In the 1970s, the list of Sport Management Academic Programs essentially began and ended with Ohio University and the University of Massachusetts according to the Wall Street Journal (September, 2006). Today, some 300 universities offer everything from sport management undergraduate programs, MBAs, and doctorates to continuing-education certificates. Each year, more and more schools introduce new
programs of study in sport management, both in the United States, North American, and internationally. The NGU Sport Management Department was approved by the university faculty in 1997. Dr. Ralph Johnson was hired as the department’s first Chair in 1997, moving to South Carolina from Indiana University Pennsylvania (IUP) in Indiana, PA where he helped to develop one of the nation’s earliest sport programs in 1975. The NGU program was designed to be affiliated with the business school educating students to work in the sport profession as managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs. The program was therefore appropriately positioned in the Business Division, which was renamed in 2006 the College of Business and Sport Professions. In the formative years of sport management, programs in the United States were primarily located in physical education departments or schools (i.e. the academic unit on campus), although the more recent trend appears to be shifting sport management programs into business schools. Sport management programs residing in business schools provide significantly more business-oriented courses than in a communication schools, physical education departments, or in sport science colleges. North Greenville’s program was designed to follow the evolving business school model. Dr. Johnson taught the first Introduction to Sport Management course to five students during the Summer I term of 1997. Three students then declared a major in Sport Management that first academic year. From there, he began to develop a comprehensive sport management curriculum with 18 sport management and business supporting courses. Since then, the curriculum has significantly expanded and is currently one of the more rigorous and comprehensive curricula among sport management programs in North America. The NGU degree requires 69 hours of sport management-specific coursework out of 139 credit hours in the total degree program. By 2000, Dr. Johnson had the degree program and department reviewed nationally and it was approved as a result of the rigorous curriculum standards spelled out by the Sport Management Program Review Council. The program was approved and endorsed nationally by NASPE and internationally by the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) for 7 years 2001-2008. This first major program approval was later extended through 2013 and has since transitioned into the accreditation process with COSMA (Commission on Sport Management Accreditation) leading to the renewed program accreditation. By 2001, there was need for additional faculty and Dr. Jeff Briggs was employed as an adjunct professor. In 2003, he transitioned to full-time employment status and accepted the Chair position as Dr. Johnson was promoted to the position of Dean of the College of Business & Sport Professions. Micah Sepko, a recent graduate then from Clemson University with a Master of Science in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, was also added to the faculty in 2001 as a full-time instructor. Together, these three faculty members taught each of the 18 different courses within the program over the next 6+ years. The university continued to be blessed by the Lord with sustainable and manageable growth requiring the program to add another faculty line. In 2007, Dr. Fred Battenfield was recruited from Old Dominion University to join the department bringing expertise in college athletics, sport communications, international sport management, and a variety of other disciplines. As of 2011, two faculty lines were added with the addition of Dr. Jerry Boone and Dr. Robert Bradley to support program growth needs in the Sport Management emphasis with a Coaching Certification. After significant enrollment to support the coaching program, the department was asked to begin a Sport Ministry degree partnering with Upward Sports out of Spartanburg, SC. The Sport Management degree with a ministry emphasis (Sport Ministry) was developed and approved 2012-2013 and currently in its 3rd year of existence. Additionally, a Sport Ministry Scholarship fund was initiated awarding resources to qualified students studying within the program.
