Sports Management Degree Program Guide
A sports management bachelor’s degree can prepare you for exciting job opportunities on the business side of the sports industry. The field is growing quickly, with an annual growth rate of 9% — and the sports industry’s revenue is expected to grow to over $680 billion by 2028. Read on to learn more about sports management programs and the potential careers and salaries.
What Is a Sports Management Degree?
In a bachelor’s of sports management degree program, you’ll develop foundational knowledge in areas such as economics, accounting, public relations, and law, as well as entrepreneurship, media, and analytics. This coursework will prepare you to work successfully in leadership positions in the sports industry. Graduates of sports management bachelor’s programs can work in various roles, such as athletic directors, sports lawyers, corporate partnerships managers, and operations managers.These programs tend to last four years, though some schools offer accelerated programs, allowing students to earn their degrees in 2-3 years.
Featured Online Sports Management Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Sports Management Degree Courses and Concentrations
Common specializations for sports management bachelor degrees include analytics, event management, sports law, sports technology, sports marketing, and entrepreneurship. Some sample courses you may find in a bachelor of sports management degree program include the following:
Strategic Sports Marketing
This course examines marketing and communications in relation to the sports industry to gain an understanding of sports marketing and communications at all levels of sports management.
Sports Sales, Sponsorship, and Revenue Development
This course explores techniques used to sell and generate revenue in sports business cycles. It is designed to teach you the current practices and trends in global sports media and give broad overviews of the key principles, organizational structures, and economic facts about the sports world.
Sports Law, Contracts, and Negotiations
This course gives a deep overview of ethical issues and legal principles used in sports. You’ll explore and identify various issues that include labor law, athlete representation, and salary cap administration.
The Business of Global Sporting Events
This course goes over the business aspects of hosting major sporting events. This includes the World Cup, the Olympics, and the Super Bowl. You’ll also find opportunities to examine theory and policy analysis.
How to Get a Sports Management Degree
Curious about how to get a sports management degree? Keep reading to learn how long these programs take and how to apply to a sports management degree program.
How Long Does It Take to Get a Sports Management Degree?
A sports management bachelor’s degree traditionally involves four years of study. Most programs require students to complete 120 credits of coursework for a bachelor’s degree. Accelerated programs can shorten this time frame through summer courses, condensed coursework, and by letting students transfer credits between schools. There are a variety of online sports management bachelor’s degree programs that only take 2-3 years to complete.
How to Apply for a Sports Management Degree Program
To apply for a sports management degree program, you’ll need a high school diploma or GED, and you’ll need to meet your desired program’s minimum GPA requirements, typically between 2.5 to 3.0. Students are also required to complete a certain number of general education credits, which may include coursework in social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, as well as the humanities and fine arts.
Common application materials you may need to submit include:
- High school transcripts or GRE scores
- Standardized test scores such as SAT or ACT
- Letters of recommendation
- A resume that highlights sports-related experience
- A personal statement or essay
How Much Does a Sports Management Degree Cost?
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that tuition at public, in-state universities costs $9,750, while private institutions cost $35,248 for the 2022-2023 academic school year.
To give you some real-world tuition rates, Franklin University’s bachelor’s in sport management program costs $398 per credit for a total of 120 credit hours, or nearly $48,000 per academic year.
At Bowling Green State University, you’d pay $24,936 if you’re an Ohio resident and $32,924.40 if you’re from a different state. Ashland University charges $960 per credit or $31,210 per year for their bachelor’s programs.
What Can I Do With a Sports Management Degree?
Are you wondering about the different types of careers within sports management? Read on to learn what jobs await you after you earn a sports management bachelor’s degree as well as how much money you can expect to make after you graduate.
Sports Management Degree Jobs
A sports management bachelor’s degree can open diverse career pathways in sports industry business settings. You could work in sports promotions as a sports marketing manager or plan and manage competitions and events as an event coordinator.
There are a variety of sport management careers, including sports data analysts, who use data to help teams improve performance, and sports agents, who represent athletes in contract negotiations.
As a sports accountant, you can manage payroll and budgets for sports teams. Or you could work as an athletic director, overseeing athletic programs in academic institutions.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), sports management fields are growing steadily. Sports agents are projected to grow 7% and marketing managers are projected to grow by 8%.
How Much Money Can I Make With a Sports Management Degree?
With a degree in sports management you can earn around $50,000 to $99,883, depending on your career path. For instance, careers as sport agents or athletic directors can earn up to around $70,000 while operations managers rake in almost $74,000. Take a look at the table below to learn how much you can earn with a sports management degree.
Job Title | Average Annual Salary (Sept. 2024) | Description |
---|---|---|
Sports Agent | $60,920 | Sport agents represent athletes during financial matters such as contract negotiations. |
Event Coordinator | $47,990 | Event coordinators maintain sports events and competition schedules and coordinate planning processes. |
Sports Marketing Coordinator | $50,140 | Sports marketing coordinators promote sporting events through marketing campaigns to attract audiences, sponsors, and increase revenue. |
General Manager | $61,170 | Sports general managers are responsible for the daily operations of sports teams and organizations, including team schedules, public relations, and player recruitment. |
Athletic Director | $68,250 | Athletic directors oversee sports programs at schools and colleges. |
Sports Facilities Manager | $57,000 | Sports facilities managers manage the operations of stadiums, gyms, arenas, and other sports facilities. |
Sports Lawyer | $99,880 | Sports lawyers provide legal representation to athletes, teams, leagues, and sports organizations. |
Contract Analyst | $67,090 | Contract analysts review contract terms and conditions and negotiate in favor of athletes and sports organizations. |
Operations Manager | $73,257 | Operations managers oversee athletic events from the beginning to the end of each game. |
Corporate Partnerships Manager | $50,000 | Corporate partnerships managers develop and maintain strategic business partnerships between sports organizations. |
Other Degrees in Sports Management
After you earn a bachelor’s in sports management, you can pursue an advanced degree such as a master’s degree in sports management or the master’s in business administration with a sports management focus. Related degrees include sports journalism and media, sports medicine, sports marketing and promotions, health and nutrition, kinesthesis, and psychophysiology.
Once you’ve gained work experience, either through an internship or entry-level job, you can enhance your credentials with professional certifications such as the Certified Sports Events Executive (CSEE). You could also join professional organizations like the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO).
What to Consider Before Choosing a Sports Management Program
There’s a lot to consider when choosing a sports management bachelor’s degree program. While cost is most often at the forefront of students’ concerns, you’ll benefit from also considering the length of your program, whether it’s accredited, and the program format.
Cost
College is costly, and many students rely on student loans. Sports management bachelor’s programs require students to earn an average of 120 credits. Tuition in these programs runs from $443 to $960 per credit.
You can save money by applying for grants and scholarships, and you can determine the return on investment (ROI) of your program by comparing the cost to how much you expect to earn after you graduate.
Program Length
The length of your program can impact cost and your ability to start a career right away. For example, if you enroll in a bachelor’s sports management program, you can graduate in about four years, but if you enroll in a master’s program after earning your bachelor’s, you can expect to stay in school for six or more years, which would further delaying your career prospects.
There are several accelerated programs for both bachelor’s and master’s students that speed up the process, shaving two or three years off your higher education journey.
Accreditation
Sports management bachelor’s degree programs have programmatic accreditation from the Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA).
It is important to pay attention to accrediting agencies since they put higher education institutions through a rigorous accreditation process that ensures these schools and programs provide the best education.
Program Format
While traditional, in-person learning is widely available, there are plenty of online sports management programs to choose from, if you need flexibility. There are also some hybrid programs that offer the flexibility of online learning with the direct contact of in-person learning.
Discover the Best Sports Management Programs
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