Sports MBA

GC-1502 | 619-594-6023 | [email protected]
Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The Sports MBA program is an intensive, accelerated MBA degree focused on the dynamic business of international sports.

The program provides its graduates a thorough understanding of the skills crucial for professionals to succeed, while building a broad network of relationships in the sports-rich landscape of Southern California.

America's Finest City

12 Months of On Campus MBA Classes

International Trip to Dominican Republic

Students study statistical analysis, organizational behavior and leadership, financial management, and business strategy, along with sports economics and marketing, in classes taught by seasoned, professional educators. Coursework is heavily international in scope. The program includes an overseas excursion to study sports business in the Dominican Republic and frequent guest lecturers with global experience.

The Sports MBA program offers students 12 months of accelerated class time at SDSU Main Campus, focusing on critical business skills, with an additional six months of supervised consultancies worldwide. Classes are offered in a cohort format to foster strong relationships among classmates, upon which graduates can draw throughout their careers.

Sports MBA News

Business Administration Curriculum

Sports Business (39 units)

BA 642 - Statistical Analysis

Dr. Bruce Reinig teaches students to use statistical analysis to support rational decision making in a managerial context with a special emphasis on business and sports. Topics include probability theory, sampling distributions, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis, among others. The concepts and techniques covered in the course are demonstrated with Microsoft Excel and students learn how to present and discuss results using graphics, text, and the spoken word.

BA 673 - Organizational Behavior & Leadership

Dr. Valerie Alexandra challenges the Sports MBA cohort to think critically about all aspects of interpersonal communication and organization within the workplace, and how varying approaches can affect work performance and cohesion. Students directly apply these skills to the sports industry through the course’s final project in which students provide analysis and offer feedback to a sports organization.

BA 640 - Financial Reporting & Analysis

In Dr. David DeBoskey’s course, students learn the Accounting language with the expectation that when they finish the course, they’re capable of making sound financial decisions in management roles. The former CFO of the San Diego Padres serves as an annual guest speaker for the class and class projects include financial statement analysis of sports industry sectors of the students’ choosing.

BA 674 - Financial Management

Financial Management exposes students to the fundamental principles of corporate finance. Taught by Professor Frank Ryan, this course discusses how managers use financial statements, engage in financial planning, value cash flows, understand risk, make long-term investment decisions, and how to make both long- and short-term financing decisions. Once the groundwork has been laid, students apply these principles to analyze sports business topics such as franchise valuation, stadium financing, personal seat licenses, athlete salaries, and more.

BA 672 - Sports Marketing & Corporate Partnerships

Sports Marketing is taught by visiting professor, Dr. Vassilis Dalakas (@DrSportBusiness), who provides an in-depth introduction to the principles of marketing, and how they apply within the sports business realm. To teach sports marketing effectively, Dr. Dalakas focuses heavily on corporate partnerships and sponsorship in the world of sports, and specializes in fan behavior and the fan experience using real-world examples throughout, including an annual corporate partnerships consulting project with a sports organization.

BA 643 - Sports Economics

Sports Economics, taught by Associate Dean Dr. David Ely, uses the sports industry to illustrate the applications of microeconomic principles, macroeconomic concepts, and analytical tools used in business decision-making. Students learn to apply industrial organization theory to analyze sports business models, and related issues when evaluating local markets for teams, and calculating the value of sports franchises. Course discussion topics include stadium financing, ticket pricing, team relocation, player salaries, athlete representation, and arena naming rights deals.

BA 644 - Operations and Supply Chain Management

Throughout this course, Dr. Helio Yang shares her broad range of knowledge on topics related to the design, execution and management of operations and supply chain systems. The course teaches students to model solutions related to project scheduling, inventory management, demand forecasting, and queue management. Group presentations for this course provide students the opportunity to research how sports business organizations manage issues related to their operations and supply chains.

BA 780 - Professional Development

This course helps give students the tools to be successful in the sports business industry. Taught by Professor Mark Lindner, Professional Development looks at ever-changing sports business industry and encourages students to develop ways to add value to an organization.

MGT 729 - Strategic Leadership in International Sports Organizations

This course features an international excursion to the Dominican Republic led by Sports MBA program director Scott Minto (SMBA ’06). Since 2009, Sports MBA students have studied abroad in the D.R. for part of their summer semester to observe and evaluate the impact that Major League Baseball and its teams have on the country.

BA 671 - Sports Law

Taught by visiting lecturer Romain Decourtye (SMBA '16), this course looks at how the legal field and sports business interact. The course explores contracts, collective bargaining, and more.

BA 749 - Sports Business Analytics

Taught by visiting lecturer Sohil Gala, this course, which serves as an introduction to the field of business intelligence (BI) and data analytics, is focused on teaching students how to use BI tools to understand, analyze and solve complex business problems. The course covers topics such as descriptive, predictive and web analytics teaching students to use tools such as Tableau, Power BI, RapidMiner, Google Analytics, and AWS QuickSight. Students use real life data sets from sports business and develop business reports showcasing their insights.

BA 641 - Business Ethics

Dr. Aaron Bruce, former SDSU Chief Diversity Officer, teaches this 1-unit exploration of the business side of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the sports industry. Students learn about business ethics through the lens of DEI and explore ways in which organizations can implement programs to make progress in the space.

BA 630 - Strategic Thinking

Dr. John Francis leads this course, which studies the theories and trends that shape the evolving relationships between sports organizations and their fans. With examples drawn from all segments of sports business, this course is intended to give students a foundation of basic business principles that can be applied to the sports industry.

Experiential Learning

Events Worked by our Students

Farmers Insurance Open logo

Mountain West logo

Padres logo

PGA TOUR Executive Women's Day at the Farmers Insurance Open
Farmers Insurance Open
US Women's National Team vs. Republic of Ireland
US Men’s National Team vs. Canada – International Friendly
NCAA Sweet 16 Western Regional in Anaheim
SuperBowl LVI, NFL Honors, NFL Annual Awards Show, SuperBowl Tailgate
Mountain West Conference Tournament
Women in Sports and Events (WISE) Power Play Event
121st US Open at Torrey Pines
Paycom Wooden Legacy Tournament
Tropical Smoothie Cafe Bowl Game

SMBA students at Farmers Insurance Open volunteer talk

Sports MBA students in front of statue of skater at Vans HQ

IRONMAN SuperSEAL Olympic Triathlon
Perfect Game All-American
FootGolf San Diego Tournaments
USA Rugby Tournaments
MLB Spring Training – San Diego Padres
Rock 'n' Roll Marathon – Carlsbad 5000, San Diego 5K Run
Special Olympics South Bay Area Games
Supergirl Surf Pro
ATP Open San Diego
AVP Beach Volleyball – Huntington Beach Open
San Diego Wave FC Press Conference
San Diego Loyal Holiday Drive

Red Bull Wings for Life World Run
Mexico vs. Chile International Friendly
Sports Business Journal Intersport Brand Engagement Summit
Fox Sports San Diego – MLB All-Star FanFest Activation
Under Armour – MLB All-Star FanFest Activation
Stand Up to Cancer – MLB All-Star Game Activation
Dew Tour – Long Beach
Self Shape Surf Festival
SurfAid Cup
Holiday Bowl 5k & Parade

Consulting Projects

Our students learn to apply the business principles they learn in the classroom and hone their presentation skills with real clients in the sports industry through consulting projects including developing marketing plans, organizational analysis reports, and pitching new ideas for corporate sponsorship. Previous clients have included:

Pittsburgh Penguins
Oakland A’s
US Olympic Training Center
SDSU Athletics
Victus Advisors
Monumental Sports and Entertainment
Farmers Insurance Open
LAFC

Students giving presentation

Students and staff sitting in Honda Center for presentation

Navigate Research
TGR Live
Challenged Athletes Foundation
Nixon
Anaheim Ducks
Athena Racing
Hookit
SurfTech

International Case Study Trip

Dominican Republic Trip

Every year since 2009, Sports MBA students have spent approximately ten days as a group on site in the Dominican Republic. This trip is one of the most memorable experiences of the year for Sports MBA students. The excursion is tied to an academic course in Management and is led by program director, Scott Minto (SMBA ’06). The concept of the trip is to develop students’ global competencies through a complete cultural and language immersion in a developing country. The class prepares extensively for the trip, reading books about Dominican baseball and culture and studying Spanish.

Final Semester with a Sports Organization (6 Units)

After completing the 12-month classroom portion of the Sports MBA curriculum, students are prepared to work with a sports organization on a full-time basis. The MBA candidates have a faculty mentor oversee their work during their final semester, with the goal of providing their host organization with a comprehensive consulting report on a specific sports business field at the end of the term. The course work is completed remotely and classes do not meet during this term, so students are encouraged to pursue full-time job opportunities and many choose to pursue an opportunity outside of San Diego.