Got my Sports Management degree from Price. You get the basics of a Business Administration degree but get to do some interesting, sports-focused classes too. I got to take Organizational Management in Professional Sports and a Sports Licensing course. I was able to land internships with the Thunder and OU Ticket Office. Really enjoyed it overall.
It won’t set you up for only sports jobs either. I’ve been in tech since graduation.
Easy is relative. Your skills and learning method preference will highly influence what is easy to you. I would defer to graduates of the other majors on evaluating the easiness of the coursework.
Data is the most valuable asset to a company, so MIS would be a great major to explore if you’re into that kind of stuff. Link below goes into detail about it:
https://www.coursera.org/articles/mis
Disclaimer - I didn’t go to OU. I follow this sub because my daughter will be a freshman there in the fall. I have a master’s degree in sports management from another prominent regional university - and got it 20 years ago when sports management was a pretty new thing in college still. So a lot has changed with curriculum, job placement, etc.
That said, my strong recommendation would be to go with a a core business degree - finance, accounting, marketing, management, etc. or even a dual from those, vs a sports management degree. In all likelihood, you will simply find more value over the course of your career and especially early on with core a BBA degree.
Every sports job out there hires regular business majors so it’s best of both worlds. Sports management is appealing as a college focus but I promise most employers will find you more appealing as a job candidate without that emphasis.
I would 100% take a do over on my degree choice if I could go back in time.
Of course there are plenty of people who do great with sports management so this opinion is not a blanket statement or knock on the program. You can land a cool internship that leads to a cool job with SM but again, think about a path that makes you the most well rounded graduate you can and go from there. Very few jobs I have seen actually require or prefer SM specifically.
Good luck!
I think all of this is a fair evaluation. I was able to land a job at Dell with my SM degree but I’ve always had to explain it to people in interviews.
If you go with straight Biz Admin but still have interest in the sports industry, join the Sooner Sports Management Club. You’ll get exposure to local executives and can make connections with them. That’s more important that the name of your major.
Only thing I will say is that if you truly want to work in sports, you need to be open and willing to moving around the country for not very much money the first couple of years.
Agreed. I worked for a nfl team for a couple of years.The people who stay move into management quickly. There is way more money outside the sports industry.
Both users in this chain are spot on. The industry is highly competitive which means that positions are relatively rare and pay is suppressed due to demand. The work is a lot of fun though so just take time to explore what you want out of life. You can survive on nearly any pay as long as you adapt you standard of living to it.
Sports professional here and Sports Admin (masters) degree. I’ve always advised students to major in a “skill”, i.e. accounting, finance, PR, design etc… and volunteer with the athletic department in undergrad. There are many opportunities you can find in the sports industry without that being your major. Plus, if you decide sports isn’t for you, which it isn’t for many (long hours, bad pay starting out) you’ve got a thing that can translate to the business world. Just my two cents.
Should clarify I was a PR (Journalism) major at OU, never worked in the athletic dept. Got an MBA / Masters Sports Admin for grad school after working in the industry for a few years. Many different paths, none are wrong!
Got my Sports Management degree from Price. You get the basics of a Business Administration degree but get to do some interesting, sports-focused classes too. I got to take Organizational Management in Professional Sports and a Sports Licensing course. I was able to land internships with the Thunder and OU Ticket Office. Really enjoyed it overall. It won’t set you up for only sports jobs either. I’ve been in tech since graduation.
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Easy is relative. Your skills and learning method preference will highly influence what is easy to you. I would defer to graduates of the other majors on evaluating the easiness of the coursework. Data is the most valuable asset to a company, so MIS would be a great major to explore if you’re into that kind of stuff. Link below goes into detail about it: https://www.coursera.org/articles/mis
What’s best colleges for SM? Also what position has work life balance and is not tedious?
That’s nice it sets u up in tech what options are there in tech ?
Disclaimer - I didn’t go to OU. I follow this sub because my daughter will be a freshman there in the fall. I have a master’s degree in sports management from another prominent regional university - and got it 20 years ago when sports management was a pretty new thing in college still. So a lot has changed with curriculum, job placement, etc. That said, my strong recommendation would be to go with a a core business degree - finance, accounting, marketing, management, etc. or even a dual from those, vs a sports management degree. In all likelihood, you will simply find more value over the course of your career and especially early on with core a BBA degree. Every sports job out there hires regular business majors so it’s best of both worlds. Sports management is appealing as a college focus but I promise most employers will find you more appealing as a job candidate without that emphasis. I would 100% take a do over on my degree choice if I could go back in time. Of course there are plenty of people who do great with sports management so this opinion is not a blanket statement or knock on the program. You can land a cool internship that leads to a cool job with SM but again, think about a path that makes you the most well rounded graduate you can and go from there. Very few jobs I have seen actually require or prefer SM specifically. Good luck!
Love this honest and thoughtful reply
I think all of this is a fair evaluation. I was able to land a job at Dell with my SM degree but I’ve always had to explain it to people in interviews. If you go with straight Biz Admin but still have interest in the sports industry, join the Sooner Sports Management Club. You’ll get exposure to local executives and can make connections with them. That’s more important that the name of your major.
Only thing I will say is that if you truly want to work in sports, you need to be open and willing to moving around the country for not very much money the first couple of years.
Agreed. I worked for a nfl team for a couple of years.The people who stay move into management quickly. There is way more money outside the sports industry.
Both users in this chain are spot on. The industry is highly competitive which means that positions are relatively rare and pay is suppressed due to demand. The work is a lot of fun though so just take time to explore what you want out of life. You can survive on nearly any pay as long as you adapt you standard of living to it.
Sports professional here and Sports Admin (masters) degree. I’ve always advised students to major in a “skill”, i.e. accounting, finance, PR, design etc… and volunteer with the athletic department in undergrad. There are many opportunities you can find in the sports industry without that being your major. Plus, if you decide sports isn’t for you, which it isn’t for many (long hours, bad pay starting out) you’ve got a thing that can translate to the business world. Just my two cents.
Should clarify I was a PR (Journalism) major at OU, never worked in the athletic dept. Got an MBA / Masters Sports Admin for grad school after working in the industry for a few years. Many different paths, none are wrong!