Sports Marketing Major
There are few better places to study Sports Marketing than a sports city like Philadelphia, which boasts four major sports franchises, the City Six College basketball rivalry, as well as a number of smaller private teams like the Philadelphia Union.
The Marketing Department at Saint Joseph's University provides a rigorous education in the theory and practice of marketing while also providing opportunities to investigate more thoroughly the sports-related aspect of the field so that students can succeed and thrive in today's ever-changing and competitive sports.
Sports Marketing courses at SJU are taught by industry experts, with guest lectures by current industry professionals. In addition to comprehensive courses in Business of Sports, Sports Marketing and Sports Analytics, each Sports Marketing major is encouraged to have an internship, as internships are essential to breaking into this highly competitive industry. Internships help students to gain real-world experience and contacts before they graduate so they are best prepared to anticipate and meet the needs of this exciting and dynamic industry.
Goal 1: Functional Sports Marketing Skills:
Outcome 1.1: Students will gain knowledge of specialized terminology, the structure and operations of the professional and amateur sports industry and the organizations that comprise the industry, from both an historical and contemporary perspective.
Outcome 1.2: Students will gain a keen understanding of the difference between marketing of sports (events and properties) and marketing through sports (building brands via alignment with a sports property) by conducting research which will enhance their knowledge of the critical role that fan affinity plays in the marketing of and through sports.
Goal 2: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Outcome 2.1: Students will be able to identify and critically analyze the application of select intellectual property laws, vital to monetizing sports business activities and protecting the significant revenue stream in the sports industry.
Goal 3: Ignatian Values
Outcome 3.1: Students will gain knowledge of and develop proficiencies for utilizing compelling and ethical techniques for selling sports as a product.
Goal 4: Communication Skills
Outcome 4.1: Students will demonstrate clear and persuasive oral and written communication skills.
The traditional undergraduate programs includes a minimum of 120 credits distributed across three components: A General Education component divided into Signature Courses, Variable Courses, and an Integrative Learning requirement; a Major and Divisional component; and Free Electives. In addition to course requirements as specified in each area, students must complete one certified course in each of the following overlay areas1:
- Diversity, Globalization or Non-western Area Studies,
- Ethics Intensive
- Writing Intensive, and
- Diversity
- 1
Overlay requirements are part of the 120 credit requirements
General Education Signature Courses
See this page about Signature courses.
General Education Variable Courses
See this page about Variable courses. Six to Nine courses
General Education Overlays
General Education Integrative Learning Component
See this page about Integrative Learning Component. Three courses:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ECN 102 | Introductory Economics Macro | 3 |
| Select two additional courses from ECN (except ECN 101 and ECN 102), PSY, or SOC or PHL 326, ENG 363, ENG 206, ENG 263) | 6 | |
| Philosophy of Sports | ||
Free Electives
Six courses
Business Foundation
Ten courses, including:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ACC 101 | Concepts of Financial Acct | 3 |
| ACC 102 | Managerial Accounting | 3 |
| DSS 100 | Excel Competency | 1 |
| DSS 200 | Intro to Information Systems | 3 |
| DSS 210 | Business Statistics | 3 |
| DSS 220 | Business Analytics | 3 |
| FIN 200 | Intro to Finance | 3 |
| or FIN 225 | Fund of Quantitative Finance | |
| MGT 110 | Essent'ls of Organzational Beh | 3 |
| or MGT 120 | Essentials of Management | |
| MGT 360 | Legal Environment of Business | 3 |
| MKT 201 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
| BUS 495 | Business Strategy 1 | 3 |
| or ACC 423 | Accounting Control Systems | |
| Total Hours | 31 | |
Major Requirements
All Sports Marketing majors should take Business of Sports (MKT 351) as their first Sports Marketing course. The second course you should take is Sports Marketing (MKT 353) which is a pre-req/co-req for other SPMKT courses. The major requires six courses as follows:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MKT 202 | Marketing Research | 3 |
| MKT 351 | Business of Sports | 3 |
| MKT 352 | Sports Law | 3 |
| MKT 353 | Sports Marketing | 3 |
| MKT 355 | Sports, Selling, & Sales | 3 |
| Select (1) upper-level Sports Marketing elective: Students are strongly recommended to take an internship course (MKT 490 or MKT 497). | 3 | |
| Total Hours | 18 | |