Sports Business Academy

Program Leader:

B.J. Schecter is Vice President of Media & Marketing, at 3STEP Sports, the largest youth club sports and event operator in the nation, where he is building a media division. He’s also professor at Seton Hall University, where he spearheaded the launch of an indisciplinary Center for Sports Media in the fall of 2022. Prior to that, Schecter spent five years as editor and publisher at Baseball America.

Schecter has extensive experience at the highest levels of sports media with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. He spent 20 years as a reporter, writer and editor at Sports Illustrated before leaving the brand in September 2016. His responsibilities included running the magazine’s investigative and enterprise unit, managing content and columnists for the website, working closely with editors and writers at the website and magazine to integrate SI and SI.com, overseeing cross-platform projects and managing Sports Illustrated’s internship program. He was also the creator and editor of the college football website Campus Rush, which launched in the summer of 2015 and included a student correspondent program at more than 75 universities across the country.

As a writer, he covered college football and college basketball. As an editor, he edited college football, college basketball, Major League baseball and several special projects, including Crime in College Football, Gangs in Sports, the 50 Most Influential Minorities in Sports, the Great American Sports Atlas, the nation’s top high school programs and more.

Prior to Sports Illustrated, Schecter spent five years at The Boston Globe, where he was the lead high school writer and also covered colleges. Before that he spent three years at the Middlesex News (now the MetroWest Daily News).

In addition to writing essays, Schecter has severed as a guest lecturer and adjunct professor at Northeastern University, Fordham University, Southern Virginia University, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and several high schools. He is involved with several charitable organizations focusing on creating opportunities for and mentoring young people.

Schecter graduated with honors from Northeastern University in 1996, where he severed as manager for the men’s basketball team for three years.

Teaching Assistants 

Teaching Assistants consist of both undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania. TAs facilitate small-group discussions, ensure student understanding, assist with final project development, and hold office hours to answer student questions and share their Penn and Wharton experiences.