Master's in Sport Management: Courses and Curriculum

The purpose of this course is to study current developments and trends in the financing, programming, design and construction of facilities for intercollegiate athletics and professional sports.

Current literature concerning the impact of American social values and cultural patterns of sport and physical activity will be studied. Critiques of related research involving sport and social institutions and socio-cultural groups in sport will be emphasized.

This course is designed to help students learn to make morally reasoned decisions in various sport settings. This course will help prepare students to respond more responsibly when faced with challenging ethical dilemmas and guide them in learning to serve as role models for ethical conduct.

This course utilizes a micro-perspective to analyze the behavior and culture within sport organizations. Specifically, the student will study and learn how to apply management and leadership theories that have the potential to shape the work environment and will discuss how current topics in organizational behavior are particularly relevant to the sport industry.

A study of the principles and applications of finance and economics in the sport industry. Strategic financial planning as a part of management responsibilities is highlighted.

This course helps students gain a deeper understanding of sport marketing by examining in depth the sport marketing mix of product, price, place and promotion as well as marketing research, marketing strategy, market segmentation, branding, sponsorships, licensing, venue and event marketing, public relations and global sport marketing.

This course introduces the concepts and skills involved in understanding and analyzing research in education and related areas. The course provides an overview of basic, general knowledge of various research methodologies. Students should expect to study much of this material in greater depth through additional work before being fully prepared to conduct independent research. However, this course should enhance their ability to locate, read, comprehend and critically analyze research articles and reports. Topics in the course include quantitative and qualitative methods and designs, historical and descriptive research, and program evaluation.

This course is intended to introduce graduate students to the basic concepts of the American legal system and the application of them to intercollegiate and professional sports. Particular emphasis will be given to risk management and preventive law. Other topics include: governance issues in intercollegiate and professional sports, contract law, employment discrimination, labor relations and collective bargaining, agency law and athlete agents, regulation of participation in intercollegiate and high school athletics, sport facility and event issues, participant liability issues, product liability issues, premises and spectator liability, participant violence in sports, and intellectual property law.

This course will delve deep into the ever-important world of sport sponsorship. Specifically, students will focus on topics such as identifying sponsor fit, measuring sponsorship effectiveness, and identifying trends in sport and corporate sponsorship, activation and partnerships.

This course is intended to give students a close look at the sport fundraising space. Topics in this course include transformational versus transactional fundraising, the emerging importance of outside funding to intercollegiate athletics and the trends for this ever-developing area.

This course will provide for supervised and directed experiences in selected sport management settings. The graduate advisor will schedule observations of the internship, as well as regular conferences with the student. Written summaries and evaluations of the internship will be prepared by the student, the agency supervisor and the university graduate faculty member.

Prerequisite: Consent of advisor and instructor.