SVG Sit-Down: 7 Point Audio President Jeff Ball on the Evolving Role of the Sports DJ Dating back to the venue organist, the DJ is at the intersection of sports and entertainment By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 1:54 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The sports DJ is the audible - and loudly so - but mostly invisible cheerleader, the ultimate partisan but supposedly there for team fan and foe alike. The role has a history: it grew out of the venerable and still very viable venue organist, wielder of the Mighty Wurlitzers in stadiums and arenas for the past 80-plus years, since the first one was installed in Wrigley Field in 1941.
The sports DJ came along in the 1970s and '80s, an outgrowth of disco (which was not always welcome in ballparks) but also reflective of the growing presence and influence of Black athletes and culture in major-league sports. They have become a fixture at most sports venues, striving to fill the bowl with stings and chants while keeping the music as far as possible from broadcast's crowd microphones, lest it precipitate a copyright infringement.
Just weeks before perhaps the ultimate intersection of entertainment and sports, the Super Bowl Halftime Show, SVG sat down with Jeff Ball, president, 7 Point Audio, a developer of digital tools for the sports DJ, to discuss what that role has become and where it's headed.
7 Point Audio's Jeff Ball: We're going to continue to see that position evolve. It's not going to be just audio.
DJs in sports have more of a history than many might realize.
In the early days, they'd have folding tables with color-coded cassettes [of] recorded sounds and effects for use during the game. As the moment came up, they'd reach for the right-color cassette for the sound it needed, like a broken-glass sound for a foul ball coming down. Then they would rewind it real quick and eject it, put it back on the desk, and watch for the next sound moment. The reaction time they needed for that, using cassettes, is mind-boggling. But that's how it developed: watching the game and creating interaction with it for the fans.
Is the role of the sports DJ to be a cheerleader?
I see the role of DJ as being to use music to create that emotional and visceral response that we have to music, to get us further engaged. If we see that our team is doing well, we typically want to cheer, but that's multiplied when we put music and sound to it. When we give the game a soundtrack, that gets more people engaged, more people out of [their] seats. And the more the fans are engaged, the more the players react to that energy on the field.
Are DJs and live music beginning to share this space more?
I think I'd have to agree with that. DJs have been around for many years, but they sit in the booth, out of sight of the spectators. What we have seen in the last 10 years is more teams putting more DJs into a place where they can be seen, so that the DJs themselves become the live music. They become interactive, because now not only do fans hear the music but they see the DJ creating it. They see the DJ dancing and vibing with that music that they're generating. And the fans react to that.
DJ EJ, aka Erik Jorgenson, is the team DJ for the Dallas Cowboys.
Also, there are often multiple DJs: one to focus on music like a traditional DJ and one to work and follow the game and maybe do more things like mash-ups to follow the action on the field.
Are some DJ positions becoming more identified with specific teams?
Yes, including my business partner, Erik Jorgenson, aka DJ EJ, who is the team DJ for the Dallas Cowboys. We're also seeing pregame DJs out in the plaza, trying to get people pumped and engaged before they even get inside. You're going from one DJ's sound to another. Another DJ position is the walk-up music DJ for baseball. That's now happening throughout baseball, even in Little League.
Another one that's becoming more popular is a DJ in hockey, who plays a unique piece of music when goals are scored. That's a challenging one because hockey is a lot faster than any other sport. In some cases, some NHL teams, including the Washington Capitals, are pairing the DJ with a spotter, to confirm the goal and who made it, to get a quicker reaction time.
What does the future hold for the sports DJ?
We're going to continue to see that position evolve. We want to see more of what we can do and what tools we can provide to allow them to be creative. It's not going to be just audio; we're developing tools to tie into the [venue] DMX lighting and video infrastructure. That will give them some control over those [production] elements.
We're planning on integrating Ross [Video's] RossTalk protocol [which allows control of the switcher from an external device]. That will have implications for baseball, which tends to do fireworks shows after the game using DMX, too. There's a lot more to the DJ than just music when it comes to sports.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Deepens Partnership with Taiwan's 62nd Golden Hors...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Blayke Scheer, Senior Director, Creative Content, YES NetworkThe Indiana alum has turned storytelling into an artform for more than two decadesBy...
25/11/2025
Op-Ed: With FCC's C-Band Auction on the Horizon, Broadcasters Need Proven, C...
25/11/2025
Analysis: Is Baller League really the future of sport? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
With KSI on...
SVG Sit-Down: 7 Point Audio President Jeff Ball on the Evolving Role of the Sports DJ Dating back to the venue organist, the DJ is at the intersection of sports and entertainment By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
