Lesson Plan: How Big Ten Network's StudentU Produces Broadcast Pros - and 2,000 Live Games a YearBTN supports 18 campuses with student training and feedback, as well as professional toolsBy Brandon Costa, Director of Digital Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - 11:27 am
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On any given weeknight across the Big Ten Conference, hundreds of students are calling replays, switching cameras, and directing live game coverage - all under the banner of Big Ten Network's StudentU program. From wrestling in Piscataway, NJ, to volleyball in L.A., StudentU productions fill the network's B1G streaming service with more than 2,000 live events each year, showcasing the next generation of sports-television talent in real time.
Behind every one of those broadcasts is a carefully coordinated partnership between BTN's Chicago- and Los Angeles-based StudentU team and the production staffs embedded on each of the conference's 18 campuses. Together, they are building one of the largest and most successful student-driven production networks in the country - a system designed to educate, empower, and elevate young professionals preparing for careers in live sports television.
It's wild to think about how far this program has come, says Rob Coons, senior director, StudentU, Big Ten Network. The students have always been the hallmark of this initiative, and, today, the quality of their work is incredible. We're seeing college kids produce broadcasts that look truly professional.
From Flypacks to Full-Fledged Control RoomsWhen BTN launched in 2007, its founders quickly realized that they owned far more live-event rights than could ever fit on a single linear channel. Streaming was still in its infancy, but the conference saw an opportunity to develop the next generation of broadcast professionals while making thousands more events available for fans. The idea was simple: ship a portable flypack to a school, have a handful of students produce a few games, then send it to the next campus.
Big Ten Network's StudentU program puts university students in key positions for live production of sports events for streaming service B1G . Here, University of Oregon students produce a basketball game from the school's on-campus control room. (Photos: Big Ten Network).
That experiment became the seed for StudentU, which has evolved over 17 years from a proof-of-concept to a fully integrated educational production ecosystem. Every Big Ten university now has a StudentU operation producing live sports coverage, training future media professionals, and feeding the ever expanding appetite for live content on B1G .
Before joining BTN, Coons spent more than a decade at Northwestern University, where he helped launch the school's athletics video department. We realized early that there were incredibly talented students on these campuses - kids who might not even know sports broadcasting was a career path, he says. Once they got a taste of it, they were hooked.
BTN now has a dedicated StudentU staff of eight - Production Managers Ethan Cardoza and Lauren Day, Technical Operations Manager Kevin Kantorski, Talent Manager Jesse Kass, Graphics Manager Casey Woodman, and Coordinators Mariesha Gibson and Heather Hagedorn - working alongside Coons from Chicago and Los Angeles. Together, they collaborate closely with athletic-department personnel who manage the programs day to day on campus.
Building Skills, Confidence, ConsistencyBTN's StudentU team supports campus crews in three major ways: equipment investment, training resources, and live-game support.
We work with every school individually, Coons explains. Each campus has different control-room setups, and we try to meet them where they are. It doesn't make sense to mandate identical gear if it conflicts with what they've already built or taught.
A student at the University of Washington shoots a volleyball match during a live production streamed to B1G .
On the training front, BTN provides a wealth of written guides and video tutorials that cover everything from camera basics to advanced producing and directing. The network also hosts seminars featuring professionals from BTN's linear productions and on-air talent to connect students directly with working industry pros.
Perhaps the most impressive layer of support happens on game day. For every one of the 2,034 live StudentU broadcasts last school year, BTN staff in Chicago monitored productions remotely, answering technical questions via intercom and providing detailed postgame evaluations.
After every show, we send written feedback - usually four or five pages - breaking down what worked well and what can improve, Coons says. We know campus staffs are stretched thin. If we can help students learn from each event, that's an important part of the educational process.
Raising the Bar on Production QualityOver the past five years, BTN has prioritized visual consistency across B1G streams, beginning with a unified graphics look. Under Woodman's direction, BTN's StudentU group reimagined the network's linear-graphics package for the student environment, using Ross Video's XPression platform.
Having every school's show look the same, with clean, professional graphics, goes a long way toward making B1G feel like a cohesive product, says Coons. It's one of those details that audiences might not consciously notice, but it absolutely raises the perception of quality.
The Big Ten Network staff supports all StudentU productions from the network's Chicago and L.A. offices. Here, BTN staffers work in the command center at the Chicago facility.
The same philosophy drove BTN's recent camera investment: more than 20 Sony HXC-FZ90 studio cameras now in use across the conference. The FZ9
