By T. Leigh Buehler | 07/07/2025
The sports industry is growing rapidly. As a result, the demand for business professionals who also have sports management backgrounds is growing as well.
This surge is being driven by the increasing need for professionals who can effectively manage teams, operations, and finances within sports organizations. In today’s ever-changing sports world, success requires more than athletic insight – it calls for sharp business acumen and strategic decision-making for changes to those sports in the future.
Studying business and sports management can prepare you to pursue work in a wide range of career paths across the global sports ecosystem. The work of sports and business professionals frequently concerns sponsorship deals, stadium operations, and even human resource management. Understanding both sports and core business principles can help you stand out in a highly competitive industry.
Whether you’re aiming for a front-office role, or to work behind the scenes at your local high school athletics department, or maybe you want to revolutionize sports marketing, blending business and sports management knowledge can lead to exciting professional opportunities.
Understanding Business and Sports Management
Sports management focuses on the business side of athletics. This discipline blends:
- Marketing
- Finance
- Event planning
- Human development
- Leadership
Sports professionals aim to keep organizations, teams, and events running efficiently. Sports management can cover everything from facility operations to negotiating sponsorship deals (from the local level to professional sports) to ensure both athletes and fans enjoy exceptional experiences.
Business management, on the other hand, centers around overseeing people, operations, and resources such as finances and inventory. Business management includes:
- Strategic analysis
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Economics
- Finance
- Leadership
- Operations management
- Problem-solving
Business professionals aim to ensure organizational growth. Strong management principles keep businesses competitive, innovative, and most importantly, adaptable in the marketplace. When these two disciplines are combined, it can create a powerful synergy that equips professionals with a unique skill set.
The Benefits of Combining Business with Sports Management
Combining sports management with business education gives students a competitive edge in an evolving field. With this dual focus, learners build the strategic mindset, communication skills, and industry knowledge needed to lead teams, drive results, and contribute meaningfully across the sports business landscape.
There are several benefits to students who are familiar with both sports and business, including:
- More flexibility in career paths
- Stronger leadership and communication skills
- A complete understanding of sports business
More Flexibility in Career Paths
Business with sports management training provides a strong foundation for diverse job opportunities. People with this type of knowledge are particularly attractive candidates for roles such as:
- Sports marketing directors
- Athletic directors
- Sports facility managers
- Sports event coordinators
- Sports business analysts
- General managers of sports teams
A sports marketing director, for example, must understand both a team and the team's fan base. Success as a sports marketing director requires strong communication skills, strategic thinking, and a firm grasp of both sports management and business fundamentals.
Their ability to blend creativity with the core principles of marketing, finance, and team operations makes them an essential asset in the sports business landscape. These professionals are responsible for:
- Conducting market research to understand fan behavior and identify growth opportunities
- Negotiating sponsorship deals and maintaining key relationships with partners
- Analyzing market trends to inform promotional strategy
- Increasing fan engagement through innovative marketing campaigns
- Managing marketing budgets and ensuring a solid return on investment
- Collaborating with sports organizations and media teams to align messaging
- Tracking campaign performance and adjusting strategies as needed
Similarly, sports business analysts play a key role in evaluating financial trends. They assess sponsorship effectiveness and optimize revenue streams within sports organizations.
Their business analytic background and deep understanding of data-driven decision-making, strong in research methods, can help them transition into general business roles like corporate strategy or financial analysis.
Stronger Leadership and Communication Skills
Many athletes develop their leadership skills on the field or on the court. These leadership skills and ability to work as a part of a sports can easily transfer into the business world.
Consider, for example, the general manager of a professional sports team. General managers oversee player contract negotiations, financial planning, and operations management.
They help to ensure that athletes on a sports team remains competitive both on and off the field. Their ability to balance sports operations with business strategy aids in long-term success.
In fact, 30 of the 123 general managers across the National Basketball Association (NBA®), the National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL®) and Major League Baseball (MLB®) once played professionally in their respective leagues. In other words, 75% of these general managers for America’s professional sports teams were not just professional athletes, but savvy business minds with strong backgrounds in business studies and management.
A Complete Understanding of Sports Business
Graduates who study both fields gain a holistic understanding of the sports business. These students understand financial operations and marketing strategies as well as different aspects of sports organizations like team management, public relations, and human resources.
Many students are interested in becoming an athletic director (AD), either at the high school level or higher. An athletic director oversees the operations of all sports programs at a school and the athletes participating in those programs. These professionals often manage teams of coaches and staff, oversee budgets, ensure that relationships remain smooth, and ensure their school or organization meets the standards of national governing bodies.
Educational Pathways for Students Interested in Sports and Business
For adult learners interested in studying both sports and business, there are several educational pathways that can provide structured learning opportunities.
Major and Minor Combinations
Pairing a sports management minor with a management degree devoted to business courses (or vice versa) can be useful for students seeking greater career flexibility. For example, a student seeking a management degree with a minor in sports management could pursue roles in corporate sponsorships, sports marketing, data analytics, or financial analysis within sports organizations.
Specialized Courses
Specialized courses, like sports business analytics, sponsorship management, or international sport marketing, can help bridge the gap between sports management and business management. This educational option can be good for an adult learner who wants to develop niche skills tailored to a specific field. Specialized coursework also has the potential to help a student’s professional readiness and helps to build practical skills that are useful for seeking job opportunities in the sports business world.
Graduate Programs
Graduate degrees that allow students to learn both sports and business offer advanced training to enable students to pursue leadership job opportunities in the sports industry.
Many of these master’s programs focus on real-world applications, challenges, and core principles. They teach skills such as how to conduct research, manage sponsorships, and apply data-driven decision-making across organizations.
Coursework for a master’s degree may also explore topics in public relations, information systems, and international business. This type of knowledge can help to give students the tools to manage teams, events, and brand strategy.
This path can also benefit nontraditional adult learners looking to update their skills or shift careers. The combination of business and sports education offers flexibility, industry relevance, and access to growing employment opportunities in both traditional business studies and the evolving sports business landscape.
Sports Management Degrees at American Public University
For adult learners who are passionate about both sports and business, American Public University (APU) offers two sports management degrees:
Courses in these sports management degrees feature a wide range of topics, including the foundation of sports management, sports psychology, and the principles of sports marketing. Other courses include sports law, sports finance, and sports marketing, promotion, and public relations.
Both of these degrees have earned specialty accreditation from the Commission on Sports Management Accreditation (COSMA). COSMA accreditation ensures that these programs have been carefully evaluated for high academic quality by education professionals.
For more information on these programs, visit APU’s nursing and health sciences degree program page.
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