Graduate in 1.5 years
(9 terms)
100% Online
Flexibility to fit your schedule
No Application Fee
or GRE/GMAT Required
Become a dynamic, forward-thinking sports journalist
Today’s sports journalists need to not only be skilled in traditional news reporting but also in a wide variety of digital competencies, including social media storytelling, podcasts, and mobile experiences to compete in this fast-paced, 24/7 environment. Fans and non-fans alike are paying attention, as sports tackle the topics shaping larger conversations of identity and equality.
In St. Bonaventure University’s (SBU) online Master of Arts in Sports Journalism, you will learn all the skills necessary to become a modern-day sports journalist. Our sports journalism master’s degree was built leveraging the insights from our successful journalism alums, who hold top positions at ESPN, New York Post, USA Today, and other major media sources, to ensure you’ll learn all the skills critical to success in this field.
About The Program
-
Step into the fast-paced world of sports journalism with a program designed to make you a storyteller, fact finder, and an innovator. Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Understand sports’ impact on race, gender, and culture.
- Apply the highest standards of accuracy and fairness to emerging sports media platforms while upholding journalistic ethics.
- Discover innovative business models and entrepreneurial strategies for sports multimedia in a rapidly evolving industry.
- Exhibit culturally competent interviewing skills.
- Produce podcasts and digital interviews.
- Gain hands-on experience by covering events on the sidelines or from the press row alongside seasoned professionals.
- Develop, research, and execute a major sports journalism project.
-
-
-
-
Step into the fast-paced world of sports journalism with a program designed to make you a storyteller, fact finder, and an innovator. Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Understand sports’ impact on race, gender, and culture.
- Apply the highest standards of accuracy and fairness to emerging sports media platforms while upholding journalistic ethics.
- Discover innovative business models and entrepreneurial strategies for sports multimedia in a rapidly evolving industry.
- Exhibit culturally competent interviewing skills.
- Produce podcasts and digital interviews.
- Gain hands-on experience by covering events on the sidelines or from the press row alongside seasoned professionals.
- Develop, research, and execute a major sports journalism project.
Sports Curriculum Highlights
Since 2013, St. Bonaventure has offered graduate degree programs in a dynamic environment created for the online learner. This approach to academic excellence is guided by the university’s ongoing on-campus commitment to quality education for its students since its inception in 1858.
For the complete sports and media degree curriculum, please fill out the form and download a program guide.
This is the foundational course in sports journalism. Students will contextualize the role of sports journalism in our rapidly changing society and media landscape. There will be a focus on how diverse audiences interact with sports and how sports journalists cover issues of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual misconduct and other contemporary issues. The course also covers the forces affecting change in the industry and how flexibility, agility and adaptability are crucial for sports journalists and open up many career possibilities.
This course will examine the ethical issues journalists face doing their job and how that comports with the highest ideals of the profession. The intersection of ethics and law and major principles of media law will be discussed including prior restraint, privacy, libel and copyright. How journalists can use public records is also a focus.
This is a practical course about covering sporting events and issues. There will be significant focus on developing sources, pitching stories, interviewing athletes, and working with media relations staffs. Students should become adept at reporting digital sports stories.
This course will provide an in-depth study of sports media as a business. Topics include the business of media, business of sports and how those manifest in and affect sports media and journalism. Sports analytics, entrepreneurship, organization culture, contracts and freelancing are also discussed.
This course focuses on in-depth interviewing for sports. Students will conduct thorough journalistic research, develop interviewing skills for news and features and will present their work in podcasts and other digital platforms.
Ready to Learn More?
Next Term: Summer 2026
Start Date: May 18, 2026
Limited seats are available. Secure your spot today!
Sports Journalism Major at Bona's
Why St. Bonaventure University’s Master’s in Sports Journalism?
Accomplished Alums – The SBU online sports journalism master’s program is guided in part by an advisory board of alums, who have wide-ranging experience in sports journalism jobs at major news outlets and organizations. Students gain valuable insights from these alums during video masterclasses throughout the program.
Unique Masterclasses – Each of our 7-week courses contains a masterclass—a video lesson delivered by an accomplished alum or industry expert sharing their experience and best practices. Facilitated by the course instructor, you will learn from leading professionals who relate to your aspirations and know SBU firsthand.
Preview one of our previous masterclasses here:
Social Media Storytelling | Ethics in Journalism
The Modern Game Story
Ethics and Diversity – SBU is shaped by Franciscan values that provide a moral and ethical framework for the journalism profession. The university places a large emphasis on integrity and is committed to truth, accuracy, fairness, diversity, and freedom of speech. Our students become socially conscious and ethically committed journalists.
Journalism Excellence – The Jandoli School of Communication has been developing skilled sports journalists for more than 70 years. SBU’s journalism graduates include five Pulitzer Prize winners; duPont, Peabody, Emmy, Sports Emmy, and Edward R. Murrow award winners; a National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame inductee; and National and New York Sportswriter of the Year winners.
Alums & Careers
St. Bonaventure has a rich journalism tradition, and our graduates take coveted roles in leading media companies across the country, including ESPN, USA Today, The New York Post, and NBC News, among many other organizations. Our alums take on roles as sports editors, writers, reporters, columnists, producers, and senior-level management. Our alums range from top sports writers and reporters, such as Adrian Wojnarowski, Tim Bontemps, and Mike Vaccaro, to producers and senior-level management, including Chris LaPlaca and Rayna Banks.
A journalism degree prepares you for a wide range of careers such as staff writer, copywriter, news producer, sports information director, grant writer, editor, technical writer, and other careers in the marketing and communications field.
“My greatest mentors come from SBU. I could reach out to a professor at any time and ask if I was making the right choice or presenting myself in the right way. I am mostly grateful for being pushed constantly to better myself by many professors.”
Shannon Shepherd
“The program, faculty and everything I learned from SBU's sport journalism program put me in a position to open this door, which I'm truly grateful for. The Sports Illustrated team even tested me on newsworthy instincts during the interview process just to tell you how 1:1 it applied with what I learned and developed at Bona's.”
Blake Silverman, MA in Sports Journalism, 2024
“Some of the best opportunities I’ve had in my career have been through St. Bonaventure. The baseline of accuracy, fairness, thoroughness—those stay with me every day. They are the elements of my process I do every day on the job.”
Adrian Wojnarowski, Class of 1991
Rankings
ACEJMC Accreditation
St. Bonaventure’s School of Communication is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC).
When you graduate from an ACEJMC-accredited program you can be assured that your program adheres to the highest standards, including in areas such as curriculum, diversity and inclusion, full-time and part-time faculty and learning outcomes.
As an accredited school, we are
- one of only 19 private university communication schools to be so accredited
- one of just three offering accredited online graduate programs.
Learn From Our Dedicated Faculty
Tammy Rae Matthews
Faculty Member
Dr. Matthews brings with her years of research experience, along with a vast history of magazine editing. She explains that her teaching philosophy is constructed so that students feel as if they are in newsrooms and sports teams.
Learn More
Brian Moritz
Journalism Program Director
Dr. Brian Moritz is an internationally recognized sports media scholar and researcher whose work examines the societal, organizational, and economic models of digital journalism, with a particular focus on sports journalism.
Learn More
Amy Moritz
Professional in Residence in Sports Media
Professor Moritz is a Professional in Residence in Sports Media within the St. Bonaventure Jandoli School of Communication and teaches courses in sports communication and sports writing.
Learn MoreFrequently Asked Questions
No, this program is designed to teach all of the foundational skills that are critical to a successful career in journalism. This program will prepare aspiring reporters for the growing ways in which sports and society intertwine, and includes expert insights from St. Bonaventure’s accomplished alums who are influential voices in sports journalism.
The online Master of Arts in Sports Journalism is a 30-credit hour program and takes about a year and a half to complete. Courses are offered during 7-week terms and are designed for the working professional to complete while still working full time.
You can find more information and start your application on our Apply Now page.
A master’s degree in journalism prepares you for a wide range of careers such as columnist, staff writer, producer, podcast host, sports information director, grant writer, editor, technical writer, and other careers in the sports marketing and communications field. It’s an exciting time to be a part of sports journalism. Fans and non-fans alike are paying attention as sports tackles the topics shaping larger conversations of identity and equality.
No, the Master of Arts in Sports Journalism program is offered 100% online, with courses delivered asynchronously to offer you flexibility with your schedule.
While you can complete the entire degree online, you are welcome and invited to come to our beautiful campus in Western New York for your graduation, or to stop in anytime you might be in the Olean, NY, area.
One of the unique aspects of St. Bonaventure’s online Master’s in Sports Journalism is the involvement of accomplished journalism alums who helped shape the program and contribute to our masterclasses. A masterclass is one specialty class included within a 7-week course. This typically includes a pre-recorded video lesson by the alum and/or industry expert, sharing industry experience and best practices. The class also includes facilitation and support from the course instructor.
In addition to masterclasses within individual courses, the program periodically offers live video masterclass sessions that are open to all graduate journalism students. In the live video masterclass, you will have an opportunity to ask questions directly to the visiting expert.
Hear From a Student
Hear from Jack Milko (MA '23) on his experience in the sports journalism program.
