BS in Sport Business Management Curriculum

This course covers commonly used software installed on PCs and laptops, web-based technologies, and applications (apps) used on digital devices. Information literacy and database concepts are also covered in this course.

In today’s business world, effective communication, whether it is delivered face-to-face or in a written format, is essential. This course increases the ability of students to express themselves effectively through various forms of communications channels. The course is designed to enhance the quality of student’s communication skills.

This course focuses on how business events affect financial statements by acquiring a working knowledge of basic accounting theory and concepts. Topics include the role of accounting in decision making; the recording procedures that accountants use to organize information for financial statement preparation; and analytical tools and accounting principles to aid in reading and interpreting financial statements.

The concepts of managerial accounting are covered in this course. Emphasis is placed on the preparation and use of financial information for planning, decision making and control. The course will address cost classifications, product and service costing methods and systems, profit planning, measuring performance, and the new manufacturing environment.

This course introduces the economic perspective on decisions currently faced by individuals, businesses, and society. Basic economic principles and methods are used to address both microeconomic and macroeconomic topics, with a focus on the modern market economy.  Essential content includes the laws of supply and demand; the behavior of consumers and firms; the function of resource markets; macroeconomic measures of economic growth, unemployment, and inflation; the use of fiscal and monetary policy to achieve macroeconomic goals; and an overview of international trade.

This course develops business data analysis skills and statistical techniques using spreadsheets. Topics include data collection storage and analysis using descriptive statistics, tables and charts; probability and data distributions, statistical tests, correlation, regression, forecasting, and quality control analysis.

This course examines legal rights and ethics, crimes, torts, contracts, personal property, bailments and sales.

This course studies the basic theories and concepts of management including the evolution of management, ethics, decision making, organizational structure, motivation, communication, group dynamics and team building, planning, job design, leadership and organizational change.

An introduction to the concepts of marketing and their application to those engaged in marketing consumer and industrial goods and services; pricing, product planning, distribution and promotion.

Students examine basic financial management of business firms: a) procurement, b) allocation and c) control of funds; corporate financial behavior; financial instruments and markets; and the analysis and interpretation of investment and profit performance.

This course examines business operations as they relate to both product and service type components. The course provides techniques of production and operation, as well as techniques for service type organizations.

This course focuses on the tools and concepts of strategic management as applied within the business context. Students will develop both the understanding and analytical skills necessary for strategic analysis, formulation and implementation. The course will also involve integration of concepts from prior business core courses.

The course reviews the organizational and managerial foundations of sports management. Both professional and amateur sports industries are considered. The students will study a wide variety of issues related to production and distribution of sports. These include products, event and facility management, and sport communication.

This course examines the United States legal system as it pertains to sports businesses and organizations. Using a managerial perspective, students will learn to identify important legal issues and to design organizational policies that comply with relevant rules and laws. Issues pertaining to human resource management, governance and operations management will be explored.

This course introduces the concepts and theories that are unique to sports marketing and applies the basic principles of marketing to the sport industry. Students will develop a strategic framework to assist in sport marketing decisions. Product development, promotional mix, pricing and distribution will be discussed in detail.

This course explores contemporary examples from marketing sponsorship, facility construction and sport law to illustrate the crucial role that money plays in any sport business. Emphasis is placed on understanding how the receipt, disbursement and utilization of funds can foster future growth in the sport businesses. The course will deal with such issues as sport financial analysis, capital structuring and capital budgeting, profitable distribution systems and the management of financial risk.

This course focuses on ethical problems in sports as well as current issues. These issues include government involvement in support of sports, the role of sports in society, the globalization of sports, and the technological advancements in the industry. This course will be instructed in collaboration with Rawlings Sporting Goods Company.

Note: A maximum of 3 credit hours of internship credit can count towards the major or minor requirements/electives. Students may take additional hours (up to 18 total) of internship credit, however, remaining credits will be applied to general electives. Prerequisite: Program Director’s Approval (following completion of other SPTM core requirements)

An introduction to the Sports Data Analytics Track of the Rawlings Sports Business Management program, this course gently familiarizes students to the major underpinnings of the data analytics space. Often considered an ancillary competency in the analytics space, students will learn the importance of “soft skills” in the analytics industry including effective communication, framing complex problems correctly and how to accurately gauge the success of a business problem. Additionally, students will receive an “applied” learning experience to common data manipulation tasks in Microsoft Excel through real world sports industry examples.

In the Sports Data Analytics Track of the Rawlings Sports Business Management program, this course will further students’ data analysis capabilities previously acquired in SPTM 400 with hands-on data manipulation tasks based on real world sports industry examples. Often the data a business acquires or receives is not ready for modeling. It is, therefore, imperative to understand and know how to deal with the imperfections in data. Data wrangling is the process of preparing your data for deeper analysis; transforming and mapping raw data from one form to another to prep the data for insights.

This course will build the students skills in, linear regression, modeling, and probability, while developing advanced skills in excel and elasticity.

This course develops skills in data visualization for effective communication.

The final course in the Sport Data Analytics Concentration will be a culmination of the previous four course into a sport business project.

This course will prepare students for success in a sport business internship. Students will identify the professional competencies needed for success in the field. Professional development skills including networking, online communication, and action planning will be addressed.

An introduction to the Results-Centered Sales Track of the Rawlings Sport Business Management program, this course introduces students to results-centered selling as a best-practice approach to sales. Students learn about the three universal selling principles and the language of business as it relates to selling. Industry professionals share their insights, and students will master the concept of sales as a discipline through practice and case analysis.

In the Results-Centered Sales Track of the Rawlings Sport Business Management program, this course introduces students to the seven skills to a successful sale, taking them through the relationship-building aspects of the sales cycle. Students learn how to apply the results-centered sales approach to each aspect of the sale from building trust with a customer to anticipating and resolving concerns. Students practice listening, assessing and tailoring, and determining true versus false concerns. Practical applications and case analyses, including analysis of “the lost customer”, will play a large role in student learning.

In the Results-Centered Selling Track of the Rawlings Sport Business Management program, this course further examines the role of sales in the sports industry. Through focused training and genuine inquiry, students will learn how to impact the growth and development of revenue for a client and identify how to deliver on the results they have identified. Topics include customer-relationship management (CRM), including CRM tools and lessons learned from CRM in the industry.

In the Results-Centered Selling Track of the Rawlings Sport Business Management program, this course continues to take students through the seven skills to a successful sale with a concentration on connecting and renewing customers for future business. Students will then apply the knowledge gained through their study of sports business management to evaluate the sales strategies of an organization in order to make recommendations for improvement. Participatory observation, critical thinking, and discussion will play a large role in student learning.

This course will prepare students for success in a sport business internship. Students will identify the professional competencies needed for success in the field. Professional development skills including networking, online communication, and action planning will be addressed.