You wouldn’t be able to learn the wonders and limitations of Sports Production: Sports Link by reading or listening to lectures alone. You have to experience them – and that’s what this program is about.
Ball State Sports Link is an immersive learning program. Sports Production is a program about doing. This requires attendance in the Sports Link Lab throughout the week and working live ESPN productions.
Working with your classmates, with the guidance of the class instructors and industry professionals, you will learn how to work with the tools of the medium to create, shoot and produce sports content, productions, studio shows, cross-platform media, features and long-form, layered storytelling.
Through hands-on production, editing and remote training, guest professionals, readings, in-class discussions and critiques, you are expected to leave Sports Production: Sports Link having developed “real-life” experience and understanding of sports media, production, tools, practices and ethics.
This isn’t a class, it’s your future.
Educate, Elevate and Empower
Since 2009, Ball State’s immersive learning production, Ball State Sports Link, has emerged as a national leader in sports media and production.
Sports Link graduates can be found at ESPN, Turner Sports, Fox Sports, Tupelo Raycom Sports, MLB, Indy Car, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL and NCAA Athletics Departments across the country.
Our Sports Production major, the first four-year academic track in the nation, is within the Department of Media.
Sports Link connects Ball State audiences with the athletics community, delivering exclusive content on far-reaching platforms to showcase the unique moments of Cardinals teams and characters.
By doing so, Sports Link strives to enhance the publicity of and showcase accomplishments of all Ball State student-athletes on the field, in the classroom and within the surrounding community.
Mission, Vision and Values
- To publicize, promote, produce content and market Ball State Sports Link, BSU Media, Ball State Athletics and Ball State University with pride in our work and to the best of our ability
- To be a positive and influential person to our fellow students, student-athletes faculty and staff
- To develop quality, prepared and respected students for a career in sports media and production
- To provide tireless effort, leadership and commitment to Ball State University
- To continue to be the standard by which all other sports media and production, and sports journalism programs in the nation are measured
- To educate, elevate, and empower students and student-athletes, while also inspiring fans and members of the public to engage in the Ball State and Ball State Athletics experience *
*Revised 8.24.20
No. 1 Ranked Top Winning Sports Media Program
Ball State’s Sports Link program ascended to the No. 1 spot for top winning sports media programs by the Broadcast Education Association (BEA). In this competition, student creative work goes through a rigorous blind-juried process that includes multiple evaluations by both academic and professional experts from across the country.
Each school’s student achievements are then calculated and ranked for each of the seven competition categories. Consistently ranked the No. 2 sports media program since 2022, Sports Link vaulted to the top spot this season ahead of Arizona State, Syracuse, Oklahoma and the University of Miami.
Sports Link’s success was featured as part of its Business, Equity and Opportunity show in July 2025 by WISH-TV 8 in Indianapolis.