<p>Is this a legite degree in the business world?</p>
<p>Sport Management is not an acceptable degree in the business world. But, a business degree is acceptable in the sport management world. Go for a business degree…many more career options with it.</p>
<p>Also, right now sport management is a fad. Just like crime scene investigation and interior design are, because of television.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone has the right to deem a degree “acceptable” unless their actually IN the business world. </p>
<p>Truth is, it doesn’t matter what your degree is in as long as it’s a field that develops the right skills (real world math, communications, ethics, etc.). Sports management would be fine, although an additional business minor may offer a more diverse education. Employers are most interested in what you can do than what’s on your diploma.</p>
<p>That is such crap about a SM degree not being acceptable in the business world. 1/2 the graduates of our SM program take jobs in the business industry, and many SM degrees either require a business minor or a dual degree. You will not be hurt in looking for a job in the business sector by having a SM degree instead of a business degree, however, the reverse is true. It WILL be difficult to break into the sport industry with a business degree because you won’t have the connections or the alumni to get you a job - and it is darn near impossible to get a job in the industry if you don’t know someone who works for the company that will help you get a job. There are thousands of applicants for a non-paying internship with a pro team, and there isn’t a name or numbers on a resume that will get you the job.</p>
<p>good friend of mine is majoring in sports admin at The U.
says its good to go onto law school or get an MBA following undergrad. </p>
<p>my take: if you want to be a sports agent or get into the sports world, it really is more about connections and networking than it is about your degree. so many ppl can get such a degree but the few who do succeed in it, are those who from early on have developed connections and social networking skills. </p>
<p>may be wrong but thats just my take.</p>
<p>i have to agree and disagree with A2Wolves. yes a sport management degree is accepted in the business world. but, under certain circumstances, a business degree is accepted in the sports field. A2Wolves, if you knew as much as you claim about the sports field you wouldnt make such a naive claim. do you mean to tell me that if i went to yale i wouldnt be able to get a sports job. maybe. but what if i was still involved with sports, perhaps working for the athletic office.</p>
<p>you say that connections are the most important aspect of SM programs. well, who has better connections than the Ivy League schools?</p>
<p>take a look at powerful people in sports. i bet that less than half of them (without a doubt, and probably much less) have sport management degrees. if you went to yale and got the connections, not only will you get the sports job, you will skip several levels (over SM majors) and fly higher up through the ranks than SM people. this would only apply to a school like an ivy though. </p>
<p>take a look at the industry A2Wolves. the most powerful people don’t have sport degrees. yes they have connections but not SM degrees.</p>
<p>I never said that a Business degree isn’t accepted in the sports industry. The opposite is true, it’s accepted among many employers. The thing is, a business student won’t have the connections and the alumni in a sports industry that a sports management student has. That’s important towards gaining employment, because it is a network industry. That’s exactly what I said in my post.</p>
<p>The ivy league schools have no connections with sports teams because most of them have no one working for the sports teams. Ohio, UMass, Oregon, those are schools with great connections to sports teams. They have long established programs with alumni employed in the field who you can go to for jobs. Ivy League schools don’t have that. Most Ivy League students don’t want to take a sales job for an MLB team calling people on the phone all day asking them to buy tickets. They’re more focused on making as much money as they can, not following their passion. </p>
<p>Of course if you had connections, it wouldn’t matter what you your GPA was, what you majored in, etc. However, it’s asinine to assume that an Ivy League student would “fly higher up through the ranks”. Your degree is worthless in the Sport Management world, outside of the connections that are associated with your degree and the requirements of the jobs. Many jobs post preferred majors. Some write “Sports Management”, some write “Journalism”, Communications, some want Graphics design, it really depends.</p>
<p>What’s up rickyb? Why did you feel the need to write 12 posts within a 3 hour span, most directed towards me calling me “naive”, “spam”, “false”, “contradictory”? What provoked you to take that action?</p>
<p>The most powerful people in sports are owners ($), players (skill) and agents (connections).
In the front office, most people are retired players or trusted advisors. Most have no degree at all, or went back in nontraditional or online programs. Quality sales people break in at the lower levels.
Only recently have Harvard/Yale/Williams/Swarthmore graduates broken in, and most were star college players and worked connections. In countless books and articles, their Ivy league educations are attacked by the sports writers, retired players, scouts and longtime baseball professionals that will be doing the hire and who they deal with everyday.</p>