The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s MBA/MS Sport Management and MS Sport Management claims first place overall in the SportBusiness Postgraduate Rankins for the second consecutive year.
Having also placed first in 2019, it represents the third time in five years that the Boston-based course has achieved the feat.
The programme, which forms part of the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at UMass, has a typical cohort size of 22 to 30, with applicant rates normally reaching 125.
The number of full-time staff working on the course is 13, all under the leadership of graduate programme director Will Norton, who assumed the role ahead of the 2021-22 academic year. The total faculty number will increase to 14 when two new-year full-time staff are added ahead of the 2024-25 academic year.
2022-23 highlights:
- Dr Nicole Melton joins as the new chair of the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management from September 1.
- Jeffrey Pollack has been named the programme’s first-ever professor of practice. The former XFL commissioner will be particularly focused on developing student mentorship, career coaching and industry relations.
- 2023 saw the launch of the programme’s annual ‘international sports business immersion trip’. This involved the entire cohort of each master’s programme travelling to the UK for a week of business seminars, stadium/venue tours, live spectator sporting events, and alumni networking events. This year’s trip included visits to Wembley Stadium, Formula 1, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Wimbledon, among others.
- Sport management alumna Sandy Barbour has established an endowed fund with a $500,000 gift that will provide financial support for the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management’s ongoing initiative to best prepare women for careers in the sport and entertainment industry.