Sports Management & Strategy: Behind the Game

• Examine why sport carries economic and cultural importance

• Analyze marketing strategies and influences on consumer behavior

• Evaluate revenue and management decisions through case studies

• Study the financial implications of Title IX

• Discuss the relationship between sport, race, and institutions

• Assess the business structure of intercollegiate athletics

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain how marketing, consumer behavior, and revenue interact in sports business

• Analyze institutional issues such as Title IX, race, and college athletics

• Evaluate a sports-management decision using financial and social evidence

Students leave with completed case analyses and a stronger framework for understanding the business, cultural, and institutional forces shaping American sports.

Sports management requires leaders to understand both business performance and the social meaning of sport. Marketing and revenue decisions can affect athletes, fans, schools, access, reputation, and public expectations at the same time.

Case studies help students examine those tradeoffs rather than treating sport as entertainment alone. They practice connecting consumer behavior, institutional policy, history, and financial consequences, strengthening strategic thinking and evidence-based discussion. Together, these skills strengthen careful reasoning, responsible professional judgment, and the ability to revise a conclusion when new evidence changes the picture.

This course is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in sports business, marketing, finance, college athletics, social issues, or organizational leadership. It fits students who want to understand sport beyond the competition itself.

Participants should be ready to read, discuss contested issues respectfully, analyze cases, and connect management decisions with financial and social consequences. No playing experience or prior business coursework is required. Curiosity about the industry behind sport is the strongest fit. Success depends on careful preparation, steady participation, and respect for classmates’ perspectives throughout the course.

Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 program at the University of Michigan.

Programs on the University of Michigan campus give high-school students the experience of exploring an academic interest in Ann Arbor, a college town where campus and community life blend together. Tree-lined streets, downtown bookstores and cafés, the Nichols Arboretum, and trails near the Huron River create different ways to experience the setting beyond class.

Students learn alongside peers, navigate a large and active campus, and gain independence through everyday choices in a new environment. The experience helps students understand what university life can feel like while giving them space to deepen an interest without having every next step decided. For families, the program offers a meaningful combination of academic depth, community, personal growth, and clearer direction about what a student may want to study or pursue next.

Sports organizations employ leaders in management, marketing, finance, media, sponsorship, college athletics, compliance, and community relations. Their decisions must account for audiences, revenue models, institutional rules, and social impact.

Students explore those responsibilities through readings, video, discussion, and small-group case analysis. The course provides a foundation for sports business, marketing, athletic administration, communications, finance, and policy-oriented careers. The work also shows how specialists collaborate across roles and communicate important evidence-based decisions to colleagues, clients, organizations, or the public in complex professional settings.