Full Sail Univ.'s Dan Patrick School Of Sportscasting Set To Begin Classes In Early '18

Full Sail Univ.'s Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting will kick off with the early '18 launch of new undergraduate bachelor degree programs, available on campus and online. Playbook, Inc., which represents Patrick, also supports this initiative. The primary focus of the school is to prepare the next generation of sportscasting talent by embracing storytelling and modern-day content creation techniques. Students will learn from Patrick and several other guest experts, including SiriusXM Senior VP/Sports Programming Steve Cohen, Goren Media Group Founder & CEO Ed Goren, Vocal Awareness Institute Founder & Chair Arthur Samuel Joseph, The Ringer's Bill Simmons and ESPN's Jay Harris, Chris McKendry, Kevin Negandhi, Jeremy Schaap and Sage Steele. Former ESPN producer Gus Ramsey will serve as the full-time Program Dir for the school. Degrees can be achieved in 21 months on campus and 29 months online (Full Sail). In Orlando, George Diaz notes Patrick will make "quarterly visits and be available for regular webinars." Students will have "email access that goes directly to him" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 10/27). In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, John Ourand notes the program launches Jan. 29, and administrators are "in the process of hiring a regular faculty to teach the courses." Patrick said, "The best compliment I could get is if networks and local channels are asking if we have someone to fill their jobs. It’s about placement. ... Everybody wants to be on the air. Everybody. We want to give them the guidance so that they understand what it is, what the marketplace is like and how it’s changing" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/23 issue).