Return to: Programs A-Z

The Ph.D. program in Sport and Entertainment Management is designed to meet the demand by the industry and educational institutions for high quality academicians with a sport and entertainment management background. Students will be given the opportunity to generate industry-specific knowledge through exposure to and participation in academic research with a dicipline-specific application. Subsequently, as professors, they will be equipped to disseminate such knowledge to the public and industry stakeholders.

The Program is based on a three-year period of residential study beyond completion of a Master’s degree in sport and entertainment management or a related field. It will consist of a minimum of 60 credit hours beyond the master’s degree in the following four areas: (1) Core Seminars, (2) Statistics/Research Core, (3) Cognate(s), and (4) Dissertation.

Students who have not had prior exposure to the sport and entertainment industry through a related undergraduate or graduate degree are required to enroll in a 15-hour Prerequisite Core. Courses in this core are:

• SPTE 640 - Venue Management: Principles and Practices|    (3)
• SPTE 701 - Management in the Sport and Entertainment Industry|   (3)
• SPTE 746 - Risk and Security Management in Public Assembly Facilities|   (3)
• SPTE 760 SPTE 760 - Principles of Sport and Entertainment Marketing|   (3)
• SPTE 790 - Sport and Entertainment Finance|   (3)

These courses may be waived for those with prior academic exposure or significant industry experiences.

The Program will expose students to advanced and current research being conducted in the sport and entertainment industry. A substantial portion of the coursework will consist of courses that focus on research methodology and statistical analysis techniques. These courses are designed to develop students’ critical analysis skills while serving as the basis for developing a sustainable research agenda.

Because the department’s unique focus on both sport and entertainment management (as opposed to only sport management), students will develop a distinct and more holistic understanding of both sport management and entertainment management and be better positioned in the academic job market in that the breadth of their training should make them qualified for either sport-specific or entertainment-specific positions within those programs.