FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the Rutgers Global Sports Business (GSB) Program?

The GSB program was approved by the Rutgers Board of Governors and the State of New Jersey in 2015. The program commenced with its first class in the fall of 2016.

The Rutgers Global Sports Business MS Program is designed to train leaders for careers in all sectors of the sports industry. It is a broad-based, inherently global, industry-specific program of study that reflects Rutgers’ traditional strengths in finance, marketing, management and law, as well as its location in the New York/ Philadelphia/Washington northeast corridor, a center of the sports industry.

This program is a natural outgrowth of the Sports Studies division of the Rutgers Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies and recognizes the past and continuing success — at the undergraduate level — in preparing students for the world of sports business and administration, corporate sponsorship and branding, athletic representation, professional and recreational facilities ownership and management, hospitality and tourism, media and entertainment production, advertising and merchandising careers.

On March 1, 2021, the program announced that beginning in the fall of 2021 it will evolve into a one-year curriculum — with classroom work in the fall, spring and summer followed by an Executive Residency.

Additionally, the GSB program will offer a second cohort option starting in the spring semester of 2022 which will continue in the summer and fall followed by the Executive Residency. To further enhance the program’s dedication to personal attention, professional development and leadership, GSB will lower its cap to 25 students per cohort.

What differentiates the Rutgers Global Sports Business program with other top programs?

Establishing this program within the School of Arts and Sciences (rather than the Business School) is desirable because of the strong interdisciplinary approach required by this course of study. As in our undergraduate program, the business of sports draws heavily from psychology, sociology, communication, labor studies, and law, as well as the humanities in general because of its focus on quality of life issues. In creating an educational curriculum for the sports business world, we will be harnessing that passion via a framework of intellectual inquiry coupled with practical application, to build confidence, knowledge, and skills.

Thus, our approach in the Global Sport Business MS Program will be to ensure that it encompasses many disciplines and enables the development of the whole person. We will achieve this goal through a steadfast focus on the following SAS-appropriate objectives: Critical thinking, goal-setting and time management, cultural analysis and interpretation, high-level mathematical skills, and context-specific problem solving. We will approach sports and the business of sports as a portal through which students can engage with the world and develop both personal and professional skills.

Who comprises the leadership and faculty of the program?

The Global Sports Business MS Program staff and faculty consists of a "Who's Who" of sports industry leaders in their respective areas of expertise who will prepare students with the knowledge, critical thinking and overall tools needed to succeed. They are practitioners, not simply theoreticians.

What is the global influence on the program?

Approached from an entrepreneurial perspective in a $500 Billion a year global economy, the program provides insight to how larger international businesses operate effectively to achieve success. After successfully completing this program, graduates will have the knowledge and skills to:

  • Gain knowledge of critical issues impacting international business activities
  • Develop skills needed to evaluate foreign market potential, with emphasis on market entry
  • Learn frameworks for complex cross-border decision-making (for example, intercultural considerations and maximizing economic, social and environmental capital).
  • Explore emerging market opportunities (for example: Russia, Europe, China and Brazil) and their legal, economic, environmental, brand and organizational impacts.

How is the program structured? Is there an internship?

The curriculum consists of 12 three-credit courses and a four-credit executive residency program.

The program will place a particular emphasis on the development of industry-specific job skills in the field through a combination of rigorous academic training and in-depth executive residency experiences. The strong focus on executive residency placements will permit a larger number of students to be engaged in the program at one time than might be expected in more traditional academic programs.

Each executive residency will enable the program to produce graduates who are fully prepared to enter the workforce, often directly with the company at which they interned, bringing value-added skill sets specific to the sports industry that they have targeted for their careers. They will immediately benefit the company for which they are hired because of the nature of the projects to which they will have been assigned during their graduate school tenure.

What is the admission process?

The process is in accordance with the graduate admission policies of the School of Arts and Sciences and Rutgers University.