The Role of Sports Economics in the Sport Management Curriculum
The Role of Sports Economics in the Sport Management Curriculum
The Role of Sports Economics in the Sport Management Curriculum
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elationship between sports economics and sport management is <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> qualified sport<br />
management Ph.D.s be<strong>in</strong>g produced, documented by Mahoney et al (2004). <strong>The</strong> mismatch<br />
between growth <strong>in</strong> undergraduate and graduate enrollment <strong>in</strong> sport management programs<br />
and <strong>the</strong> low level <strong>of</strong> production <strong>of</strong> new sport management Ph.D.s may lead to even more<br />
sports economists work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> sport management departments <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> future. I also <strong>of</strong>fer some<br />
thoughts on <strong>the</strong> dist<strong>in</strong>ction between sports economics and sports f<strong>in</strong>ance, as my survey <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> current state <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sport management curriculum suggests that <strong>the</strong>se two descriptors<br />
appear to be substitutes <strong>in</strong> many sport management programs.<br />
<strong>The</strong> State <strong>of</strong> US <strong>Sport</strong> <strong>Management</strong> Programs<br />
In order to understand <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> sports economics <strong>in</strong> sport management programs, I first<br />
wanted to know someth<strong>in</strong>g about <strong>the</strong> current state <strong>of</strong> sport management programs. How<br />
many sport management programs currently exist? What are <strong>the</strong> characteristics <strong>of</strong> colleges<br />
and universities that <strong>of</strong>fer sport management as a degree program? Where are <strong>the</strong>se programs<br />
located with<strong>in</strong> colleges and universities? In order to answer <strong>the</strong>se questions, I collected some<br />
data on sport management undergraduate and graduate programs <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States.<br />
An <strong>in</strong>itial source <strong>of</strong> data on sport management programs is <strong>the</strong> Integrated Postsecondary<br />
Education System Data (IPEDS). <strong>The</strong>se data are drawn from annual surveys conducted by<br />
<strong>the</strong> U.S. Department <strong>of</strong> Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics. IPEDS is an<br />
annual census <strong>of</strong> enrollment, f<strong>in</strong>ances, staff<strong>in</strong>g, and o<strong>the</strong>r factors at US <strong>in</strong>stitutions <strong>of</strong> higher<br />
education. IPEDS conta<strong>in</strong>s data on <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> degrees awarded, called completions <strong>in</strong><br />
this data, by major and gender <strong>of</strong> student, so IPEDS is an important source <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation on<br />
sport management programs. Because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g number <strong>of</strong> years that undergraduate<br />
and graduate students take to complete degrees, data on <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> majors might be a<br />
better <strong>in</strong>dicator <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>structional activity than degrees awarded, but IPEDS does not conta<strong>in</strong><br />
enrollment data at a detailed enough level to estimate <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> sport management<br />
majors.<br />
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