With more and more postgraduate sports management courses starting each year, and the quality of those on our rankings always growing, it can be more difficult than ever for prospective students to decide which programme is right for them. Here, SportBusiness takes a look at some of the biggest factors you should be focusing on when shopping around for a programme.
Location
The 2020s so far have seen significant societal shifts – including, of course, the pandemic, as well as rising global inflation and increased costs of living – that have led many students to rethinking how they choose their courses. According to recent research from University College London, as many as one in three new students starting university in the UK in 2023 are set to live at home and study at a local university, rather than choosing the once-traditional route of moving farther afield and living in halls.
But it’s not just costs that should impact your decision when selecting the location of your sports management course. With many programmes, particularly at masters level, including things like work placement elements or guest lecturers from nearby sports organisations, it’s worth considering the market in the area, and also looking at each institution’s ties to local sports bodies: are there multiple teams nearby offering internships to students and graduates? Do relevant local executives make appearances on the course to share their knowledge?
Finally, with the explosion of distance learning and MOOCs (massive open online courses), you might consider that you don’t need to leave your desk to get a great sport management degree. Some of the biggest and best schools in the world are now offering virtual programmes you can complete from wherever you are in the world, which may suit many students, particularly those looking to study alongside being in existing full-time employment or who have other family commitments.
Affordability
Naturally, a key question to ask before settling on a course is: how much is this going to cost me? The price for postgraduate courses has risen steadily over recent years and while it can vary considerably depending on numerous factors, any two-year postgraduate course in the US is going to run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
All universities will offer a limited number of scholarships, financial aid and bursaries to support students, so it’s worth making sure that each of your shortlisted schools have a good selection of packages available for you to apply for. Other avenues of support may be available in different countries, such as grants from research bodies like UK Research and Innovation, or interest-free career development loans which you won’t pay back until after your course has finished.
Consider also that the the course is not the only cost involved: a year at Columbia in New York City is going to be considerably more expensive than a year in Athens, Ohio, so think about your living costs and other expenses, as well.
Employment and earning potential
One of the key metrics of the SportBusiness Rankings is employability, looking at factors like how soon after graduation students find employment, what level they’re at three years after completing the course, and the salary they’re earning. It’s clearly an aspect worth keeping in mind as you shop around for programmes – and you may occasionally find yourself surprised by some of the outliers. The University of Liverpool, which offers highly specialised courses in particular sectors of the sports world, leads the way for employment in sport after 12 months on this year’s rankings, showing the value of specific knowledge to employers and recruiters.
Specialisation and teaching styles
Not all sports management masters courses are made equal, and not all of them highlight and foreground the same things. Some courses will be clear about their specialisation from the outset, while others may offer a more rounded education but simply have greater teaching and research strengths in particular areas. Look into the professors on each course as much as you can, and see which ones best align with your own interests.
The best programmes will offer a complete industry-wide view, and when choosing a postgraduate course, it’s natural to not know what your ultimate destination may be. But if you do have a solid idea of which sector of the sport sector appeals to you most, it may pay to choose a course which has stronger teaching experience and industry connections in that area, rather than to aim for a higher-ranked, but more generalised, programme.
Many courses will also offer blended approach between in-classroom learning, theory-based modules, and hands-on industry experience, but the precise ratio of this will differ between institutions, and it’s important to consider which approach best suits your learning style and will allow you to maximise the value you get out of the degree.
Alumni Network and Mentorship
What you learn on your course is crucial, of course, as are the kinds of opportunities your particular degree will afford you once you’ve graduated. But the old cliche remains true: sometimes it’s as much who you know as what you know. A strong alumni network can help open so many doors, not just to fresh graduates looking for a first break in the industry, but throughout an entire career in sports. Part of what keeps schools like UMass and Ohio University at the top of our rankings year after year is the strength and depth of their alumni networks, with both having now offered sports management courses for more than fifty years – that’s over half a century’s worth of graduates who have passed through their halls and are now working at all levels of the sport industry, in the US and internationally.
A long history is only one part of the equation, though – some universities are better than others at utilising these networks and ensuring former graduates continue to give back to their alma maters. Several schools in the USA now have multi-tiered mentorship programmes, which see alumni, staff and industry figures offer one-on-one mentorship to current students, while PhD candidates may offer support to postgrads, who in turn mentor undergraduates students – all contributing to creating a network that can continue to support an individual throughout their career in sport.
Ranking and reputation
Finally, it wouldn’t be much of a ranking if we didn’t recommend you take a look at our own table, as well as those of other publications which are likely to assess at universities’ more general strengths away from purely the sports management courses. It’s worth remembering, however, that all of the courses we rank – and even many we don’t! – offer great postgraduate sports management degrees, and the criteria that separate them in our overall rankings may not always be the key criteria for the specific requirements of each individual student. Use this ranking as a guide, an inspiration and a starting point, but don’t let it become your ultimate decision maker.