Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Step into the front office through sports business challenges in this 2-week program for middle school students on Georgetown University’s campus.
Course Description
What happens behind the scenes before a team takes the field? Students explore the business side of sports, including how teams are organized, how players are evaluated, how contracts work, and how games become global events and community platforms. They compare the responsibilities of owners, general managers, coaches, agents, and other front-office roles.
Each class combines short lessons with interactive decisions. Students use data in player-evaluation challenges, practice mock drafts and negotiations, examine contracts and trademarks, and explore sponsorships and name, image, and likeness. Design work around stadiums, safety, and fan experience shows how game-day operations combine planning with service.
Press-conference activities ask students to explain and defend their choices. Team projects also examine international growth, brand partnerships, and the social responsibilities of sports organizations. The course connects competition on the field with money, law, marketing, analytics, operations, and community impact.
This two-week course takes place at Georgetown University. The course is available to residential and commuter students. Beyond class, students connect focused academic exploration with campus life, growing confidence and independence, and clearer direction about interests students may want to explore next. The program is developed by Georgetown University and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery.
What Will You Do?
• Map the roles in a professional sports front office
• Use data to compare players and make roster decisions
• Practice a mock draft and contract negotiation
• Explore sports law, rights, trademarks, and NIL
• Design elements of a safe, engaging game-day experience
• Defend team decisions in a simulated press conference
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Explain how major front-office roles contribute to a sports organization
• Use basic evidence to support a player, contract, or operations decision
• Present and defend a sports-management recommendation
Students leave with completed front-office challenges and a clearer understanding of the careers and decisions behind organized sports.
Why Sports Management Skills Matter?
Sports management shows students that a team is also an organization with budgets, contracts, employees, facilities, audiences, and responsibilities. Decisions about a player or event require both performance information and an understanding of risk, cost, and team goals.
Explaining choices in a press conference adds communication and accountability. Students practice using evidence, anticipating questions, and working with teammates under time constraints. These skills transfer to leadership, business projects, mathematics, media literacy, and collaborative problem-solving. Together, the work reinforces careful reasoning and the ability to revise a conclusion when new evidence changes the picture.
Who Should Attend?
This course is for middle school students who have completed 6th, 7th, or 8th grade and love sports and want to understand the business beyond the scoreboard. It fits interests in management, statistics, law, marketing, events, media, or team leadership.
Participants should be ready to collaborate, make decisions from evidence, negotiate respectfully, design solutions, and answer questions in press-conference activities. No playing experience or prior business coursework is required. Curiosity about how teams operate is the strongest prerequisite. Success depends on careful preparation, steady participation, and respect for classmates’ perspectives throughout the course.
Why Georgetown University?
Studying on Georgetown University’s campus gives middle-school students a memorable place to learn, have fun, and experience campus life in Washington, D.C. The historic campus sits near embassies, institutions, and public conversations that make the wider world feel close, even when the course itself is not connected to government or policy.
The program combines active academics with friendships, campus activities, clear routines, and support as students navigate a new environment. Students can try unfamiliar subjects, share ideas with peers, and build confidence through a structured summer experience. For families, the program offers an engaging balance of learning and fun, with the community and guidance younger students need as they develop independence and discover what they may want to explore next.
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive