<p>I am a current undergrad student in Texas majoring in Communications: Public Relations and Advertising, also very interested in a career in the sports industry like many of you. </p>
<p>I have been doing a lot of research, as well as asking many sports business professionals for advice about graduate school and what not. Surprisingly a majority of my information has advised me to pursue internship experience over more school because what you learn with an internship will provide you with more valuable experience than sitting in a classroom. The more networking you do, the more likely it is for you to break into the business. Once you are in the business, it doesn’t matter what your degree was in or if you even went to graduate school for that matter. </p>
<p>I am currently interning for the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee in Dallas, Texas in preparation for the 2011 game in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium. I sent an e-mail to an SEC school’s athletic department HR manager asking her for some advice–grad school or more internship experience? She, someone who hires the athletic staff at this particular school, highly suggested the internship route. She also told me that with the experience that I am getting with my current internship, I should probably build on to this experience with another internship rather than continuing with school full time after I get my bachelors. </p>
<p>I would like more opinions about this, though. I am willing to hear about anyone’s advice or experiences. </p>
<p>While I am not sure what I will end up doing, I will certainly keep all options open. I will pursue other internships, continue networking, and will see what job opportunities are available after I finish my bachelors degree. I am also preparing for graduate school just in case that is what I decide to do.</p>
<p>mrain- I think you are on the right track. Internships-experience-connections. I think that is the way to go.
of course, I will know how successful that route is soon enough as my d is just beginning her job hunt. But I will say- her resume looks very impressive as it shows 3 solid internships and a salaried position with the MiLB team she interned for last semester. This position is through the summer season only.<br>
Her school SUNY Cortland- encourages “for credit internships”. So for 2 summers she interned for professional sport teams- including the NY Jets as SUNY Cortland is now the summer training camp venue for the team (she lucked out with that- who would have expected that in 2006 when she decide to attend Cortland that the Jets would have summer training camp at Cortland.) The cortland kids are real happy that they have the opportunity to intern with the Jets on their own campus.<br>
My d had the “luxury” of doing non-paid internships during the summer- as she worked on- campus during the school year. But most sport internships do not pay a salary and they are for credit only.
I also realized from my kid’s own experience- you don’t have to go to school in a major sport center- but do check out to see if there are sport internship opportunities within 30 miles (driving distance) of campus. Cortland NY ain’t a major metropolitan area- but there were plenty of opportunities going the “minor league route”- baseball, hockey etc. in Syracuse and Binghamton NY
I also think my kid got alot more responsibility and exposure working for a Minor league team. She could have spent a semester/home to intern for MSG- Mets-Yankees- etc but she wanted to spend her last semester with her friends on campus. I really wasn’t happy with her decision- but looking back I think it worked out just fine.
If she did intern with i.e MSG or the Yankees- she would have been one of many interns. Her responsibilities may not have been that significant. As an intern for an upstate minor league team- she had loads of responsibility- and I think that is going to let her resume shine. She is now running the box office for the team- that never would have happened in NYC. She’d probably be xeroxing, filing and other mundane responsibilities.<br>
Mrain- the info you got was right. Take the super bowl experience and try to build on it- Once you start getting solid internships and experiences under your belt, I think it will become easier to get the next job-
Good luck</p>
<p>I am currently a rising senior in South Carolinas Sport and Entertainment Management Program. I really can not say enough about this program. Whether you want to work in Sports, Facilities, or Entertainment (or a combination) you can adjust your classes to gear them toward the career you want. You are required to do 2 internships to graduate. Each internship is a minimum of 13 weeks long with a minimum of 520 hours served (13 weeks of 40 hours per week). These are meant to help you decided what you want to do, and absolutely sets you up to graduate with heaps of experience over most graduates. The program is amazing, all of the professors have been in the profession for a long time, none of them went straight into teaching so they have real world experience. The professors do anything to help you and their main goal is to prepare you for the real world, they don’t blow any smoke up your tail, they tell you the truth and prepare you. But you can bet you’re better prepared than others. The website, if anyone would like to check it out, is [College</a> of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management - University of South Carolina](<a href=“http://www.hrsm.sc.edu%5DCollege”>http://www.hrsm.sc.edu). Hope this convinces some people to come down here! (If you need some help, we’re an SEC school and we just won a National Championship in baseball, and we have the ol’ ball coach)</p>
<p>OSU has one of the better sports management programs, and it ties in well with a big time athletic department (49 national championships, 4th most in the nation) and other sports-focus programs, like the nation’s first sports journalism program. OSU also has a Sports Management Association that is one of the most popular major-related organizations on campus with over 300 members that hosts major speaking events on campus all the time.</p>
<p>Seems like 1/3rd of my house are all sports management majors. My big brother graduated last Spring and is currently working for the Arizona Diamondbacks. A few of the other guys have internships with the OKC Thunder.</p>
<p>It’s pretty awful. I was looking at it when my brother was visiting Stern (he ended up at Wharton), and they had like literally two or three textbooks for SM classes. As great as NYU is, their SM program is nothing. I would’ve been at a significant disadvantage if I went there. Schools like UMass, Bowling Green, Temple, Oregon, Louisville, etc. might be less prestigious than NYU, but their SM programs blow NYU’s away.</p>
<p>Hey guys, new to the forum here but I’ve used this thread for a lot of advice in my college search. I’m going to be a senior next year in high school, and am interested in majoring in sports management. I was told by many of my advisers to major in business since there is a more broad range of jobs available, rather then a focus on sports. However after visiting some schools I was interested in for business I realized that sports management is definitely the path I want to take. I need some help deciding what to look for in a sports management program to determine what sets one apart from others.</p>
<p>The main schools I’m interested in currently are UMass, Syracuse, SUNY Cortland, Temple, Springfield College, and West Virginia.</p>
<p>I’ve seen all mentioned as having top sports management programs, but I don’t really know how to choose what is best for me. Also my high school transcript is not the most appealing so that will play a major part in which schools I get accepted to. I have around a 3.4 GPA, 1650 SAT, with a good amount of honors/AP classes, I played varsity tennis for 2 years, and am part of the gifted program but am not involved with to much else. I’ll be taking the SAT again in the fall and I expect my score to go up, as well as taking the ACT. I plan on joining the newspaper so I have something else to write in as well as doing some community service. </p>
<p>Anybody able to tell me my chances of getting into these schools? It would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Syracuse will be a reach, the rest of them seem very reasonable, although I am not sure how hard it is to get into NY and MA schools out of state…West Virginia you will be fine.
For Syracuse, you are going to have to get your SAT’s up.</p>
<p>Honestly, I would research majoring in business (maybe with a concentration in sports management) and just intern with a sports organization. Or you could do work with the marketing department of your school’s athletics program. That would be my advice to you.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore at East Tennessee State University. I am currently a Pre-Business Student pretty much set on majoring in Finance. Here’s the question (well questions)…I want to get into the pro sports industry and I was wondering would I need to get another major in Sports Management at ETSU? Or would it even do me any good coming from a mid-major school? I’ve always wanted to go to the University of Tennessee. Does Tennessee have a good program that produces their alumni to have better shots at getting those high office careers? I’m from around the East Tennesssee region and I don’t want to go out of state while being an undergraduate. I do want to head to go to big city for graduate school. I was considering places such as Tampa, Los Angeles, Atlanta, or Orlando. Should I transfer for a better chance of being successful? What should I do?!</p>
<p>Anybody here major in SM at West Virginia? I haven’t heard to much about the program but I know it’s one of accredited schools. When I visited a couple months ago I got a really positive reaction about the program and the school in general so I feel like it might be my number 1, but I’d appreciate some feedback if anyone has any.</p>
<p>Im just going to let all you guys know that the University of Oregon does NOT offer a sports management degree. It’s sports marketing…completely different.</p>
<p>I work in college athletics and have collected years of experience in the industry. Sport Management programs are far overrated and really do not have much of an impact on getting a job. You have to find a place that will allow you gain experience while going to school and that will get you a job. Ohio University is a good program and is respected in college athletics, UMASS is usually good if you want to work in the Northeast, but if your dream job is working at the University of Tennessee or University of Alabama, then you better go there because they only hire alums.</p>
<p>hey guys i want to be a sports agent what school has the best sports management program for that i also want a college with a pretty good business school i have a 3.7 gpa what school do you think are good for me?</p>
<p>Yes, as far as I know. You could call or email the two departments and ask more details, or go to the websites I listed and explore what they offer.</p>