Sports Management (BS)

Why Study Sports Management?

If you love sports and want to use your skills to work closely with athletes, coaches, and athletic teams, this program will prepare you with industry knowledge and real-world experience to achieve employment or pursue a graduate program in the sports world.

Saint Francis pairs spiritual development, ethical analysis and reflection, communication, and critical thinking with specific knowledge of business, sport law, finance, ethics, public relations, and sport marketing that will provide a comprehensive path to success in any athletic field.

This program harnesses the strengths of the Franciscan Core Curriculum, Business Core Courses, and existing Sports Management and Exercise Science courses currently offered at the University of Saint Francis. The collaboration between disciplines across campus creates a holistic business and sports management education that is diverse yet provides depth in a vocation-driven curriculum.

Why Saint Francis for Your Degree in Sports Management?

A rapidly advancing, evolving industry makes for an exciting, expanding field of study: sports management degree programs today prepare students for careers that didn’t exist five years ago. Saint Francis students have the opportunity to select a concentration in Public Relations, Marketing, Risk Management, Athletic Coaching, and Exercise Science.

Saint Francis’ sports management degree program is comprehensive: You’ll graduate with the practical skills today’s teams and sports management firms expect, a strong foundation in professional sports, collegiate sports, and community/youth sports management, including:

• Business
• Finance
• Legal issues
• Event and facility management
• Leadership
• Promotion
• Budgeting
• Sponsorship
• Capital structuring
• Legal disputes
• Human performance
• Web development
• Sport technology

Rooted in the Franciscan tradition of faith and reason, a Saint Francis education also strengthens your character and prepares you to become a grounded, ethical leader: an important and sought-after asset in today’s fast-paced and complex society.

Real-World Strategic Sports Marketing Experience

The University of Saint Francis values hands-on learning experiences. Throughout your coursework, you’ll collaborate with classmates on case studies and team-based projects that can be implemented by area sports management professional and athletic teams.

Our sports management majors have access to a variety of learning experiences outside of the classroom, such as internships, community service and even campus employment.

Internships

Thanks to the strong work ethic of our students, companies in our region and beyond welcome Saint Francis interns with open arms, and our most strategic sports management majors will pursue multiple internships in order to explore a variety of approaches.

Service-Learning Experiences

Serving others is a way of life at Saint Francis, whether it’s embedded into a class assignment, inspires an independent research project or motivates a campus club into action. As a sports management major, consider how you might use your knowledge to help local organizations build awareness, promote events, reach fundraising goals, engage members and recruit volunteers.

Networking Opportunities

In addition to formal experiential learning, you’ll also gain business and marketing insight from successful alumni and community leaders through special programs and events, such as the Busse Speaker Series.

Campus Involvement

There are so many ways to get involved at the University of Saint Francis, from student clubs to club sports. These are a few options which might interest our business-minded sports management students:

• American Advertising Federation
• Communications and Public Relations Society
• Student Activities Council

What Can You Do With a Sports Management Degree?

Saint Francis sports management majors and minors illustrate a broad range of skill sets that can be captured in jobs at a variety of companies and athletic teams. Common positions for these students include:

• Athletic Coach
• Athletic Development Specialist
• Athletic Director
• Youth Sports Director
• Non-Profit Executive Director
• Director of Operations
• Sales Manager
• Sports Information Director

With time and experience Saint Francis graduates can advance into senior sports management roles or even launch new businesses.