Bachelor of Business Administration
Sports Management – Esports Management
TURN A PASSION INTO AN EXCITING CAREER IN THE FAST-GROWING WORLD OF ESPORTS.
Esports, a global entertainment industry of competitive video gaming, has taken the world by storm. While esports may have once stood for a subset of sports culture, it has grown into a full industry in its own right. The industry is expanding and TU’s Sports Management with a concentration in Esports Management is aimed to provide students an opportunity to be part of this nascent and rapidly growing industry.
Program Highlights
TU students will be invited to participate in the Academic Experience with Olympians at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France where e-sports will likely be featured in some capacity. The Olympic Virtual Series, an online gaming integration with five current sports, was featured at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
TU’s esports management concentration deliberately focuses on providing students with a broad base of experience, real-world skills and knowledge to manage teams, tournaments and gaming conventions. Students will explore the culture, history and emergence of competitive video game play. Classes will focus on central concepts in competitive video game play and identify the major developments in the business and media surrounding esports.
Students will learn the complexities involved in understanding the dynamics of the esports industry and all of its stakeholders, from gamers to billion-dollar media companies. Students will also learn to navigate the structure of esports leagues, teams, players, gaming publishers, tournament operators, media and affiliate organizations. Relevant projects, market analysis and critical thinking will be utilized to understand management approaches that have succeeded and failed with recent esports ventures.
A Booming Industry
The esports industry continues to grow. Hitmaker, the largest esports and gaming jobs platform in the world, reported that the industry had grown 185.74 percent between the first six months of 2018 and first six months of 2019. The platform then noted an 87% increase for all of 2019. In April 2019, Hitmaker published 5,373 jobs available in the industry, most in the United States and England. The number of esports positions on the job-market platform Indeed rose 43% in the first three months of 2020.
Join an Ever-Expanding Industry
- Esports is a $1 billion industry that continues to grow.
- A recent esports tournament attracted over 100 million viewers – more online viewers than the Super Bowl!
- In 2019, the number of full-time jobs in esports more than doubled.
- Just as major professional sports teams need skillful administrators and management professionals, growing esports teams and leagues need them as well.
- Only a handful of schools offer studies dedicated to the business side of competitive gaming.
- TU’s esports management concentration provides an opportunity for you to be a leader in this exciting, burgeoning industry.
- On a national standardized test by Peregrine, in the area of Management, Tiffin University School of Business students scored on average 13.57 percentage points higher as compared with students from ACBSP schools.
BBA to MBA Program
This accelerated pathway allows you to take classes that count as dual credit towards both your BBA and MBA degrees, giving you the ability to earn a bachelor’s and master’s in just five years, saving you both time and money. Learn about our MBA programs.
Preparing You for the Real World
Linking industry knowledge to professional practice, our degree program provides a real-world sports management education that provides guidance and opportunities to enhance the competencies of TU students who aspire to work and thrive in the business of sports.
A Professional Program Taught by Professionals
Various courses in the program are taught by professionals in the field, including a certified NBA sports agent, President of the National Olympians Association in Sierra Leone, former Director of Media Relations for the Boston Celtics, Marketing Coordinator for the Atlanta Braves and others.
Everywhere, Internships
TU students have interned with myriad sports organizations, including pro franchises such as the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia Force and Indiana Fever. Our students have secured internships at college athletic departments all across the country – from Wake Forest University, to the University of Notre Dame, to Boise State. And, they’ve interned in nearly every area of sport such as the NCAA Final Four, PGA tour events, professional tennis tour events, Cleveland Sports Commission, Tampa Bay Sports Commission, the Sugar Bowl, ESPN, Women’s Sports Foundation, LRMR (LeBron James) Marketing Company, CCTV Sports Network and many others.
Sports Management Advisory Council
Our sports management department brings together alumni and industry professionals in an advisory council, which provides invaluable professional insights and guidance to all areas of our program. The council includes a sport lawyer from Harvard who practices in Washington DC and China; a five-time Olympian from Puerto Rico with extensive executive experience with national governing bodies of sport; an associate strength and conditioning coach with the Green Bay Packers, and an Olympian from Romania working as professor of kinesiology from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The council also currently includes five alumni who work with the MLB Guardians (ex-Indians), NFL Pittsburgh Steelers; eBay, MiLB Louisville Bats, Michigan State University (strength and conditioning) and with Pyramid Sports and Entertainment as an NFL agent. Industry professionals and alumni extended invitations for 2022 include a scout for the NFL Indianapolis Colts and the VP of Operations from the AAA Louisville Bats.
Courses & Format
CURRICULUM
Sports Management Core (3 hours per course, 18 hours total)
CONCENTRATION: ESPORTS MANAGEMENT
- CUL132 Emergence of eSports
- CUL342 History and Culture of Digital Gaming
- ESM I Introduction to eSports Management (RIZE)
- ESM II Convention, Event and Trade Show Planning (RIZE)
Total = 12 hours
Some courses may have prerequisites. See course description for details.
Total BBA hours 121
This is a sample course sequence to illustrate course offerings for this major. Consult the official Academic Bulletin for detailed registration and advising information.
SAMPLE COURSES
Emergence of Esports (CUL 132) – This course will introduce students to the cultural and social world of eSports and will encompass the past, present, and future of competitive video gaming. Throughout the course students will read and discuss a substantial number of scholarly texts, applying the theories and thoughts from these sources in the criticism and analysis of video games. Students will critically examine what is a sport, and how esports compares to traditional sports. Students will participate in the debate on topics of current concern but will also look back on how esports came to be.
History and culture of digital gaming (CUL 342) – This course will focus on the history and nature of video games in society. Videogames are having a cultural impact far beyond their role as an economic commodity; they are also changing the way we tell stories, the way we interact with one another, and the ways in which we understand the world. In this class, we will explore the above-mentioned dynamics, as well as the history of games and how games transformed into digital play. Additionally, we spend a significant amount of time playing and watching others play video games. This provides us an opportunity to put our theoretical understanding of the subject in perspective, as well as give us a sense of what makes both classic and contemporary games compelling from a user’s vantage point. The course finishes with an examination of what it takes to produce a video game in order to provide students with the opportunity to take the initial steps to designing a game of their own.
Introduction to Esports Management (ESM 1) – This course starts with an introduction to the history of competitive gaming and continues with an exploration of its emerging ecosystem. Students will learn the complexities involved in understanding the dynamics of the esports industry and all of its stakeholders from gamers to billion-dollar media companies. Students will learn to navigate the structure of esports leagues, teams, players, gaming publishers, tournament operators, media and affiliate organizations. Relevant projects, market analysis and critical thinking will be utilized to understand management approaches that have succeeded and failed with recent esports ventures.
FORMAT
On Campus – Offered in a 15-week semester format with a start date of January and August
Other CONCENTRATIONS
Other Sports Management program concentrations:
Career Opportunities
The esports industry is rapidly growing, and the number of jobs is fast expanding as well. In a global job market that didn’t exist a decade ago, more and more people today are finding the opportunity to turn their passion for esports into a career.
CAREERS
- Retail Distributor
- Digital Marketing Manager–Esports
- Esports Accounting Manager
- Esports Administrators
- Esports Business Development Manager
- Esports Brand Manager
- Esports Coach
- Esports Commissioner
- Esports Competition Organizer
- Esports Event Producer
- Esports Financial Manager
- Esports Human Resource Manager
- Esports Operations Manager
- Esports Social Media Manager
- Esports Sponsorship Manager
- Marketing Strategist–Esports
- Partnership Manager–Esports
Have a Question?
“Esports is becoming a worldwide phenomenon and growing astronomically from the high school, college and professional levels. Esports career paths vary greatly and there are so many opportunities for TU students looking to take their career in esports to the next level. Job opportunities are HUGE right now as organizations look to further increase their branding outreach. The hottest entry level career opportunities beyond competition include roles with player, team, and tournament management; analytics; public relations and social media. E-sport game developers, tournament organizers, and college programs are especially searching for business minded graduates to join their Esports staff.”
Head Esports Coach – Tiffin University