Copyright © 2010 The Sport Management Educator. Snowblind theme by c.bavota & Juan Gordillo. Powered by WordPress.
Over the last week an interesting topic surfaced amongst some of my colleagues in Sport Management. The basic tenor of the topic surrounded the following two questions: “Are there too many sport management degree programs?” and “Are the programs teaching students the most beneficial material for them to be successful in the sport industry?”
My colleagues made some valid points regarding the content of curricula across the country. I found two in particular that were very good and think they should be considered in more detail. The first is that the market is being oversaturated with students graduating with a degree in Sport Management. Unfortunately, many graduates come from the programs that are not teaching students what they need to know in order to be successful in the field. Throwing a marketing course into a curriculum does not make a quality sport management program. The second point, which I think is right on the money, is that the sport industry is much bigger than just professional sport. As a result, it is not surprising that, like all businesses, sport-related businesses must be run by qualified individuals who know how to manage the unique attributes of sport businesses.
While there are some very good programs, there are also programs that are not good at all. There is a big difference between what makes a quality program at the undergraduate, master and doctoral levels. At the undergraduate level (I will just stick to that here) we have to prepare the students for a wide range of careers in the sport industry as well as prepare them to be successful in graduate school if they so choose to go that route. I have covered what makes a quality sport management program before. I routinely talk with industry professionals about what they look for in hiring entry level employees. Consistently, we hear employers are looking for someone who can do a number of different things as well as be able to sell. This is true from the professional sport franchises, to college and high school athletic departments, to non-profit and community based sport organizations, etc. There is one caveat though that most sport professionals point out…regardless of the content of the program, if an individual does not have any desire or passion to work in the sport industry they will not be successful.
Let’s face it; education is a business just as the sport industry is a business. If educational institutions are not meeting the wants and needs of its consumers they will lose customers just like any other business. As a result, it is incumbent upon sport management programs to meet those wants and needs, help the students become successful and be willing to alter the programs as the industry evolves. We must all look at ourselves and our programs with a keen eye towards constantly developing and honing our skills as professionals in order to teach our students and model the behaviors necessary for us all to be successful in the future. What do you think?
March 15, 2010 at 8:36 am
I personally do not believe that there are too many Sport Management programs. I believe that the more courses that are out there then the better it is for students, I feel as though they will learn more by taking more. However, I also believe that it is important that the class be related to real life that way when students graduate they aren’t as shocked by anything that happens. For example the P/R class here at York College of Pennsylvania is life like due to the fact that we have to stay up to date with our organization. If we fall behind or don’t do something then it is only going to hurt the organization as it would in a real life job. By making classes “life like” students will be able to take more with them once they start looking for jobs. Projects from our P/R class in the past have landed alumni jobs with different organizations. This is why it is important to make classes “life like.”
March 15, 2010 at 9:21 am
100% agree with you. I went back for my Masters to further myself in the Sport Management field. A lot of students from other programs are suprised how much I know because they may have have a Management degree with a Sport Management specification with only 5-6 classes within the field.
Sport Management programs have grown with the field in the last 10 years. I believe some of these programs were started with really no foresight into the future or even how to build a good foundation.
March 15, 2010 at 11:57 am
The fact that there are an increasing number of sport management programs being conceived on both the national and international levels can be viewed as both positive and negative. Positively speaking, there will be an increase in competition for the “business” of these programs to maximize the quality of there product in regards to comparable institutions. Additionally, with a number of new programs sprouting, it makes accredited and acclaimed programs like the ones at York College and Cortland State stand out further among their peers. On the negative side, these new programs are not nearly as qualified as the above-mentioned colleges and there for are presenting an inferior product. This “inferior product” will in turn be producing mediocre results in terms of the students they release into the sport world.
March 15, 2010 at 12:33 pm
I do think there are too many sports management programs. The number one problem I think is the lack of qualified faculty to teach at all of the new programs. With sport management being a practical field and not a lot of individuals going to get a terminal degree in the discipline, I don’t think we’re producing enough PhD graduates to keep up with the rate of program growth. This leads to a lot of adjuncts who may not be knowledgeable enough to produce a quality product in the classroom.
March 15, 2010 at 5:28 pm
I, personally, do not feel that there are too many Sport Management degree programs. When posing that question, it is like asking if there are too many Accounting programs or Business Management programs in the country. There is never enough programs, as it allows for students to have the opportunity to really decide on the right college for them when they are choosing what college to go to; as I know that some of the colleges that I wanted to go to do not have a Sport Management program. I feel that it really should not matter about the number of programs that are out there because if you are dedicated to getting a job in the sport field, you will be able to prove yourself and prove that you are better than the person next to you in terms of getting a specific position. With that said, I do feel that the quality of program could be questioned. I feel that the York College Sport Management program is a very good program that really instills the knowledge and skills necessary to become a prominent professional in the industry, which is one of the main reasons I chose the program. Now, as far as other programs go, I cannot say I know a whole lot about them and their qualifications or curricula, but if they are not preparing students in the proper way, and are behind, so to speak, then I could understand the questioning of whether or not there are too many Sport Management programs. Essentially, I do not think it is fair to question if there are too many Sport Management programs because, as stated in the article, education is a business, so why not have a sport management program to bring in revenue, but it is a good idea to question the quality of the program.
March 16, 2010 at 12:06 am
I do not feel that there are too many Sport management programs. Even though, I also feel many schools have below average sport management programs and are just going through the motions to make their students graduate. Many colleges are not preparing their students properly. Classes like P/R and Marketing better prepare students for what real work life is about. If there were more classes like P/R, students who enter the sports field would be better prepared.
If there was more emphasis on what colleges were running their Sport Management programs more fitting to the sports industry. I feel other schools will see what the good Sport Management programs are doing properly and will duplicate. Eventually, their programs will be stronger.
March 18, 2010 at 7:52 am
I do not think that there are too many sports management programs, although I do feel fortunate to be part of the sport management program at York College based on some of the details I have heard about other sport management programs at other colleges. At many colleges when people ask you what major you are in and you respond by telling them sport management, many people think that it is a joke and rightfully so. One of my friends is a sport management major at another college and I often ask him the kinds of things he is doing and I just sit there and listen and wonder how in the world he is going to be ready or prepared for anything after he graduates from school. The topics he is learning are so broad and it does not seem to preparing him for his career as a professional. It is stories like his that I am able to value the sport management program at York College as it prepares you with real life experience in the sports industry as well as how to become and act like a professional. Unlike many other institutions, the sport management program at York College is not a joke.
March 19, 2010 at 8:10 pm
I don’t think that the number of sport management programs, in and of itself, is the issue. The issue is the size of each program, in conjunction with the number of programs. In other words, the total number of sport management students across the nation. The flaw in thinking that it is a good idea to continue to start new programs is it assumes that not only is the market for interested students not saturated, but that the market for qualified students is not saturated as well. However, I believe that the market for qualified students is in fact saturated. Regardless of the program strength, some students simply do not have the potential to be particularly successful.
Therefore, I think the creation of additional sport management programs simply “thins out” the “talent” at any individual program. This is comparable to a professional sports league expanding to the point that the talent base is stretched thinner than it had been in the past. For example, it was a lot more common to see an NBA team fielding multiple Hall of Famers in the 1980’s when there were only 23 teams than it would be now with 30 teams. In conclusion, I think that once there are more than a certain finite number of “total sport management student slots”, it is inevitable that unqualified students will be produced as a result.
March 22, 2010 at 4:23 pm
The number of Sport Management programs across the nation isn’t what is effecting the quality of the students coming out of the undergrad programs. Whats effecting the quality of the students entering into the entry-level positions in the sports industry is themselves. The choices and the amount of work each individual does in and outside their education career will determine the quality of the individual in the sports industry. Like you said, education is a business, a business isn’t going to put out a program that doesn’t work and create revenue, so the sports management programs across the nation are fine, its whether or not the student creates opportunities as well as getting involved as much as possible to become a quality entry-level professional in the sports industry.
March 22, 2010 at 10:25 pm
The content of the program is defintley the most important part of any educational program. I thought the York College Sport Management Program, as well as York College overall, provided myself with practical skills and situations that I encounter on a daily basis in the retail management position I currently possess. I frequently have to deal with sponsorships, working on ways to increase our sales, and dealing with issues among customers and my employees. Whenever I come across these situations I think “This is a similar problem I had working for the Spartan Newspaper” or “I used this sponsorship pitch working for the SMSA Golf Tournament”.
You can read something out of a text book, memorize it, take a test on it, and pass a class. What York did was teach myself and my classmates how to be a professional, working with others, and being a leader. Those skills you can not always learn from reading a book.