The Best Sports Management Undergraduate Schools

Sports management B.A. programs educate students about the ways in which business, coaching and physical education principles can be applied to the administration and management of athletes, athletic programs and teams. Several colleges offer undergraduate degrees in the field. Classes commonly cover such subjects as sports-related sales, marketing, and financial management.

University of Michigan

The program at the University of Michigan combines a study of the liberal arts, sport sciences and business. The program covers areas such as organizational strategy, marketing, finance and economics, legal issues and research methods. The program also emphasizes internships and collaborations with local sports teams and businesses.

University of Michigan School of Kinesiology 1118 Observatory Lodge 1402 Washington Heights Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2013 (734) 647-9856 kines.umich.edu

University of Oregon

The sports management program in the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon is designed to provide students with a rigorous classroom education and with opportunities to apply that knowledge in real-world situations. The school also emphasizes its commitment to marketing and business principles in the context of sports, not just marketing and business principles with a tangential application to the field.

Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Charles H. Lundquist College of Business 1208 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon 97403-1208 (541) 346-3297 www2.lcb.uoregon.edu

University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut program includes courses from various departments. Students must complete classes such as sport in society, sport marketing, introduction to recreation service administration, sociology of leisure, and sport, as well as conducting a research-oriented independent study. The program, which is highly selective, accepts only about a dozen students a year. The university is located just 20 miles from ESPN's studios in Bristol, Connecticut.

Neag School of Education Dept. of Kinesiology 249 Glenbrook Road, Unit 1110 Storrs, Connecticut 06269 (860) 486-3623 education.uconn.edu

Florida State University

Located in Florida State University's College of Education, this program, taken by students in their junior and senior years, is designed to provide students an introduction to work in the sports industry. The course is heavy on applied knowledge, but students are also required to familiarize themselves with research-based literature.

Florida State University College of Education 1002 Tully Gym Tallahassee, FL 32306-4280 (850) 644-4813 fsu.edu/~smrmpe/

University of Massachusetts

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst offers a sports management major that focuses on theories of law and business as they apply to the sports industry, the history and sociology of sport, and the foundations of business and management as they relate to sports. Admission is selective.

UMass Sport Management Department 121 Presidents Drive, ISOM 236 Amherst, MA 01003 (413) 545-0441 umass.edu

Bowling Green State University

All undergraduates taking the sport management major at Bowling Green are required to complete at least one "field experience", or internship, in which students work for a professional sports organization for at least 40 hours per week for 15 weeks. Past students have interned with sports teams such as the Buffalo Bills, Texas Rangers, Boston Celtics and New England Patriots.

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH 43403-0001 (419) 372-2531 bgsu.edu