Entrepreneurship and professional sports have always gone hand in hand, as the latter is an industry constantly looking toward innovation.
Jobs in the sports management field require agile, strategic thinkers and people who can problem solve and adapt in fast-paced, competitive markets. It’s why degrees for sports management and business together provide you with the best opportunity for professional success. The Babson undergraduate sports management concentration equips students with the knowledge and experience to confidently pursue their dreams in sports management, fostering the next generation of innovators and leaders in the field.
The hands-on opportunities Babson students have with real organizations provides unparalleled networking, consulting, and in-the-field experience. At Babson, your business degree takes you from the classroom right into the action.
A business degree with a concentration in sports management translates across roles at organizations at all leagues and levels. Business students with an interest in sports management go on to careers in data analytics, operations and management, coaching, sales, player representation, guest relations, and marketing and events, among other roles within professional sports organizations.
Our sports management courses and tactile approach to learning are designed to develop your communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills, while building out your business acumen and confidence in your abilities and creativity. Additionally, through resources in the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership, you can start to shape the career of your dreams. Students also find support and opportunities in the Babson Sports Business Society. Our business school opportunities and rankings make us one of the best schools for sports management.
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Interested in undergraduate careers in data analytics and sports? With analytics jobs on the rise, recent Babson graduates find success using their education, including classes such as the Management Consulting Field Experience and Sports Application of Mathematics, to inform data careers in the professional sports industry.
In the sports management concentration, you will take courses exploring aspects of the professional sports industry and the role sports and athletics play in greater society. You also can take analytics, marketing, literature, and law courses. Our concentrations are designed to help you specialize or explore options within our bachelor’s in business administration degree.
The sports business courses we offer are comparable to other sports marketing degrees or sports business degrees, as well as a bachelor of science in sports management or other bachelor of science in sport management undergraduate programs that have a sports management major or minor.
Babson’s Good Company, Good Game: Law, Ethics, and Leadership in Sports Business is a course inspired by the values and experiences of Arthur M. Blank ’63, H’98. As part of the course, students took a weeklong trip to Atlanta to visit the Blank Family of Businesses, which includes the Atlanta Falcons football team and Atlanta United soccer team.
You will take at least two of the following sports management classes:
Hands-on experience you can expect from one of the best sport management programs for business students. Begin your school year early with a weeklong trip to Atlanta to visit the Arthur M. Blank Family of Businesses, including the Atlanta Falcons, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta United, and PGA Tour Superstore, and learn how to navigate legal, ethical, and management decisions in sports businesses. You analyze challenges faced by these organizations and apply value-based leadership principles to determine strategic and ethical decisions for a business and its stakeholders.
This sports management course examines the legal relationships among athletes, teams, leagues, governing bodies, sports facilities, licensees, broadcasters, and fans. This includes the history of the various leagues and organizations, the influence of politics on sports law, and public policy governing sports.
This sports management class provides an in-depth analysis of audience behavior in sports and entertainment. As you pursue a degree in sports management, you will learn how to use data analytics to understand fan behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns, and how to develop effective marketing strategies to maximize revenue and fan loyalty.
Learn about the application of marketing concepts in the dynamic and high-profile sports industry in this class in one of the best sport management programs. Topics include sponsorship, branding, marketing research, consumer behavior, product development, licensing, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, legal and ethical issues, women’s professional sports, collegiate sports, and more.
Explore the connection between sports and global affairs currently and throughout history in this course you will only find in one of the best sport management programs. You will trace instances where sports collides with social, political, and economic issues around the globe since the inception of modern sport. You also will identify how global issues affect the development of sports and how sports have shaped global and national issues from the margins.
Mathematicians and statisticians are playing an increasing role in shaping how athletic contests are played and how they are judged, making this course an integral part of any sports business degree program. This course examines some of the underlying quantitative principles that are routinely used. A variety of software packages will be used to demonstrate the many ways that a mathematical point of view can inform athletes, coaches and trainers, administrators, and fans.
For electives, you can take two sports management classes from the above list or pick from a list that includes, but is not limited to:
Explore more sports management courses
At Babson, our faculty are experts, innovators, and forward thinkers in their chosen fields. Here are just some of the professors sharing their expertise and support with our students in the sports management program.
Anjali Bal, an inaugural Babson Presidential Research Scholar and an associate professor of marketing, teaches and researches topics within the arts and entertainment and sports marketing fields, including the intersectionality of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in these markets. Additionally, she is the managing director of Balbro Inc. and the co-founder/co-CEO of The Worthington-Bal Group, an arts and entertainment, creativity, and sports management consulting group.
Richard “Rick” Cleary, a professor of mathematics, is a statistician and mathematician with research and consulting interests in various fields including sports and education. Prior to coming to Babson in 2013, he taught at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, Cornell University, Bentley University, and Harvard University. He has held leadership positions in the Mathematical Association of America, including six years on the executive committee as associate treasurer. He currently co-chairs the Upper Division Pathways initiative for TPSE Math.
Leslie Garbarino is an associate professor of practice teaching business law, an attorney, facilitator, and startup executive. In addition to her academic work, she runs her own startup consulting and corporate law practices. Prior to starting her own businesses, she was the president of Streetwise Media (now AmericanInno), a national digital media and events company focused on tech and innovation.
Mike McGuirk, an associate professor of practice in marketing, teaches courses that bridge the gap between the art and science of marketing. He brings over three decades of experience with descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytic techniques, helping Fortune 1000 clients identify customer insights that lead to highly successful data-driven sales, marketing, and customer experience programs. He has led analytic consulting engagements at companies such as General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Dunkin’, CVS Pharmacy, BP, McDonald’s, OnStar, Extended Stay Hotels, Volvo, Cigna Insurance, Microsoft, and many not-for-profit organizations.
Faculty Contacts: Anjali Bal & Leslie Garbarino
Sponsored by: Accounting & Law Division & Marketing Division
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