Sports Management
The Bachelor of Arts in Sports Management program curriculum focuses on the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) , well-being, mental health, business and intended as well as unintended impact of sport on marginalized groups and the larger society. Students can specialize in one of four concentration areas: health and well-being, leadership and equity, coaching, or an individualized track. Our student and social justice centered program assists students in developing knowledge and skills that contribute to a holistic approach to sport and wellness, emphasizing health and fostering inclusive environments. The curriculum employs multiple experiential learning strategies that include an emphasis on real-world projects in the classroom along with 6 credit hours of required field placements ensuring that our students are well-prepared for the diverse workplace and overall success after graduation. Our graduates are prepared to work in a variety of fields and with diverse populations at the interscholastic, intercollegiate, and professional level, as coaches, athletic administrators, scouts, and managers. Students are also well-prepared to pursue advanced degrees in fields such as social work, sports medicine, kinesiology, physical therapy, and business.
The overall goals of the Sport Management program are to prepare students to:
- Understand the psychosocial impact and processes associated with sports participation and the societal contributions of sports to the diverse community.
- Navigate the legal aspects of the sports industry and how it relates to intramural, recreational, interscholastic, and intercollegiate athletics.
- Develop strong written and oral communication abilities, tailored for diverse stakeholders including athletes, sponsors, media, and fans.
- Apply sport management and leadership theories and practices in diverse sporting contexts to promote a collaborative environment in sport settings.
Dearborn Discovery Core (General Education)
All students must satisfy the University’s Dearborn Discovery Core requirements, in addition to the requirements for the major.
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Major Courses | ||
| HHS 100 | Personal Health and Wellness | 4 |
| PSYC 101 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| Major Core Courses | ||
| HHS 200 | Introduction to Public Health | 3 |
| or HHS 210 | Intro to Social Work | |
| HHS 225 | Stress Management | 3 |
| PSYC 4305 | Psychology in the Workplace | 4 |
| SPMT 200 | Introduction to Sports Management | 3 |
| SPMT 300 | Introduction to E-Sports Management | 3 |
| SPMT 320 | Student Athlete Development, Health, and Wellbeing | 3 |
| SPMT 360 | Sports Governance, Regulation, Law and Policy | 3 |
| SPMT 402 | Sports Management Internship | 6 |
| SPMT 410 | Inclusion and Ethics in Sport | 3 |
| Choose one of the following: | 3-4 | |
| Risk and Crisis Communication | ||
| Negotiation and Conflict Mgt | ||
| Upper Level Elective Course - Select one course from the following: 1 | 3-4 | |
| The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease | ||
or ANTH 415 | Nutrition and Health | |
| Adol Devl & Classroom Mgmt | ||
| Child Maltreatment and Trauma | ||
| Health Communication | ||
| System of Care | ||
| Introduction to Critical Disability Studies | ||
| Sports Officiating | ||
| Principles of Coaching | ||
| Leadership Development in Sport | ||
| Behavior in Organizations | ||
| Management Skills Development | ||
| Sports Economics and Esports | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 44-46 | |
- 1
Select an elective course that is not from the concentration courses.
Students must declare one of the following concentrations: Coaching, Health, Leadership, or Individualized and complete the requirements as outlined.
Students in all 4 concentrations will be grounded in DEI, multidisciplinary perspectives, experiential learning opportunities to the development of sport management. The Sport Management program is rooted in strong academics, active learning through community engagement, and field placement internships.
Concentrations
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Coaching Concentration | ||
| Required Courses | ||
| EDC 240 | Psych of Child Development | 3 |
| or EDC 305 | Adol Devl & Classroom Mgmt | |
| EDC 439 | Child Maltreatment and Trauma | 3 |
| SPMT 420 | Principles of Coaching | 3 |
| SPMT 350 | Sports Officiating | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours | 12 | |
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Health Concentration | ||
| ANTH 409 | The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease | 4 |
| or ANTH 415 | Nutrition and Health | |
| COMM 365 | Health Communication | 4 |
| HHS 310 | System of Care | 4 |
| HHS 323 | Introduction to Critical Disability Studies | 4 |
| Total Credit Hours | 16 | |
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Leardership Concentration | ||
| COMM 465 | Risk and Crisis Communication | 4 |
| OB 354 | Behavior in Organizations | 3 |
| OB 401 | Management Skills Development | 3 |
| SPMT 430 | Leadership Development in Sport | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours | 13 | |
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Indiviualized Concentration | ||
| Requires four additional upper level courses (300 or 400-level) with approval of the faculty advisor by petition. Please discuss this option with your academic advisor. | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 12-16 | |
SPMT 200 Introduction to Sports Management 3 Credit Hours
This course will provide students with an overview of sport management and leadership concepts and practice. Course content will represent a variety of sport management concepts, segments, theories, and applications. Topics include the history of sport management, youth, community and scholastic sport and recreation, professional and international sport, the relevance, and practice of managerial and leadership concepts within sport, typical settings and opportunities for sport leaders, diversity and ethical issues in sport, sustainability practices in sport, as well as a discussion of sport management education and research. Topics will be presented, explored, and measured through a combination of lectures, discussions, readings, videos, guest speakers, individual and group activities, quizzes and exams. (F, W, S).
SPMT 300 Introduction to E-Sports Management 3 Credit Hours
This course will provide students with an overview of sport management and leadership concepts and practice. Esports has transformed gaming into a global spectator sport capturing the attention of people worldwide. Facilitating the growth of esports has been the introduction of ‘franchising’ and creating official leagues for teams, owners, advertisers, and publishers to build professional organizations. This class will investigate various aspects of esports, including communication methodologies, team structure, player management, social media strategies, and league regulations. Students will explore the financial, legal & ethical, marketing, and operational issues surrounding the Esports industry. Finally, students explore career opportunities in Esports management. (F, W, S).
SPMT 320 Student Athlete Development, Health, and Wellbeing 3 Credit Hours
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the nature and experience of collegiate student-athletes on college campuses This course will also examine a variety of health, sociological, psychological, academic, and cultural topics impacting collegiate student-athletes and personnel working with this population, while also addressing potential resources that target these areas. This course will also examine the role athletic identity plays in an athlete’s personal, social and professional development. (F, W, S).
SPMT 350 Sports Officiating 3 Credit Hours
Officiating is an introductory course for students interested in sports officiating. Topics include the rules and their interpretations, definitions, signals, mechanics, ethics, exceptions to the rules and positioning. The course covers football and men’s and women’s basketball. Registration with the Michigan High School Athletic Association will be available. The course would also be valuable to those students who are interested in coaching, as the coach-official relationship is a valuable tool in one’s coaching background. The sports covered are: basketball, football and track and field, baseball and softball. There will be a practical phase as well as a lecture phase of instruction. (F, W, S).
SPMT 360 Sports Governance, Regulation, Law and Policy 3 Credit Hours
The goal of this course is to introduce students in issues of governance in various societal settings as viewed through the lens of sport. Through readings, discussions and individual and group projects students will engage a wide range of scholarly literature and film to critically engage important issues that arise in the governance of sport. In this year’s course case studies that we will engage include the role of technological augmentation in sport, policies delineating participation eligibility in the Olympics according to gender, societal and policy responses to concussions in the NFL, equity in journalism related to sports reporting, genetics and athletic performance, doping in sport, sport as a laboratory for understanding prediction and decision making, and gender equity in sport and beyond. The student should emerge from this class with tools of critical thinking and analysis, along with greater substantive knowledge of various interesting and important cases in the governance of sport. (F, W, S).
SPMT 402 Sports Management Internship 2 to 6 Credit Hours
SPMT 402 is the Sports Management Internship Course with online instruction and onsite and/or virtual internship experience. It is a three-credit, self-paced course which is intended to provide students with an experiential learning opportunity that combines theories, principles, ideas, and skills taught in the classroom. The internship course is designed to provide skill-based experiences to prepare students for employment or further education in a broad range of professions and disciplines. Internships create avenues for students to obtain a better understanding of sports organizations, their culture, operations, resources, management systems, in addition to providing networking & possible employment opportunities. Students complete a relevant, pre-approved internship which may correspond to their academic program and/or career plan. (F, W, S).
Prerequisite(s): SPMT 200
SPMT 410 Inclusion and Ethics in Sport 3 Credit Hours
This course evaluates diversity, inclusion, and equity in predominately domestic and international sport organizations. The course provides students with an understanding of how differences based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, physical and mental ability, class, and sexual orientation, among others, impact and intersect the organizational experience. It allows students to explore tensions through the range of diversity dimensions among a variety of stakeholders in professional sport settings. Diversity is also assessed as an asset to enrich the professional environment. Inclusive practices are also examined in the context of policies, systems, and processes in places of employment in sport settings. (F, W, S).
SPMT 420 Principles of Coaching 3 Credit Hours
This course introduces athletic coaching. Emphasis is on a comprehensive approach to the foundations and theories of coaching including developing a coaching philosophy, sport psychology and sport physiology. Topics include coaching, goals, styles, equipment, budgeting, communication, motivation, team management, teaching sport skills, conditioning, sport specific training, nutrition, skill progression, ethics, recruiting, leadership, safety and injury prevention. (F, W, S).
SPMT 430 Leadership Development in Sport 3 Credit Hours
An examination of leadership theories and their application for effective Sport Management. There are many different leadership approaches that have been considered effective. This course will provide an overview of these approaches based on a comprehensive review of case studies and research related to the field. The primary goal of this course is to guide current and aspiring students interested in the sport industry to gain a better understanding of effective leadership. It also seeks to provide the necessary tools in developing effective leaders. (F, W, S).
Learning Goals
- Understand the psychosocial impact and processes associated with sports participation and the societal contributions of sports to the diverse community.
- Navigate the legal aspects of the sports industry and how it relates to intramural, recreational, interscholastic, and intercollegiate athletics.
- Develop strong written and oral communication abilities, tailored for diverse stakeholders including athletes, sponsors, media, and fans.
- Apply sport management and leadership theories and practices in diverse sporting contexts to promote a collaborative environment in sport settings.