Biography

Associate Professor of Journalism
Ph.D., Temple University
B.A., University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Steiner is coordinator of Rowan University's Sports Communication & Media (Sports CaM) program and Esports Industry & Entertainment Experience certificate. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, earning a B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in Media and Communication from Temple University.

Prior to joining the academy, Dr. Steiner was a reporter and editor at The Washington Post and a member of the newsroom awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting. He has written and edited hundreds of articles on all major sports as well as music, travel, politics, and business. During his tenure there he founded The League, The Washington Post's NFL-focused news and discussion platform. He has also been a  contributor for BBC, CNN, Forbes, MSNBC, and NPR. 

Dr. Steiner's research explores how and why people enjoy sports, binge-watch, and create culture through fandom. His award-winning scholarship has been published in peer reviewed journals, presented at international conferences, and translated into Korean, Czech, German, Spanish, and Slovak.  Dr. Steiner teaches News Media Literacy, Sports Journalism, and the Sports CaM Senior Seminar at Rowan. His latest book Binge TV: The Rise and Impact of the Viewing Revolution was published in 2023. Follow him on Twitter @EmilSteinerPhD.

Research Interests

Sports Media, Binge-Watching, Audience Studies, Fandom, Uses & Gratifications

Courses

SPRT 09401  Sports Communication & Media Senior Seminar
JRN 02362  Sports Journalism II
JRN 02101  News Media Literacy

Recent Publications

Steiner, E. & Crance, M. (2025). Hot Take Origin Story: How Journalists Shaped the “Authentic” (and Lucrative) Identity of Sports Talk Radio, and How It Reshaped Media. Journalism History, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00947679.2025.2454420

Steiner, E. (2024). Streaming Platforms Killed Peak TV? UX Strategies For Netflix, Amazon & Apple TV+. Forbes.

Steiner, E. (2024). How Streaming Impacted The Way People Watch The NFL, MLB And More. Forbes.

Steiner, E., Pittman, M., Boatwright, B. (2023). When sports fans buy: Contextualizing social media engagement behavior to predict purchase intention. International Journal of Sport Communication, 16(2), 136-146. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2022-0158

Steiner, E. (2023). Binge TV: The Rise and Impact of the Viewing Revolution. McFarland.

Steiner, E. (2022). Wann Binge-Watching ungesund ist - und wann nicht. Deutsche Welle. 

Current Projects

Steiner, E. (Forthcoming). First Time, Longtime: The Rituals, Motives, and Ambivalent Camaraderie of Sports-Talk Radio Callers.

Steiner, E. (Under Review). Violating Integrity: True Crime Sports Stories and the Fascinating Liminality of Infotainment. In: S. Przybylowicz, L. Kuryloski, and A. Brecke (Eds.) Rethinking True Crime: Recent Shifts in True Crime Content and Scholarship (working title). McFarland.