The Importance of an MBA Specialization
Are you interested in becoming a management consultant? Does emerging technology excite you? Is your heart set on working in professional sports? If you’re interested in a specific industry or profession, an MBA with a specialization gives you more targeted knowledge and provides you with a head start in the industry of your choice.
The LSU Flores MBA Program offers over 11 market-driven specializations that full-time students can choose to concentrate their studies in. Specializations typically consist of three to four courses that students take as electives along with their core course curriculum. Choosing a specialization allows students to expand their knowledge in a particular subject area with applicable skills and tools while becoming more marketable professionals in the workplace. Learn about how you can design your personal MBA curriculum through our many specializations, including analytics, emerging technology, internal auditing, management consulting, and sports business.
Is Sports Business the right specialization for me?
Our sports business specialization has been a part of the LSU Flores MBA Program since 2018 and remains a popular choice among students. For students with a passion for sports, the specialization is a great way to turn their passion into a career in an entertaining and competitive industry. While the specialization provides students with a unique advantage on a resume, the curriculum also prepares them for real-world challenges and opportunities that they may face in the ever-changing sports industry.
According to https://www.mbacentral.org/sports-management-mba-degrees/, having an MBA with a specialization in sports business truly helps you to stand out in an ultra-competitive industry. “Sports, like all industries, is in a state of flux. You’ll be coming up with the next generation of sports professionals, learning new techniques, trends, and practices alongside them. That combined with the networking opportunities that different business schools offer can be instrumental in building a successful career in sports management.”
In the MBA Flores Program, LSU students are required to take three of the following courses to fulfill a specialization in sports business.
- BADM 7270 Sports Business & Finance– This course introduces the sports business marketplace, including introduction to the marketing, financial and accounting acumen necessary for managers to succeed in collegiate and professional sports organizations. Topics as they relate to these sectors include branding, fiscal and budgetary control and the skills used in the day-to-day operations of Division One Collegiate Athletic and Pro Sports programs.
- BADM 7160 Negotiations– Success in business requires collaboration and agreement with other people. To achieve that end, negotiation skills are necessary. Success also requires heightened sensitivity to potential ethical issues. This course is designed to enable students to become more effective negotiators and ethical decision makers through exposure to theory and sound practice tenets.
- KIN 7516 Organizational Behavior in Sports– This course focuses on the analysis of organizations in the sports industry using theoretical and practical applications and through examining the culture and environmental factors within the sports organization itself.
- ECON 4290 Sports Economics– In this course, microeconomic principles are used to examine the sports industry. Topics include sports leagues and organizations, revenue sharing, ticket pricing, advertising, and broadcasting rights, competitive balance, antitrust policy, image and integrity, economic impact of sporting events and others.
- MKT 7477 Sports Marketing– This course is offered as an independent study for students interested in working on an individual, semester long project in various topics revolving marketing and sports. The research topic is agreed upon the student and instructor
How does an MBA give students a competitive edge in the sports industry?
Senior Instructor Tommy Karam is the figure head of our sports business specialization and having over 25 years of experience in industry and as a teacher, he has seen the value of an MBA with a sports business specialization firsthand. “An MBA provides students with the managerial and financial skills that are much needed in the sports industry,” explained Karam. “Also, students gain important communication skills that can be used in their decision making and negotiations.”
Possible career paths for an MBA with a specialization in sports business
A career in sports business isn’t necessarily limited to sidelines and stadiums. In fact, most of the work is focused on the off-field business activities that make the industry of sports possible. Students can leverage an MBA with a specialization in sports business to land positions in areas like sports marketing and sponsorship, teams and athletic managers, operations, contract negotiations, finance, media and entertainment, recruitment, management analysts, and sales. LSU Flores MBA alumni have held roles at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the Indianapolis Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation. No matter which career path our students in sports business chose to pursue, they leave the program with a fundamental understanding of business applications in the context of the sports industry.
The LSU Flores MBA Program provides you with a flexible path to advance your career. Our nationally ranked program currently administers a traditional, two-year, full-time program, a one-year, full-time program for business majors, a part-time online (no residency requirement) program, and an Executive MBA Flex. For more information, visit mba.lsu.edu.
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