Texas Rio Grande Valley Athletics

Jonah Goldberg began his second stint with the department as the Director of Athletic Media Relations on November 18, 2011. He was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Communications on March 1, 2013, Associate Athletic Director for Communications, on Aug. 6, 2014, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications on Aug. 25, 2020, and Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications & Championships on Sept. 1, 2022.
 
In his current role, Goldberg serves as the primary media contact for football and baseball, while overseeing the leadership, administration, and organization of the department’s media relations, digital media and broadcast efforts. Goldberg has previously served as the media contact for volleyball, swimming & diving, and men's and women's basketball, golf, tennis and track & field/cross country.

Goldberg is also in charge of coordinating with the conference, UTRGV Athletics staff, and as applicable, the host facility, to ensure the success of all conference championships hosted by UTRGV. Additionally, Goldberg puts together the bids to secure championship hosting opportunities for UTRGV. Goldberg successfully spearheaded the 2023 and 2024 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Swimming & Diving Championships co-hosted by UTRGV and the City of Pharr at the City of Pharr Natatorium. Goldberg oversaw efforts hosting the 2022 WAC Volleyball Tournament at the UTRGV Fieldhouse and the 2024 WAC Tennis Championships at the H-E-B Tennis Center at Pendleton Park in Harlingen as well.
 
Earned Media

Goldberg has developed strong relationships with local, regional and national media outlets to maximize the coverage of UTRGV Athletics and expand the university’s brand.

Since 2015, Goldberg and his team have generated nearly $2.5 billion of advertising value equivalency, as measured by Meltwater.

Year	AVE
2023-24	$365,513,858
2022-23	$457,871,945
2021-22	$540,084,228
2020-21	$284,929,420
2019-20	$311,922,364
2018-19	$167,179,468
2017-18	$105,670,001
2016-17	$99,740,458
2015-16	$148,229,016
TOTAL	$2,481,140,758

In Feb. 2021, Goldberg helped to shape a story about Coach Lew Hill in The Washington Post.

In Oct. 2018, Goldberg helped volleyball student-athlete Alexandra Ecker to be featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" section.

In June 2017, Goldberg placed the department’s first story in USA Today.
 
Goldberg was able to catch the attention of regional powerhouse, the San Antonio Express-News, in 2015 and then twice in 2016 (here and here).
 
Goldberg has also greatly expanded the department’s local coverage by developing and maintaining strong relationships with the local media and helping to meet all needs. This includes sending video, such as game highlights, practice footage and on-camera interview, to local TV stations several times each week. When a student-athlete signs a national letter of intent, Goldberg sends a sound byte from the involved UTRGV head coach to the student-athlete’s hometown TV stations to generate expanded coverage.
 
Broadcasting
 
The 2023-24 academic year marked Goldberg’s 14^th season (13^th consecutively) as the department’s play-by-play announcer and executive producer of the broadcasts for for baseball, volleyball and men's and women's basketball and soccer. Goldberg also served as the hosted of the UTRGV Coaches Show on Somos El Valle Channel 5.3/Cable 1241 in 2021-22 and five UTRGV Athletics specials per year on KRGV channel 5 in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
 
Goldberg has overseen a dramatically increase in the quality of the broadcasts during his tenure, as all broadcasts now include between two and six cameras for a full HD shoot with a full graphics package and instant replay.
 
The elevated production has been noticed around the country, leading the ESPN+  to pick-up every UTRGV home game for volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball and soccer over the last seven years. Texas Tech also contracted UTRGV Athletics to handle the production and broadcasting of a neutral site game in Nov. 2021. Additionally, the WAC tabbed Goldberg to provide the play-by-play for all matches of the 2017 and 2022 WAC Volleyball Tournaments, the 2021 WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and the 2023 WAC Swimming & Diving Championships.
 
Goldberg made history prior to the 2015-16 academic year, as he successfully negotiated an agreement with Spectrum Sports (then known as Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (TWCSC)) to carry all UTRGV men’s and women’s basketball and baseball home games on the channel. Due to the success of the partnership, the agreement continued through 2016-17. It was the first time the department had ever secured a regional television package.
 
Goldberg also brought national TV to the Rio Grande Valley, partnering with American Sports Network for three baseball games in 2015-16 and then expanding that agreement for four men’s basketball games, one women’s basketball game and eight baseball games in 2016-17.
 
In 2013-14, Goldberg began building strong relationships with regional television stations, signing contracts with Comcast SportsNet Houston (now known as Root Sports Southwest) and TWCSC to air the department's weekly program, Bronc Country (later known as V Nation). The show aired 72 times between Oct. 10, 2013 and Dec. 17, 2015 Goldberg served as the host and executive producer while shooting stories as well.
 
In 2012-13, Goldberg returned athletics to the radio after a five-year hiatus by forming a partnership with Rio Grande Valley Public Radio 88 FM. This agreement included the broadcast of most home men's and women's basketball games, as well as weekly basketball and baseball coaches shows.
 
Goldberg also hosted coaches shows for men’s and women’s basketball on the radio and the internet in 2007-08 and from 2012-16.
 
During the 2007-08 academic year, Goldberg provided play-by-play of all men's basketball games as well as select women's basketball and baseball games. He also assisted in the sports information office on a part-time basis during the spring semester.
 
Recognition
2024-25
•Selected for NACDA Senior Administrators Mentoring Institute

2023-24
•Student Employee Supervisor of the Year Finalist

2022-23
•UTRGV Unsung Hero

2018-19
•Third Place, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Winter Game Notes Competition (University Division)
-Goldberg’s game notes ranked second among men's basketball entries.

2017-18
•Third Place, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Spring Game Notes Competition (University Division)
-Goldberg’s game notes ranked second among baseball entries.

2016-17
•Fourth Place, College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Fall Game Notes Competition (University Division)
-Goldberg’s match notes ranked second among volleyball entries.
•Nominee, American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Grant Burger Media Award

2015-16
NACMA Marketing Team of the Year Honorable Mention
 
2013-14
•Sportscasters Talent Agency of America (STAA) People's Choice Top 30 Sportscasters Under the Age of 30
 
2012-13
•UTPA Athletics Staff Member of the Year
 
2010
•Co-United League Baseball Broadcaster of the Year
•San Angelo Standard Times United League All-Star Broadcaster
 
2009
•United League Baseball Communications Executive of the Year
•United League Baseball Broadcaster of the Year
•San Angelo Standard Times United League All-Star Broadcaster
 
Professional Sports Career
 
Goldberg returned to the university after spending three years as the Director of Communications with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (NBA Gatorade League) and five years as the Director of Communications with the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings (United League Baseball). With those teams, Goldberg‘s responsibilities included media relations, public relations, marketing, maintaining and updating the website, broadcasting, and sales. He also offered color commentary for Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (Central Hockey League) home broadcasts during the 2008-09 season and served as a sideline reporter for the Rio Grande Valley Dorados (af2) during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
 
Personal
 
Goldberg grew up in New York and graduated from Boston University's College of Communication in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. He was on the broadcast journalism track and also completed a concentration in political science.
 
Goldberg spent four years working at WTBU, BU's student-run radio station, where he joined the sports staff and became Sports Director as a senior. Goldberg served as the voice of WTBU's flagship coverage of BU women's basketball from 2005-07 and called games for eight different BU sports (men's & women's soccer, basketball and ice hockey in addition to women's lacrosse and softball). He also worked in the studio and served as a men's basketball beat reporter during the 2004-05 season. Goldberg was a part of a record 248 broadcasts at WTBU and was the first freshman to ever call a game, serving as the color commentator for the women's lacrosse game against Brown University on April 14, 2004. He also served as co-host of the Monday Night Sports Block for three years and a co-host of the award-winning show, Terrier Talk, for two years. It wasn't all about sports at WTBU for Goldberg, though, as he was the DJ of an award-winning show called Chicken in a Cup, which featured a mix of music and talk, with both serious and comical topics ranging from the Massachusetts gubernatorial race (including a 30-minute interview with eventual winner Deval Patrick) to the origin of ping pong. Goldberg opened every show by reminding his listeners "random things happen at random times in random places in no chronological order. Get used to it."
 
Goldberg earned his Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration at UTRGV in 2023 and his Master of Business Administration at UTRGV in 2019. He completed the Columbia University Sports Industry Essentials Program in May 2018 while also earning diplomas in Graphic Design (January 2019), Social Media Marketing (August 2018), and Photoshop (October 2017) from Shaw Academy.