• the technical, interpersonal, and conceptual skills required to function as an effective sport manager in today’s complex sport environment
  • the governance structure of various sport organizations
  • the legal and regulatory environment of contemporary sport

You will enjoy the Abbey’s sport management Major if you:

  • like athletics and sports
  • enjoy working with people
  • have well developed communication skills
  • want to motivate and lead people
  • have an interest in finance, marketing, and operations

Our program will enable you to:

  • recognize the importance of planning, management and leadership in contemporary sport organizations and apply that knowledge from a managerial perspective
  • appreciate the impact of sport on people and societies
  • evaluate the ethical demands of today’s sport environment
  • develop appropriate ethical practices, applying them in sport management settings

With a sport management bachelor’s degree from Belmont Abbey College, you will be able to pursue a variety of career opportunities, including:

  • Coaching
  • Physical therapy
  • Sports and team management
  • Sales and marketing
  • Community relations

The Sport Management Department inculcates a variety of skills and knowledge in its students in the areas of the business, management, and legal characteristics of sport.

The Abbey Difference:

Guided by the tenets of Catholicism and the Benedictine hallmarks, Belmont Abbey College strives to provide its students with a well-rounded education that promotes wise and ethical decisions.

The sport management faculty is committed to modeling and encouraging the further development of honesty, integrity, and virtue in our students. Focused on developing the whole student in mind, body and spirit, Belmont Abbey College is the ideal place to prepare for your career in sports management. We aim to form students who can integrate skills and knowledge of the sports industry with the values of our liberal arts curriculum. As a result, we produce both talented and principled professionals in the field of sport management.

Program Requirements:

(This option is available for traditional students only.)

Major Requirements:

 Lower-level courses to be completed prior to enrolling in any 300 level or higher Sport Management course:

  • SM 200: History, Culture, & Philosophy of Sport
  • SM 201: Introduction to Sport Management

Six (6) of the following:

  • SM 305: Sport and Society
  • SM 310: Organizational Theory & Leadership in Sport
  • SM 320: Administration, Governance, and Policy
  • SM 325: Coaching Management
  • SM 330: Sport Marketing
  • SM 335: Social Media Management in Sport
  • SM 340: Sport Facility and Event Management
  • SM 350: Sport Law and Risk Management
  • SM 360: Sport Business and Finance
  • SM 370: Sport Broadcasting
  • SM 380: Sport and Exercise Psychology
  • SM 399: Special Topics in Sport Management

SM Senior Capstone courses:

  • SM 400: Senior Seminar
  • SM 450: Internship

Required Business Courses:

  • EC 201: Introductory Economics I
  • BU 265: Spreadsheet and Database Applications
  • BU 315W: Business Communication

It is the student’s responsibility to verify that all degree requirements for graduation are fulfilled.

Minor Requirements:

  • SM 200: History, Culture, & Philosophy of Sport
  • SM 201: Introduction to Sport Management
  • Any three (3) additional 300-400 level SM classes

It is the student’s responsibility to verify that all degree requirements for graduation are fulfilled.

Minor Requirements:

  • SM 250: Emerging Sport Media
  • SM 260: Sport Technology
  • SM 335: Social Media in Sport
  • SM 370: Sport Broadcasting
  • SM 415: Practicum in Digital Sport Media

It is the student’s responsibility to verify that all degree requirements for graduation are fulfilled.

Highlights of your experience:

This class teaches students important theories of leadership and management in sports organizations. Additionally, students will explore personal strengths to develop leadership capacities.

Instructs students in the unique properties of sport in relationship to marketing theory. This course examines the primary functions and principles of sport marketing, including consumer behavior, market segmentation, licensing, sponsorship, and more. Public relations and the legal considerations of sport marketing will also be addressed.

This class teaches the relationship of facility design and capabilities to event possibilities with a particular emphasis on managing those facilities. Our students will have opportunities to design and develop sports facilities and events.

Faculty:

IMG_3296Trey Cunningham
Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Sport Management
Phone:  704.461.5021
Email:  TreyCunningham@bac.edu

B.S., Louisiana Tech University
M.S., Louisiana Tech University
Ph.D., The University of Southern Mississippi

Garrett Bireline
B.S., Bowling Green State University
M.S., Liberty University
Ed.D., UNC Charlotte (in progress)

Erik Arneson
A.A., Eastern Florida State College