on Thursday.
The forum is hosted by Bradley’s Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication, named after the 1971 graduate who hosted SportsCenter on ESPN for 14 years before becoming a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The school is celebrating ten years this year.
The school’s director, Joshua Dickhaus, says alumni were brought back to show students what they can achieve in the industry.
“This field is unbelievable. There are about probably 50 different paths to success with a sports communication degree here,” Dickhaus said.
Dickhaus says alumni spoke about experiences working in television, for professional sports teams, and for college athletic departments. He says the success of the school comes from the facility and the curriculum they teach, along with a buy-in from everyone.
One of the topics discussed at the symposium was the impact of the transfer portal on college athletics.
Janna Blais is the Deputy Director of Athletics at Northwestern, and says one of her main concerns is the impact transferring can have on a student-athlete’s education.
“What’s really important is to make sure that you’re getting the degree that you set out to get, or find a degree that lights you up, that’s going to help you take the next step, and not end up transferring so many times, because you can, that you end up not in a major that you love, enjoy, can help you in the next phase of your life,” Blais said.
Blais says another concern of hers is that only around 60% of student-athletes who transfer actually end up finding a new school.
She says constant transfers can impact coaches, where they have to re-recruit players to stay every year.
Another topic discussed was how to compensate student-athletes and the impacts of Name-Image-and-Likeness. Blais says the federal government may need to help level the playing field for NIL.
“I think Congress really needs to help to be able to manage one law, and not, I think there’s like currently 40 different laws across the country, state-by-state-by-state, helping us with that,” Blais said.
Blais says there are options to properly compensate student-athletes, but does not believe unionizing student athletes is a viable option. She says student-athletes already receive benefits that a union would provide.
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