SYRACUSE - This fall, Syracuse University will launch the new sportmanagement undergraduate degree program in the College of Human Services and Health Professions (HSHP).
The program has already attracted strong interest. Of the six departments in the college, roughly 40 percent of all HSHP applications this year were for the sport management program, says Michael Veley, program director, effective June 1.
Veley comes from a position as associate director for external affairs in the university's Department of Athletics.
'We have a lot of momentum starting off, and we plan to build off of it in the years to come,' Veley says.
Dr. Michael Olivette, associate dean of academic affairs for HSHP, developed a diverse' and comprehensive curriculum for the department's 63 incoming freshmen, Veley says. Students come from 17 states, Canada, and even Malaysia. The male to female ratio is 76 to 24 percent. Eleven percent of the incoming students are student athletes, and 17 percent of students come from traditionally underrepresented groups, Veley says. The average high school grade-point average for the incoming class is 3.21.
Veley plans to model the department after established sportmanagement programs at schools with strong athletics programs like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Arizona State University, he says.
'A lot of sport-management programs have great academics, but are lacking in the practical on-campus experience,' Veley says. 'We will be able to couple [students' education] with major sports programs and facilities.'
Sport management is an all-inclusive term, Veley explains. Required courses include: introduction to sport management, principles of sales in sports, managing the sports organization, sport finance, sport communications, sport law, sports marketing management, and sociology of sport.
'We provide a broad-based curriculum so students are exposed to all the elements that will position them favorably in the workplace,' Veley says. 'The program will allow students to pick their career path. They can become a sports agent, a sports psychologist, general manager of a sports team; students could go into hospitality, athletic training, physical therapy, marketing, or public relations.'
A major element of the curriculum will be a 12-credit, semester-long internship, designed to help students utilize the handson sports opportunities at SU and in the Syracuse area, Veley says.
'The internship element is as much a part of the education as anything we'll do,' Veley says.
Veley has advised more than 120 students from SU, Ithaca College, Keuka College, SUNY Cortland, and SUNY Oswego with internships in SU's athletic department, he says. Today, four of his former students work in the NBA, and he has students working at NASCAR, MLB, and college programs at North Carolina State University; California State University at Fresno; and the University of Florida, Veley says. In February, one former student won a Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots, Veley says.
According to research compiled by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, the sports-business is the fifth largest industry in the United States, generating $213 billion in revenue in 2004.
At $27.43 billion, sports advertising generated 14.1 percent of this revenue in 2004, the report says. Spectator spending accounted for 13.4 percent, or $26.17 billion; sporting goods were 13.2 percent, or $25.62 billion; operating expenses were 11.8 percent, or $22.98 billion; sports gambling accounted for 9.7 percent, or $18.9 billion; sports-related travel was 8.3 percent, or $16.06 billion; professional services (including facility and event management, financial, marketing, and athlete representation) totaled 7.8 percent, or $15.25 billion; medical treatment for sports-related injuries was 6.5 percent, or $12.6 billion; the sale of licensed merchandise was 5.4 percent, or $ 10.5 billion; media broadcast rights were 3.6 percent, or $6.99 billion; sponsorships were 3.3, percent, or $6.4 billion; facility construction was 1.3 percent, or $2.48 billion; multimedia (including magazines, computer and video games, videos and DVDs, and books) totaled 1.1 percent, or $2.12 billion; athlete endorsements were 0.5 percent, or $897 million; and the Internet advertisement and subscription sales were 0.1 percent, or $239.1 million, the report says.
Graduates of the sport-management program will be equipped to enter any of these fields, Veley says.
Veley will be the only full-time professor during the program's inaugural year, he says. He is still in the process of interviewing candidates, and will hire one or two adjunct professors, and will expand the faculty as more students enter the program and progress to higher course levels, Veley says. Eventually, Veley will hire three tenure-tracked faculty and many adjunct professors who are current practitioners in their area of expertise, Veley says.
Through his previous position, Veley has taught sports marketing courses in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and public relations for sports in the Newhouse School.
Veley joined the athletics department at SU in 1995 as assistant director of athletics for marketing, promotions, and special events. Since 1997, he has served as associate athletic director for external affairs.
