<p>I plan on applying to these five colleges this fall-</p>
<p>Bowling Green State University
Indiana University
University of Dayton
University of Louisville
Universtiy of Tennessee</p>
<p>I want to major in Sport Management. Does anyone know how good these college's SM programs are, and which ones are better than the others on the list? Please post any thoughts/suggestions. Thanks.</p>
<p>I've heard very good things about BGSU as an undergraduate program. Some consider it among the top 3 in the country. It is hard to match what Indiana has to offer with a minor in the Kelley School of Business and the curriculum they have. Tennessee has a solid program, and Louisville was mentioned on ESPN.com as a school to go to for Sport Management. Can't help you with Dayton, know nothing about it.</p>
<p>Others I would recommend are Oregon, UMass, Ohio U. They all are fantastic programs that outshine all on your list, outside of Bowling Green and possibly Indiana. Sport Management is 100% about connections - who you know. Ohio and UMass are the longest tenured programs and have the biggest alumni networks. Oregon has connections with Nike and Adidas that are incomparable. Oregon was named the best undergraduate program by Sports Illustrated, UMass and Ohio are always the the two schools brought up when talking about top programs.</p>
<p>Thanks A2Wolves6. Oregon and UMass are a little too far for me (I want to keep it more Midwest), and Ohio U isn't a place where I would feel comfortable. How important is having a business minor to go with a SM major? Is it required at IU to get a business minor?</p>
<p>It is required at IU. The thing about the business minor is that it enables you to work in business if sports doesn't work out for you. That's important because sports is VERY COMPETITIVE to break in and get a decent paying job, starting salaries are typically between 20-30K. Even if you get over the obstacle of breaking in, you may realize that you don't want to make 1/2 as much as people do in business, mostly doing the same stuff (sales).</p>
<p>I am somewhat interested in finding out more about this, too, and in researching it, find that there are only some select programs that have been called "approved" to meet the stands of the the NASSM, and they are those marked with an "A" at this link:
Sport</a> Management Programs: United States | North American Society for Sport Management</p>
<p>My question is, do you feel like a person has to stick with one of those to be competitive in this field? How wrong can a person go here in choosing one that isn't on the "A" list? </p>
<p>I bet others are pending or close to being approved, etc., and I don't know how old the list is, but I'm interested in hearing opinions on this.</p>
<p>Researching it? You typed in Sport Management programs into Google and that's the first site that came up.</p>
<p>The approval rating process is voluntary - only certain schools apply for the accreditation and there's tons of paperwork and fees that go into becoming an "approved" member and no real benefit. No employer cares at all about schools being approved or not.</p>
<p>The NASSM hasn't reviewed programs since 2000. Approval only happens every 7 years, meaning those schools without an "A" next to their name aren't inferior, they either </p>
<p>A) Didn't apply for the approval because of no benefits in it,
B) Didn't apply for the approval because of the length of the process,
C) Didn't apply for the approval because of the fees attached with it, or
D) Don't have an "A" next to their name because they haven't put "A's" up for 8 years.</p>
<p>The approval standards are very low for sport management programs, John Helyar wrote in "Failing Effort" that "While there is an "approval" rating, conferred by an academic group called the Sport Management Program Review Council, its requirements are light -- a minimum of two full-time sports-management faculty members, for instance."</p>
<p>The best programs are going to be ones that have these characteristics. </p>
<p>1) They are associated with a business school - preferably getting a BS in Business Admin with a major in Sport Management, if not a dual-degree or a minor. This diversifies a student's resume to work in both sports and business. Much of the material in a Sport Management program you'll learn in a business program.</p>
<p>2) They have been established for a while and have a large alumni network. Find out how long a program has been established, how many people are enrolled in the program and get a sense of the alumni network. Ohio U and U Mass are the two schools that have been operating the longest.</p>
<p>3) Required internships are part of the degree. You HAVE to get experience in the industry, otherwise you'll never make it. With experience, you will have job opportunities.</p>
<p>4) Proximity to major teams. Sports teams almost never hire candidates who will have to relocate. They want interns who are local. It's part of having good community relations from the team's aspect as well as them not paying for relocation/housing. If your school is located in Miami, your chances of getting that Miami Heat internship are MUCH better than someone who goes to school in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>There are no real "rankings", in fact, I haven't even found an article that goes in-depth on undergraduate programs, just bits and pieces. There's much more info about MBA programs in Sport Mangement, where the top 5 recognized are Ohio U, U Mass, Oregon, UCF, and Arizona State (in no particular order). UCF and ASU don't have UG programs, Ohio U and U Mass are regarded as the two oldest programs with the best alumni networks. Oregon was named the best program by Sports Illustrated and has amazing connections with Nike and Adidas.</p>
<p>Some good information from A2Wolves and others in this thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/531524-best-sports-management-programs.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/531524-best-sports-management-programs.html</a></p>
<p>does anyone know anything about dayton's program?</p>