Sports Business and SMU
Written By: Matthew Lloyd
Thumbnail and Banner Photo By: ThisisEngineering, Unsplash
As professional sporting leagues around the world continue to grow with ever-increasing revenues and engagement metrics, the business side of the industry has boomed. While there has always been a monetary component to professional sporting leagues, the significant revenues and expenditures have created a need for teams and leagues to become business savvy. They must optimize their operational systems to maximize profit, while still delivering results on the field. The continued growth of sports culture, especially in North America, has necessitated that our school follow in the steps of many other institutions across the continent in order to reap the benefits of this developing field. With the introduction of both the Sports Business Certificate, first announced in 2023, and the ability to major in Sports Business, which was introduced this year, sports culture has made its impact. As I will be one of the first students at SMU to graduate with the Sports Business Certificate alongside my Marketing Major this spring, I thought it would be an interesting topic to cover. I wanted to find out why this program has been introduced, explain my experience thus far with the specialized courses offered, and to show how this major fits into the broad Sobey School of Business. I also asked some of the faculty responsible for introducing the realm of sports business to Saint Mary's for their thoughts on the program, exploring how our school launched this program and major, and what benefits students can expect upon completion.
The sports industry has experienced massive expansion in North America over the last few decades. Teams in the "Big Four" (NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB) have seen valuations skyrocket, with the Los Angeles Lakers being sold at a valuation of $10 billion this past summer. This growth has coincided with new leagues and existing leagues hitting their strides, with an added emphasis on the expansion of women's sport, particularly in Basketball (WNBA, NCAA) and Hockey (PWHL). All this growth and expansion has made the sports business industry impossible to ignore, something that the faculty at our Sobey's School of Business was not taking for granted.
Sports Business at Saint Mary's University aims to blend "business principles with key social science topics, giving you the skills to lead in the sports industry." You can either major in sports business while taking your BCom at Saint Mary's, or, as I have done, complete the Sports Business Certificate, which complements your degree. Had I been allowed to major in Sports Business when it was time to choose my major, I likely would have been torn between the subject and Marketing. I am glad that it is now an option available to all BCom students here at SMU.
Thus far, I have taken all the courses in the sports business certificate except for Sports Economics / Human Resource in Sport (currently enrolled) and Data Analytics in Sport. I have thoroughly enjoyed the courses specified for me to take through the certificate, with Sports Marketing and Introduction to Health, Wellness, and Sport in Society being particular standouts.
Brief Interview with Professor Gordon Fullerton
To further investigate the introduction of sports business at Saint Mary's University, I wanted to get some input from those who teach the courses in the program. I reached out to Professor Gordon Fullerton because I took Sports Marketing with him last winter and am currently TA'ing his Introduction to Marketing Course as a start.
Firstly, I asked Professor Fullerton, "Why is the introduction of the Sports Business Major and Certificate program important to the Sobey School of Business in your eyes?"
Professor Fullerton mentioned that "Saint Mary's has a long history in university-level sports and some of our best students are student-athletes." Pairing successful athletics programs with this specialization, now available in sports business, made sense. He stated that "the development of the sports business major and certificate fits with the university's interests and emerging capabilities".
Secondly, I wanted to understand what area of sports business was most intriguing to him.
Fullerton noted that "there are a lot of topics" of interest to him in the realm of sports business, particularly those related to marketing, as that is his area of expertise. He noted that "the area that is going to be the most interesting going forward lies in the domain of distribution", highlighting questions around media rights and the shifting landscape of broadcast television, where most sporting events were exclusively shown in the past.
Professor Fullerton also wanted to ensure I was introduced to Miguel Morales, the former Coordinator of the Bachelor of Commerce Program, whom Fullerton described as "the real champion of the program that really got the ball rolling." Thankfully, I was able to sit down with him for a virtual interview, and I wanted to share what Professor Morales had to say about the program.
Interview With Miguel Morales – Former Coordinator of the Bachelor of Commerce Program
When conducting my interview, my first question to Professor Morales was, "What has driven your interest in the field of sports business?"
Professor Morales emphasized that the program's foundation is rooted in a passion for sports. "First of all, sports is a passion of mine, and I've been trying to do something in terms of research and sports research for a long time." Mr. Morales highlighted his lifelong enjoyment of soccer as the true root of his passion, and the soccer stadium as a backdrop for our virtual interview further emphasized his love for the sport. As Coordinator of the Bachelor of Commerce program, Professor Morales "took a leadership role in making the program come to light."
Launching the Program
"Sports business cannot be just sports business...There has to be some sort of blending. Our motto is we do business for good. So we cannot be just business. There's more to that... So a student who majors in sports business should have courses from arts, sociology of sports, psychology, sports psychology, philosophy of sports, health, wellness, sports, and society as electives." – Miguel Morales.
When asked whether any particular motivators got the program off the ground, Professor Morales noted a few catalysts. The first of these catalysts was a large donation from Scott McCain and Lesley McLean to the university.
"We had the benefit of having received a gift from donors… Lesley McLean and Scott McCain, and this has helped a lot in allowing us to move this forward."
Professor Morales also noted that "it's the people that you work with that make this process rewarding…. which motivates us and allows us to continue to push and move forward." One faculty member that Morales repeatedly acknowledged as "another major champion of the program" was Associate Professor Dr. Augue Westhaver, Chair of the Department of Sociology. This leads to another catalyst for launching the program, the existing courses and collaboration with the Faculty of Arts.
"Sports Business cannot be just sports business hardcore, and health, wellness, and sports cannot be just health and wellness. There has to be some blending to fully accomplish our university's motto of 'we do business for good'."
Finally, student feedback played a significant role in shaping and creating first the certificate program, then the full-fledged major launched this past year. "One of the main elements was people...my colleagues and students that were so interested...We surveyed students, and the way some students would talk about 'I would have loved to have this' on their exit surveys really drove home the desire for the program."
With the certificate program being launched quite soon after the donation that accelerated the process, Professor Morales noted that time was the most significant restraint in launching the program and later the major.
"We did this in record time. We had to line up approvals from all levels, including specific departments, faculty approval from the Senate, the university itself, and NPTC, which oversees educational programs across the Maritimes. We had to line everything up to make it happen within the required timeframe, as we did not want to lose a year of offering this program to our students."
What the Program Offers
When I asked Professor Morales what career opportunities students may be looking at who either major in sports business or take the certificate program, he made sure to highlight that this program is not just the "big leagues, large corporations that students will be looking at." Morales rightfully states that "a lot of sports management is done by community organizations, volunteer-based organizations, and they need people with catch-all skills for a wide range of roles, organizations that need educated generalists."
Regarding roles students could be targeting from this program directly in the world of sports, Mr. Morales stated the following. "With the sports major, you have legitimacy. You have taken courses in sports marketing, human resources, sports economics...So it allows you to enter different jobs, like ticket manager, operations, managing sponsorships, working for events/arenas, and many more opportunities discussed in our interview.
Professor Morales also wanted to highlight the uniqueness of this program in Atlantic Canada. "There is an MBA program in New Brunswick, a Recreation Management program at Dalhousie, and there are programs connected to kinesiology at St. Francis Xavier, but none of them have a business degree like we are now offering." While he is no longer working as the Coordinator of the program, he understands that efforts are underway to explore partnerships with local teams, such as the Halifax Wanderers, to further enrich the already exciting program I am a part of.
Final Thoughts from the Former Coordinator + My Own Thoughts
As I wrapped up my interview with Miguel Morales, he offered this when asked if there was anything else he wanted to say regarding the program.
"I think we have something big here. We have been blessed with a gift that allows many of these things to happen. People who are collaborating and doing the work to make them happen. I think that it is now our responsibility as faculty and as students, to make this something big that positions us as a leader for now and the future."
I genuinely believe that Saint Mary's does indeed "have something big here", with the major and certificate program allowing students like myself to get the education and experience that a typical BCom program offers, while providing a competitive hiring edge in sports-related fields. Sports have always been a lifelong passion of mine, and I plan to one day be a marketer for a major sports organization like the Toronto Raptors. This program is a vital stepping stone that I, and others, can now utilize in our careers.