November 18, 2020 – DENTON, TX – Legendary baseball broadcaster Eric Nadel, The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, UNT’s Mayborn School of Journalism and UNT’s Department of Media Arts are pleased to announce the Eric Nadel Excellence in Sports Broadcasting Scholarship. The $30,000 scholarship will provide two students “with a passion for sports broadcasting” $15,000 each over two academic years.

The lead voice on the Texas Rangers radio broadcasts, Nadel has called games for the Rangers for 42 years, the longest tenure of any announcer in the franchise’s history. A 2012 inductee into the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame, he received the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting in 2014.

"I have spoken to several classes at UNT and have always been very impressed with the quality of their journalism and media arts programs,” Nadel said. “Obviously they have helped produce a lot of the sports announcers currently working in DFW and around the southwest."

The scholarship will be awarded to an incoming junior to provide funding for both junior and senior years for studies within the Mayborn School of Journalism or UNT’s Media Arts Department. “We are so grateful to Eric Nadel and the Texas Rangers Foundation for supporting our students with what will be transformational opportunities,” said Dean Andrea Miller, who leads both units at the University of North Texas. “This can be the kind of support that makes all the difference to talented students who might not otherwise be able to easily finish our broadcast program.”

“The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation is honored to partner with Eric Nadel and UNT in the creation of this sports broadcasting scholarship,” said Texas Rangers Chief Operating Officer and Foundation Board Chairman Neil Leibman. “Eric’s reputation as one of the top broadcasters in the game’s history has been well earned over his more than four decades of calling Rangers baseball. His generosity will have a major impact on young sports broadcasters.”   

The scholarship is designed primarily for students who are focused on a career in sports broadcasting. This includes students in Converged Broadcast Media, which provides education in all areas of broadcasting including sports, and also Broadcast Journalism with a strong focus on sports. Sports journalism and media are among the fastest growing areas of study at UNT.

"I was blessed to grow up in a household that put a premium on education and had the resources to finance my college education,” Nadel said. “I welcome the chance to provide that kind of an opportunity to a talented student who might not otherwise have the means to attend UNT and pursue a career in sportscasting.”

Scholarship recipients will be selected in Spring 2021 for studies beginning in the Fall of 2021.