Key Takeaways:
- Sports Marketing: Teaches students how to market sports organizations, including promotion and customer acquisition strategies.
- Sports Ethics: Covers ethical decision-making in sports, focusing on professional ethics and real-world scenarios faced by managers and coaches.
- Sports Management Internship: Provides hands-on experience in the sports industry, offering opportunities with collegiate, local, and professional teams.
- Sports Marketing
- Sports Ethics
- Sports Sales
- Exercise Science
- Sports Management Internship
The five common courses in a sports management degree program include classes that most programs offer. Students will usually take Introduction to Sports Management first, which gives them an overview of the industry and prepares them for some of the work they will do later. Most colleges offer other classes that show students what they need to do to work in this field. And yeah, in case you are wondering there are online sports management programs.
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1. Sports Marketing
A common class that many majors take is Sports Marketing. Students in these degree programs can work as scouts and coaches or as managers and directors. Those who want to work for sports organizations and sports facilities will want to take at least one marketing class. They learn how to market the services offered by those organizations to the public and how to get new customers. Some schools offer similar courses in the promotion of sports.
2. Sports Ethics
Students need to know what to do when faced with ethical decisions in the field. A coach may need to decide whether to pull a player from a game after an injury, while a director needs to make decisions regarding when to hire and fire employees. That is why most management programs include a class called Sports Ethics. It gives students a look at some of the ethical decisions they might face and helps them decide what to do. The class also goes over the professional ethics of working in this field and what they can and cannot do.
3. Sports Sales
Anyone who works in sports management needs to understand sales. Those who work in an athletic complex need to know how to make sales when new customers come in and look at plans. Students who choose to work for professional teams need to know how to sell season tickets and get ticket holders to keep coming back. Colleges offer Sports Sales classes as a way to show students the basics of making those sales. They also learn how they can create ad campaigns and promote upcoming sales too.
4. Exercise Science
Sports management majors who want to work as coaches and scouts, as well as future trainers, will need to take classes on kinesiology and exercise science. Those courses go over how the human body works and how injuries can affect players. Taking those classes will prepare students for working directly with players and understanding the limits of their bodies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median salary for coaches and scouts at nearly $34,000 a year for those who have only a bachelor degree. Students with a graduate degree and those who work as trainers can make more.
5. Sports Management Internship
One of the five common courses in a sports management degree program is usually some type of internship. There is only so much that students can learn from their books and the work they go over in class. With an internship, they have the chance to put their skills to the test and see if they’re ready to work in the field. Colleges offer internships in collegiate organizations and local teams, but students may also have the chance to work for a professional team that competes on the national level.
Doing an internship is an easy way for students to gain more experience and prepare for working in sports management positions. Some of the other common courses in a sports management degree program can include courses on marketing and promotions as well as those that teach them about ethics and sales.