What is Sport Management?
Sports are big business. All sport organizations require the
expertise of well-educated leaders to handle a variety of
diversified responsibilities including media relations, advertising
and sales promotion, marketing, financial management, facilities
planning and management, and administration. The sport management
program at St. John’s is designed to prepare students for
successful and challenging careers in the professional,
intercollegiate, interscholastic, youth, and recreational sport
industries.
One of the biggest changes in the sports industry over the past
decade has been its globalization. Since 2000, St. John’s
University has offered a study abroad sport management experience,
most recently in Rome in the Summer of 2009. The aim of these
international sport management courses is to provide students with
an understanding of the development and diffusion of sport, by
introducing them to a range of problems and issues confronting
sports managers and the kind of strategic thinking that facilitates
resolution.
Program in Sport Management
St. John’s University was one of the first institutions in the
United States to offer sport management as a major area of study.
When the program was founded in 1976, most sport-related majors
were in the areas of athletic training, sports medicine, physical
education, or kinesiology. Instead of focusing on the rules of the
game and athletic performance, the program at St. John’s focuses on
applying business principles to the sport industry. Students are
required to take general business courses in accounting, business
law, management, marketing and economics as well as sport-specific
courses such as sports law and sports economics.
The program of study leads to a
Bachelor of Science degree and is available on both the Queens
and Staten Island campuses. The courses in all these specialized
subjects prepare students for entry-level management positions in
professional and intercollegiate sports or in the rapidly growing
business of leisure and recreation. Students can also choose to
minor in sport management, and a certificate program is
available to individuals who have completed a bachelor’s
degree in an unrelated area.
Internships
An
internship program is available for qualified sport management
students. These internships provide students with an opportunity to
apply what has been learned in class to practical situations in the
field. The experience gained through internships has assisted
graduates in obtaining positions in public and media relations,
advertising and sales promotion, marketing, ticket sales, finance,
purchasing and the general administration of sports.
Our location in New York City and the partnerships that we have
built over the past 30 years gives our students the opportunity to
work with some of the best-known organizations in the sports
industry. Our students have interned with virtually every major and
minor league franchise, athletic facility, and college athletic
department in the Greater Metropolitan area and beyond. Interns
have also been placed with The National Football League, The
National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, FOX Sports,
CBS Sports, and WFAN Radio to name just a few.
Career Opportunities
Sport and recreation is one of the fastest growing industries in
the world. Your degree will provide the skills needed to succeed at
many different types of sport organizations such as professional
sports teams and leagues; university athletic departments;
intercollegiate athletic conferences; sport media, marketing and
public relations firms; leisure, fitness, and recreation
organizations; sports equipment and apparel firms; event management
organizations; and stadiums, arenas, and other sport facilities.
For more information on careers in sport management, see What Can I
Do With My Major?
Contact Information
For further information about the Sport Management program, please
contact:
Harold Merritt
Assistant Professor of Sport Management
Director, Undergraduate Sport Management Program
(718) 990-4522
merritth@stjohns.edu