As the business of sports continues to grow apace, Gateway Community College in New Haven is responding with a new survey course designed to introduce students to the business of the games people play.
Beginning with the fall term GCC’s Business Department will offer BMG 198 — Introduction to Sports Management. Meeting from 10:40 a.m. to noon Mondays and Wednesdays, the course will examine the foundations and principles of sports management, as well as the business functions underlying the many (and proliferating) facets of the industry.
GCC autumn-semester classes begin Aug. 27.
Careers in sports management run the gamut from athletic directors to facilities management to sports apparel sales to marketing/public relations.
Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on the application of business disciplines to the birth, organization and management of sports enterprises small and large — ranging from sports teams to athletic arenas, health clubs to rehabilitation facilities, to sports officiating and sports-recreation services.
Topics to be covered include management and marketing principles, financial principles, legal aspects, sport sponsorship and broadcasting.
Professor Todd Degree said the new course is well suited to students seeking to learn more about sports-management opportunities in the many arenas of sporting endeavor, from youth and school sports to college and professional opportunities.
Degree has worked in college and minor-league professional athletics, as well as in various capacities within the fitness industry. He noted there are several four-year institutions in Connecticut offering sports-management majors, and students interested in pursuing this field would likely continue to pursue business courses.
Contact Michael C. Bingham at mbingham@newhavenbiz.com
