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The Wall Street Journal and ESPN the Magazine Name UMass Sport Management One of Five Best Sport Management Graduate Programs in the Country

By Dr. Jay Gladden

In articles by John Helyar for ESPN the Magazine (September 25, 2006 issue) and the Wall Street Journal (September 16-17, 2006), the UMass Sport Management graduate program was recognized as one of the five best programs in the country. Speaking for my colleagues as the Acting Department Head (while Lisa Masteralexis is on sabbatical), we hope that our alumni and current students will share in this recognition. Mr. Helyar identified the five best programs based on feedback he received from Sport Management faculty members, alumni of sport management programs, and sports-industry executives.

In the Wall Street Journal article, Mr. Helyar argued that a prospective graduate student in Sport Management should look for programs that: 1) have faculty who are real-life practitioners; 2) offer classes with real-world experience; 3) have a focus; and 4) help their graduates find career opportunities in the industry. UMass excels in all four areas:

  • Faculty who are "real-life" practitioners: Across our 11 member faculty, there are more than 100 years of either full-time or consulting experience in the sport industry.

  • Learning in "real-world experience" classes: What started with the Event Management class in 1991 has, throughout the past 15 years, evolved into a curriculum where students work with a variety of organizations to develop sponsorship plans (for Monster.com), conduct marketing research (for US Soccer, the Boston Bruins, and the Basketball Hall of Fame), provide strategic consulting services (to Boston College Athletics, Major League Lacrosse, and Major League Soccer), and sell tickets and sponsorships (for the Holyoke Giants of the New England Collegiate Baseball League and our owned and operated grassroots soccer tournament, SoccerFest).

  • Having A Focus - The size of our faculty allows us to have several areas of focus, including sport marketing and sport law.

  • Placement - Better than 95% of our masters graduates are initially placed into an internship or job in the sport industry. In addition, approximately 75% of alumni who have graduated from our masters programs in the last 10 years are still working in the sport industry. We are extremely proud of both numbers given the extremely challenging nature of the industry.

    We are also proud to report that, more than ever, employers and intern supervisors convey to us that UMass alums are better equipped than anyone to hit the ground running once they leave the UMass Sport Management program! It proves Helyars argument, that all these factors combined, produce a well-prepared contender to enter the Sport Industry.