Abilene Christian is attempting a very different kind of Sports Management program. Here's what I learned:

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There are hundreds of schools throughout the country that offer some type of Sports Management degree or certification. While they might all be called Sports Management, I’ve come to learn that often, these schools don’t have all that much in common. Some degree programs are run out of business schools, while others are part of Kinesiology, or perhaps other liberal arts programs. They might focus primarily on professional sports, collegiate sports, or community/K12 sports management opportunities. Curriculum could include anything from event management to finance, media to law, and even other disciplines.

Sports Management majors are frequently popular programs for smaller schools to start, especially if they’re concerned about male student enrollment. After all, they typically don’t require expensive laboratory equipment or massive physical spaces, and if you already have an athletic department, you’ve got built in practical experiences for the students.

But the dirty little secret is that while these majors can be popular with students and university administrators, there just aren’t that many jobs in the sports industry, and the jobs that do exist tend to be highly competitive. You don’t need a Sports Management major to potentially sell tickets for the Chicago White Sox, run the local parks department, or serve as a high school athletic director. Folks with completely different academic backgrounds can be successful in those jobs as well.

So it’s critical for anybody designing a Sports Management program to figure out a way to stand out and offer students something different, but also aligned with the skills and expertise that the real world actually needs.

Which is why I wanted to reach out to Abilene Christian. It looks like they’re trying to build something that is meaningfully different with their Center for Sports Leadership and Learning.

Even though, like with many other departments, their story starts in professional sports.

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