Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Develop a strategy for a sports-industry challenge in this 3-week academy for high school students at UCLA Anderson.
Rated 4.1 out of 5 for classroom experience by students who took this course in 2026.
Course Description
What keeps fans watching, attending, subscribing, and buying? Students examine the business decisions behind teams, leagues, athletes, venues, media, and live experiences, then consider how those decisions change as technology and audience behavior evolve.
Cases and simulations introduce the economics of sports and the roles of strategy, finance, marketing, media rights, sponsorship, operations, and analytics. Students map revenue sources and stakeholders, evaluate fan-engagement ideas, and consider how data and new technology influence decisions. They also explore the growth of global and women’s sports and the opportunities and tradeoffs created by name, image, and likeness. Los Angeles provides a relevant setting for discussing major teams, venues, media businesses, and upcoming global sporting events without relying on unconfirmed site visits.
Teams then identify a sports-business challenge and develop a practical response. The capstone defines the audience and problem, applies relevant business concepts, supports the recommendation with evidence, and explains how success would be measured. Students present their proposal and respond to questions about its feasibility and impact.
This two-week full-day high school academy takes place at UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, California. The program is developed by UCLA Anderson and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery. The academy is available to residential and commuter students. Beyond class, students connect focused academic work with campus life, growing independence, and clearer direction about what they may want to study or pursue next.
What Will You Do?
• Map the stakeholders and revenue sources behind a sports organization
• Analyze cases involving teams, leagues, athletes, media, and venues
• Evaluate fan-engagement, sponsorship, and marketing strategies
• Examine how analytics and technology influence sports-business decisions
• Compare growth opportunities in global and women’s sports
• Develop and present a team solution to a sports-industry challenge
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Analyze a sports organization using strategy, marketing, and financial concepts
• Evaluate how technology, media, and audience behavior shape the industry
• Present an evidence-based response to a sports-business challenge
Students will leave with a team capstone presentation, stronger business-analysis skills, and greater clarity about studying or pursuing sports management, marketing, media, analytics, or business.
Why Sports Business Skills Matter?
Sports business turns the energy around teams and athletes into a complex set of decisions about audiences, revenue, media, technology, and operations. Mapping those relationships helps students see why a strong idea must work for fans, partners, organizations, and the people who deliver the experience.
Analyzing cases and weighing evidence build practical judgment. Students learn to identify a business problem, compare possible responses, explain tradeoffs, and define how success would be measured. Those abilities transfer to school projects, team leadership, presentations, and future study wherever students need to connect strategy with real audience behavior.
Who Should Attend?
This academy is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and want to understand the decisions behind teams, leagues, athletes, venues, media, and fan experiences. Students must demonstrate academic achievement with mostly A and/or B grades in their high school courses.
It is a strong fit for students interested in sports management, marketing, finance, media, analytics, technology, or entrepreneurship. Students should be ready to examine cases, work through quantitative and strategic questions, collaborate on a team proposal, and defend recommendations with evidence rather than relying only on personal opinions about sports.
Recommended by More Than 4 out of 5 Students
Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 UCLA high school program.
Why UCLA Anderson School of Management?
UCLA Anderson’s Sports Business Academy places students in Los Angeles, home to major professional and collegiate teams, prominent venues, media companies, sponsors, and a year-round sports economy. Led by UCLA Anderson, the academy connects strategy, revenue, fan engagement, operations, and leadership to a city where sports function as both competition and business.
Students work through case studies, simulations, workshops, team projects, and a capstone while developing practical skills in analysis, communication, and presentation. Residential life and activities extend the student experience beyond the classroom. Students live alongside peers, gain independence, and leave with a clearer understanding of the decisions behind the games and whether sports management, marketing, media, analytics, or business may fit their future study or career interests.
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive