SPORTS MANAGEMENT MBA

[ShubhamM287]

I have recently heard and read a lot about mba in sports management and found it very exciting. Is it actually a real good idea ?considering the fact that commercialisation in sports is currently an all time high in india (my home country), and expected to increase only in the times to come. I'm not really aware about the international scenario. The actual value an mba in a specific (narrow) field, such as this,holds is a mystery to me. I've been going thru the college websites and a few articles which all have only good things to say, but it would be great if an expert could give me some real world information on this.
Thanks in advance.
Eagerly awaiting a reply.

[mbaMissionKate]

Hello! Thanks for sharing your question. One of our senior consultants actually has experience in sports analytics and has guest lectured in a sports strategy course at Kellogg, so I checked in with him before responding to get his advice!

He tells me that for most people, an MBA in sports management will not be particularly helpful. He believes one should either get an MBA, a Masters in Sports Administration (MSA), or an MBA / MSA. The MBA will help you focus on the core skills needed to be successful in running the business side of sports. In particular, successful candidates need to understand strategy, finance, and marketing concepts to achieve success in the industry. The MSA would help you apply these types of concepts specifically to the sports industry on issues such as increasing ticket / sponsorship sales, monetizing technologies, and managing crises. Both schools will help in recruiting for sports industry jobs but he would put a slight advantage on getting an MBA (in terms of recruiting).

It sounds like the key decision / takeaway is...if you want to learn the skills that will help you to be successful in the sports industry then go with an MBA. If you want to learn more details and specifics about the sports industry itself then go with the MSA.

Hope this helps as you continue to do your research!