A rich practical background paired with strong academic training enables Petrotta to teach diverse subjects: sports media, advertising/public relations, broadcast journalism, and media law. Petrotta taught Sports Information Systems (a sports public relations class) for two years at Oklahoma State University. As a graduate teaching assistant at Oklahoma, Petrotta taught Public Relations Research, assisted and lectured in broadcast news reporting, mentored contributors to the student-run nightly television news broadcast, assisted with Dr. Meta Carstarphen’s Race, Gender, Class and the Media online-only course, and assisted Dr. Robert Kerr with his Media Law course.

Petrotta earned the top student paper award from the 2019 AEJMC Sports Communication Interest Group and a top ten presentation award from the 2019 International Public Relations Research Conference (IPRRC). His first publication as a lead author, titled “A shaky bet: Legalized sports gambling in the U.S.,” will arrive in the Journal of Sports Media (a University of Nebraska Press publication) late in 2021. Petrotta co-authored a historical advertising research article with Dr. Fred Beard titled “Advertising and marketing archives at the Harvard Library: Discovery and opportunity” for the Journal of Historical Research in Marketing. He has also presented eight conference papers over the past three years. His research interests include the nexus of legalized sports betting and the media, public relations in sport, esports on college campuses, historical research, and the rich relationship between sport, society, and policy. 

Petrotta currently serves as Chair of the Awards Committee for the Communication and Sport Division of the National Communication Association (NCA). Previously, Petrotta served as Graduate Student Liaison for the AEJMC Sports Communication Interest Group. He also spent three years as a representative on the University of Oklahoma Libraries Student Advisory Council.

Petrotta spent 15 years working in sports media as a play-by-play broadcaster and Sports Information Director. He began his career performing play-by-play for minor league baseball teams in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Ogden, Utah, Battle Creek, Michigan, and Vero Beach, Florida. While in Vero Beach, he assisted with public relations efforts for the Los Angeles Dodgers during Spring Training. In 2006 he broadcast several Dodgers games as lead play-by-play broadcaster on the Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network. Following the 2006 baseball season, Petrotta became the Sports Information Director at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where he oversaw publicity efforts for future MLB Cy Young winner Corey Kluber’s All-America campaign. Petrotta later transitioned to Wichita State University, where he served as an assistant SID and play-by-play broadcaster for women’s basketball. He also called select volleyball matches and baseball games (TV) while serving as a fill-in television studio host for the weekly Shocker Sports Report.