A new league of post-secondary programs is helping move sports buffs off the playing field and into the office.
Sports administration and management programs are geared toward training students in what Douglas Olsen, associate dean of MBA programs at the University of Alberta, calls the "business professionalization" of sport.
Historically, sports managers and marketers came from the player ranks, says Clarence Bayne, director of Concordia University's diploma in administration/diploma in sports administration program (DIA/DSA).
The graduate DSA program is offered by the Montreal university's John Molson School of Business.
While the players may have been outstanding, likeable athletes who made a valuable contribution to the organization, they did not necessarily possess the business savvy, imagination or resources to "manage talent in a commercial context," Bayne says.
Such retired players "would make their way up the foodchain through contacts rather than training," says Dan Mason, assistant professor and co-ordinator of the leisure and sport management specialization within the U of A's MBA program.
What the sports business needed, Bayne says, was people with "an acute sense of game theory" who could replace the "sledgehammer PR practices" of the past with the ability to promote the sport brand and develop customer-relationship management.
Olsen says the U of A program provides "a strong management orientation in a field where, traditionally, business skills aren't pre-eminent."
He adds that sports administration and management programs teach students that part of the business side of sports is "being a good steward of the resources that have been entrusted to you."
Barry Read, a professor in the sports administration program at Oshawa's Durham College, attributes the proliferation of sports-focused programs to the explosion of amateur sport in the 1970s. Amateur sport organizations, which had been run by volunteers, "became full-blown business enterprises" that required staff with broad-based business skills, he says.
Edith Katz, marketing and communications co-ordinator for Concordia's DIA/DSA program, recalls that the amateur bodies needed managers and administrators who could co-ordinate the large numbers of volunteers who staff amateur sports organizations internationally, and whose credentials and credibility would support the increased accountability required by organizations.
When funding for national and provincial sporting organizations changed dramatically about 10 years ago, the groups realized they were a business, says Ian Reid, a professor in the sports and recreation management program at the University of New Brunswick's kinesiology department.
That meant they needed to start generating more of their own funding from such means as sponsorship, merchandising and television.
Reid also says the increased demand for people trained in the provision of ancillary services, such as marketing and retailing, is tied to the rapid acceleration of sport franchises and leagues.
Women's hockey has been a major growth segment, as has the interest in sports such as lacrosse. The expanded sporting opportunities have meant increased competition for sport entertainment dollars.
Concordia's Bayne says demographics also have meant an increasing need for people with sports administration and management training due to the "bulge" in the over-55 age group. Compared to previous generations, people in this group generally have more energy, better health and are looking for ways to fill their leisure time.
They want to be engaged in sporting activities so that they can continue to be challenged and invigorated into their retirement. That desire feeds the ever-increasing demand for people who can manage these activities, particularly in complex urban environments, Bayne says.
Steve Harrington, professor at Sudbury's Laurentian University, says the school of sports administration added an event management course several years ago because administrators are increasingly required to promote game and pre-game shows and celebrations.
Facility management courses were added recently to train students in how to run large venues. "It isn't just about selling tickets," Harrington says.
Students are convinced of the inherent value of the programs in securing employment in the sports sector after graduation.
Julie Young, public relations manager for the National Hockey League, found the work experience portion of Durham College's program invaluable. "I (might) not have the position I have today if it weren't for the co-op experience."
Debbie Low, executive director for Paralympics Ontario, agrees. She says Durham's program provides a "hands-on opportunity" to network, make professional contacts and "figure out the area you want to be in."
Mike Humes, a Concordia DSA graduate, says the program was the "launch pad" for his sports business career - which is closing in on 20 years. Humes is currently executive vice-president for sales and marketing with the Seattle Sonics and Storm basketball teams Hiring organizations also believe in the value of sports administration and management training. Lori Radke, vice-president of events for IMG Canada, says hiring decisions at the marketing and event management agency are "based 100 per cent on internship."
Interns understand "the pace, the energy, the range of responsibilities, from stuffing tickets into envelopes, which is done at all levels, to managing volunteer programs," she says.
Phil Legault, communications vice-president for the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, says his department "has always had Laurentian interns," as have the marketing department and the Ottawa Senators Foundation.
The students bring an understanding of "how sport culture, which translates from sport to sport, works," he says.
Legault adds that they also understand their workplace is a public forum.
(Anastasia MacLean can be reached at maclean@businessedge.ca)
