Curriculum

The 12-course curriculum broadly educates sports managers about the industry while providing industry-specific training in finance, sports personnel management, law, sports marketing, and facility/event superintendence. This combination of broad-based and industry-specific skill training is a hallmark of the program and is evident in both the content of individual courses and the sequence in which degree candidates take the courses.

SPRT K4220 Social-Historical Foundations of American Sport, the program’s foundation course, provides students with a thorough introduction to the history and socioeconomic foundations of the field, while exercising student’s research and presentation skills. From there, students complete course sequences in finance and marketing, as well as a range of topical courses.

The finance sequence requires students to complete general background courses in both financial accounting (BUSI K4009) and corporate finance (BUSI K4003), and then a rigorous course in sports accounting and finance (SPRT 4360). Following, one of two required capstone seminars is required (SPRT K5150 Seminar in Sports Business) or media management (SPRT K5160 Seminar in Sports Media). This comprehensive sequence is designed to train students in the basics of financial literacy specific to the sports industry as well as to provide a thorough grounding in and understanding of the macroeconomic concerns of the industry.

The sports marketing sequence requires completion of an introductory course in the science and theory of marketing (BUSI K4020 Introduction to Marketing and Marketing Management), followed by an advanced course in one of three sports marketing topics: sales and marketing (SPRT K4550 Sports Marketing, Sponsorship, and Sales), media (SPRT K4560 Sports Media Marketing), or communications and public relations (SPRT K4570 Sports Business Communications and Public Relations).

Students next complete a series of courses designed to expand and enhance their industry-specific knowledge and skills. All students complete SPRT K4410 Leadership and Management, and choose two from: SPRT K4620 Facility and Event Management, SPRT K4460 Sports Law and Ethics, or SPRT K4740 Intercollegiate Athletics Administration. This latter course permits students to apply the skills learned in the program to the college environment. In addition, students complete one elective – either a course in the program (such as a second marketing course) – or an approved elective elsewhere in the university.

By their final term, all students must complete either SPRT K4980 Internship in Sports Management or SPRT K4990 Supervised Project in Sports Management, depending on their individual needs and interests.