NORMAN – As part of the Price College of Business’ Division of Management and Entrepreneurship, a new sports management concentration will be offered for the first time this fall. Instructors for these classes will include those directly involved with the industry, including Sherri Coale, OU Women’s Basketball coach. As an alternative to doing this full concentration, there will be a minor available for Price students as well as selected non-business majors.
The program will offer students the opportunity to prepare for a variety of careers in sports and is divided into three tracks of study, including professional sports, intercollegiate sports, and business data and statistical analysis. A core course in sports management will be required, with three courses taken from a list of approved electives, such as Licensing and Intellectual Property in Sports, Sports Logistics, Sports Marketing Management, Economics of Sports or Leading the Student Athlete.
Mark Sharfman, director of the Division of Management and Entrepreneurship, believes this concentration is one that students have wanted for years. “We have had a hugely popular elective course in sports management for 10 years and through that course, a specialized sports-related job fair as well as requests from many students, we saw the need for the program,” he says. “The fact that OU is a big sports school means we attract students and student-athletes who might like to make a career in the sports industry as well.”
The program’s curriculum was created with these students in mind by a professional advisory board made up of sports industry professionals who will continue to help guide the program and connect students with opportunities. The board members are OU alumni who include a retired general manager of the Green Bay Packers, senior executives at the Oklahoma City Thunder and Barons as well as active sports agents.
More information about this new concentration in sports management can be found at price.ou.edu/sportsmanagement.
Ranked in the top 5 percent of all U.S. undergraduate business schools based on recent ranking data, the Price College of Business is one of the nation’s premier business colleges. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranks the college’s International Business program 20th in the nation while Entrepreneurmagazine in association with The Princeton Review ranked the Entrepreneurship undergraduate program 10th and graduate program 25th in the nation. Additionally in 2013, BusinessWeek ranked the Entrepreneurship undergraduate program 23rd in the nation and the International Business program 28th.
