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Sport Business Major

Earn a bachelor's degree in sport business

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Do you love sports? Are you creative? Do you like to explore the behavior of sports fanatics? Would you like to work for a professional sports team? Do you love keeping up with the latest sports trends on social media? Do you enjoy promoting something you are passionate about?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, then our sport business degree could be a great fit for you!

SBU's sport business major is a unique sports management degree program through which you will receive a quality business degree with an emphasis on sports. Courses in sports communication, sport programming, entrepreneurship, and more combine to create a unique degree that will prepare you for a variety of careers, including those within the sports industry. You also will have the opportunity to complete an internship in your chosen field, which will allow you to apply what you are learning in the classroom to your sports management education.

According to the 2019 College Salary Report by PayScale, average early career pay for professionals in the sport business field is $42,100, while average mid-career pay is $69,000.

The Sport Business degree is offered through SBU's Robert W. Plaster College of Business. 

Resources

Major Map (PDF)

Degree plan

96%
Job/
grad school
placement rate

(For business and computer science graduates; three-year aggregate)

SBU students

The SBU Advantage

  • Our unique sports business major focuses on both the sports industry and business foundations, opening up unique career possibilities
  • More than 75% of students in the business administration division complete at least one internship before graduation.
  • Small class sizes and dedicated faculty create a close-knit community to help you thrive as you benefit from personalized instruction and build lifelong friendships.

Faith Integration

Psalm 15 — SBU's College of Professional Programs and the Robert W. Plaster College of Business have a Psalm 15 initiative, which provides intentional integration of faith and academic discipline. Using Psalm 15 as a basis, the Colleges have identified eight character traits that should be the hallmark of the students and graduates. These character traits are emphasized in coursework and in a special lecture series. The highlighted character traits are: Integrity, Service, Respect, Charity, Faithfulness, Truthfulness, Humility and Perseverance.

Ethics and Professional Development — As part of an intentionally Christian education, students in the Robert W. Plaster College of Business take a senior-level course in Ethics and Professional Development. The course teaches Christian personal and professional ethics and equips students with life skills such as career development, etiquette, and servant leadership, with the goal of producing ethical business leaders who will be servant leaders in the workplace.

Careers

Examples of organizations that have employed our graduates:

  • Kanakuk Kamps
  • K-Life
  • YMCA
  • Various professional sports teams (i.e. Sacramento Kings)

Internships

Examples of organizations that have provided internships for our students:

  • Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
  • Springfield Cardinals (minor league baseball)
  • Boost Physical Therapy and Sports Performance
  • YMCA

Jeffrey White
"The professors I had during my time at SBU were extremely helpful in preparing me for a job in the business world. SBU offers plenty of opportunities to grow in your faith while engaging in challenging academics that will greatly prepare you for life after college."
Jeffrey White '15
Sport business alum

Clubs and Organizations

JumpStart

Want to start a business as a student? At SBU, you have the opportunity to receive guidance and funding as you build a business while pursuing your degree. One of our students, Lillian, started a hair accessory business on Etsy and earned over $12,000 in profits her first year! You even have the chance to earn funds for your business through the Jumpstart entrepreneurship competition.

 

Financial Management Association (FMA)

Financial Management Association (FMA) offers amazing opportunities for business students. In the SBU FMA chapter, students have the opportunity to meet and network with local finance professionals, engage in investment competitions, participate in community service, and network with SBU peers. As a member of FMA, a national organization, students gain access to FMA's extensive online library, online forecasting competition, job posting board, and international networking and award opportunities.

Sentrepact

Sentrepact is an opportunity for you to mentor high school students as they partner with local businesses in their community. You will be putting your learned skills from the classroom into practice through partnering with high school students and providing advice on how to improve their business partnerships.

Phi Beta Lambda (PBL)

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. (FBLA-PBL) is the largest career student business organization in the world. PBL is for college students whereas FBLA is for high school students. PBL has more than 10,000 members and more than 500 chapters. 

SBU's PBL chapter consistently excels at the yearly state and national competitions. In 2017, SBU PBL competed against 208 students and 15 universities at the state competition and had 20 top-five finishes, including six first-place winners. At the 2017 national competition, SBU PBL had nine students compete and brought home eight top-10 finishes!

Delta Mu Delta

Delta Mu Delta is an international honor society established to recognize superior scholastic achievement of business administration students. The purpose of Delta Mu Delta is to promote higher scholarship in education for business, and to recognize and reward scholastic attainment in business subjects. Delta Mu Delta is an invitation-only society for juniors and seniors in the top 20% of their class with a minimum GPA of 3.25.

 

 

Full-Time Faculty

Troy Bethards

Dr. Troy Bethards, College Dean
Ryder King

Ryder King, Instructor
Nathan Wright

Dr. Nathan Wright, Division Head
Levi Bridge

Dr. Levi Bridge, MBA Coordinator
David Liu

Dr. David Liu, Associate Professor
John Zietlow

Dr. John Zietlow, Professor
Angela Brown-Peterson

Dr. Angela Brown-Peterson, Associate Professor
Bill Marr

Bill Marr, Instructor

Scholarships

The College of Professional Programs and the Robert W. Plaster College of Business offer many privately funded scholarship opportunities for their students. During a recent academic year, more than $64,000 was awarded in private scholarships to students from these college-level scholarships. Some scholarships available include:

  • Aric Beckham Memorial Scholarship
  • Bill & Geneva Williams Memorial Scholarship
  • Business College Scholarship
  • Clifford & Marie Gouge Memorial Scholarship
  • Dexter Yager Business Scholarship
  • Gary & Jane Black Excellence Scholarship
  • Gladys Henderson Memorial Scholarship
  • Jack Henry & Associates Scholarship
  • Lynn & Dean Credille Memorial Scholarship
  • Melvin & Minnie Hall Memorial Scholarship
  • Nebraska Book Company Scholarship
  • Ralph Stufflebam Memorial Scholarship
  • Ruby Letsch-Roderique Business Scholarship
  • W. Lee Beaver Trust Scholarship

Taylor Center

The College of Professional Programs is housed in the Gene Taylor National Free Enterprise Center. The Taylor Center was expanded and renovated to provide the following benefits for our students:

  • Increased number of dedicated study areas and presentation rooms that can be reserved in advance
  • Keycard access for certain majors increases building security while allowing you to access space and equipment after hours to effectively study and work on group projects
  • Student lounge and open spaces to study, relax and hang out

Sport Business Four-Year Plan

Freshman

Fall Semester

ENG 1113 English Composition I 3
MAT 1143 Algebraic Reasoning and Modeling 3
CIS 1103 Computer and Information Management 3
BUS 1013 Introduction to Business 3
BIB 1013 Old Testament History 3
UNI 1111 University Seminar 1
Total hours 16

Spring Semester

ENG 2213 English Composition II 3
BUS 1193 Business Calculus 3
BUS 2013 Business Communications 3
FAR 1023 Introduction to Fine Arts 3
BIB 1023 New Testament History 3
UNI 1121 Introduction to Critical Thinking 1
Total hours 16
 

Sophomore

Fall Semester

BUS 2023 Business Statistics 3
COM 1103 Fundamentals of Speech Communication 3
ACC 2013 Principles of Financial Accounting 3
ECO 2023 Principles of Microeconomics 3
MGT 3013 Principles of Management 3
SPM 1113 Introduction to Sport Management 3
Total hours 18

Spring Semester

PSY 1013 General Psychology 3
KIN 1162 Foundations of Physical Fitness/Wellness 2
HIS 2213/2223 U.S. History I or II 3
ACC 2043 Principles of Managerial Accounting 3
ECO 2033 Principles of Macroeconomics 3
MKT 3023 Principles of Marketing 3
Total hours 17
 

Junior

Fall Semester

BIO 1004 Principles of Biology 4
MGT 3033 Operations Management 3
SPM 2093 Athletic Event and Facility Management 3
MKT 3083 Advertising 3
CIS 3123 Survey of Data Science 3
Total hours 17

Spring Semester

PHS 1004 Introduction to Physical Science 4
COM 2023 Introduction to Sports Communication 3
MGT 4043 Organizational Behavior and Theory 3
MKT 3033 Consumer Behavior 3
  Cultural Studies 2
Total hours 15
 

Senior

Fall Semester

POL 1113 American Government and Politics 3
FIN 3053 Business Finance 3
SPM 4023 Organization and Administration of Sport 3
MKT 4063 Entrepreneurship and Small Business 3
BUS 3073 Legal Environment of Business I 3
Total hours 15

Spring Semester

SPF 2012 Introduction to Spiritual Formation 2
LDR 4043 Ethics and Professional Development 3
MGT 4083 Strategic Management 3
  Upper-level COBACS course 3
  Elective for 128 hours 4
Total hours 15

This is a proposed guideline. Please check the catalog and see your advisor for your final degree requirements.
Southwest Baptist University reserves the right to make changes to degree plans without advanced notice or obligation.
The student is responsible for understanding and completing all general education, degree, departmental and graduation requirements.

Download in PDF format:
Sport Business plan (PDF)