August 5, 2026
NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Stephen F. Austin Athletics returned home to the Southland Conference two years ago — and now SFA is adding a new partner to help tell their story as the department continues to advance into a new era. The Lumberjacks have signed a multi-year agreement with FanWord, the leading storytelling & technology company in college sports, to bring an AI-powered suite of tools to its athletic communications team.
The company’s software platform — FanWord Assist — turns box scores, statistical trends and postgame interviews into ready-to-edit game recaps through an easy-to-use, step-by-step process. Using those same stat files, SFA athletic communicators can also build player bios, award nominations, and weekly summaries with FanWord Assist, making it easier to cover the Jacks than ever before. Combined with a suite of best-in-class long-form storytelling features that go beyond numbers and stats as well, the opportunity to tell stories that drive community engagement, fundraising, and recruiting has arrived at scale.
“FanWord is a game changer for our department,” noted SFA Assistant AD for Communications, Jacob Pumphrey. “It will dramatically improve our office efficiency, save our staff valuable time, and—most importantly—allow us to deliver more authentic, student-athlete-first content that truly elevates their stories. We don’t have to sacrifice the quality or even quantity of our work with FanWord. It helps us elevate the standards that we already have in place as a department.”
