North American Society for Sport Management
The mission of the Illinois State University Graduate Sport Management Program serves to provide students with the educational background necessary to excel as a professional in the highly-competitive sport industry. The role of scholarship and focused disciplinary study is emphasized. This advanced knowledge prepares these graduates to think conceptually and analytically, and to positively impact professional practices and policies in their field.
Courses taught in the sport management curriculum include content areas such as marketing, management, finance, and law, and place an emphasis on both theoretical and practical aspects of the sport industry. Additionally, the sport management faculty place a strong emphasis on the value of practical experience and most students will complete at least one meaningful field experience, typically a full-time internship, during their program of study at Illinois State.
Students in our program pursue career opportunities managing professional, collegiate, intercollegiate, and interscholastic sports programs, as well as other related opportunities in the sport industry including sport marketing/management organizations, international sport, Para and Special Olympic sport, youth sports, and extreme sports. Examples of recent job placements secured by students in the Illinois State sport management program include:
Chad McEvoy, Ed.D., University of Northern Colorado
Revenue production in collegiate and professional sports, fund raising in intercollegiate athletics, legal aspects of collegiate and professional sport
Brent Beggs, Ph.D., Indiana University
Recreational sports, field experiences, and leisure behavior
Students admitted to the graduate sport management program must complete a minimum of 33 total credit hours, including 6 credit hours in the research core, 15 credit hours in the sport management sequence, 3-6 credit hours of an advisor-approved culminating experience, and 3-9 hours of cognate, or elective, courses selected by the student and his/her appointed advisor in order to best position the student to succeed in a management career in the sport industry. This curriculum is outlined below:
Applications for admission to the sport management sequence are first sent to the university Graduate School and then are reviewed by the sport management faculty and the school graduate program coordinator. Admission to the program is competitive and admissions decisions are based on a variety of factors, including undergraduate grade point average, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, past work experiences, and future career goals. The ideal candidate will have experience, such as an internship, in a sport management setting, possess a bachelor's degree in an area such as management, business, or communication, have strong GRE test scores and undergraduate grades, strong recommendations, and be clearly pursuing a career in the managerial/administrative aspects of the sport industry. To assure fullest consideration, completed applications must be filed by March 1 for fall admission. Applications will not be considered until all materials have been received.
