The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management, housed in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been named the world’s #1 postgraduate sport management program by SportBusiness for the fourth time in the last five years, and sixth time overall. The program has been a fixture in the top three of the postgraduate rankings in recent years.
With more than 50 years of thought leadership in sport management education, the McCormack department—which offers both a two-year MBA/MS in Sport Management dual degree and a one-year MS in Sport Management—returns to the top after #1 rankings in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
"The level of institutional and intellectual investment dedicated towards the success of McCormack graduate students is second to none and reflected in this #1 global ranking,” said Will Norton, McCormack graduate program director. “We have immense pride in the history and legacy of the program and are proud of the culture we have cultivated in pursuit of training and mentoring the future leaders of the sports management industry.”
“This #1 ranking reflects our long history of developing future leaders in the sport industry and our unwavering commitment to carrying that tradition of excellence forward,” said McCormack department chair Matt Katz, PhD. "We continue to learn, improve, and evolve as a program, with the goal of providing students with an elite educational experience that prepares them to join the thousands of McCormack graduates who are leading the sport industry.”
The SportBusiness Postgraduate Rankings report measures master’s-level sport management programs across 28 metrics, examining a range of quantitative and qualitative benchmarks. McCormack scored top marks across metrics such as industry placement, quality of curriculum, return on investment, exit salary, industry/alumni network, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In addition to global recognition, the surveys ranked McCormack as the top sport management postgraduate program in North America, and as graduates’ top choice. The program also obtained a perfect 100/100 peer review—the only in-person program in the ranking to score full marks from industry and academic peers. McCormack has received the #1 peer review ranking each year since the inception of the SportBusiness ranking methodology.
The publication also praised McCormack’s interdepartmental research labs, which study rivalry, diversity, and inclusion in sport. The publication notes that graduate students get opportunities to work with these labs and collaborate with external organizations including The Team, Formula One, and Japan’s Pacific League, further helping to advance students’ academic knowledge and professional success.