sport management

A2Wolves6
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:05:38 +0000

Researching it? You typed in Sport Management programs into Google and that’s the first site that came up.

The approval rating process is voluntary - only certain schools apply for the accreditation and there’s tons of paperwork and fees that go into becoming an “approved” member and no real benefit. No employer cares at all about schools being approved or not.

The NASSM hasn’t reviewed programs since 2000. Approval only happens every 7 years, meaning those schools without an “A” next to their name aren’t inferior, they either

A) Didn’t apply for the approval because of no benefits in it,
B) Didn’t apply for the approval because of the length of the process,
C) Didn’t apply for the approval because of the fees attached with it, or
D) Don’t have an “A” next to their name because they haven’t put “A’s” up for 8 years.

The approval standards are very low for sport management programs, John Helyar wrote in “Failing Effort” that “While there is an “approval” rating, conferred by an academic group called the Sport Management Program Review Council, its requirements are light – a minimum of two full-time sports-management faculty members, for instance.”

The best programs are going to be ones that have these characteristics.

1) They are associated with a business school - preferably getting a BS in Business Admin with a major in Sport Management, if not a dual-degree or a minor. This diversifies a student’s resume to work in both sports and business. Much of the material in a Sport Management program you’ll learn in a business program.

2) They have been established for a while and have a large alumni network. Find out how long a program has been established, how many people are enrolled in the program and get a sense of the alumni network. Ohio U and U Mass are the two schools that have been operating the longest.

3) Required internships are part of the degree. You HAVE to get experience in the industry, otherwise you’ll never make it. With experience, you will have job opportunities.

4) Proximity to major teams. Sports teams almost never hire candidates who will have to relocate. They want interns who are local. It’s part of having good community relations from the team’s aspect as well as them not paying for relocation/housing. If your school is located in Miami, your chances of getting that Miami Heat internship are MUCH better than someone who goes to school in Los Angeles.

There are no real “rankings”, in fact, I haven’t even found an article that goes in-depth on undergraduate programs, just bits and pieces. There’s much more info about MBA programs in Sport Mangement, where the top 5 recognized are Ohio U, U Mass, Oregon, UCF, and Arizona State (in no particular order). UCF and ASU don’t have UG programs, Ohio U and U Mass are regarded as the two oldest programs with the best alumni networks. Oregon was named the best program by Sports Illustrated and has amazing connections with Nike and Adidas.