The Ph.D. program in Sport and Entertainment Management is designed to meet the demand by the industry and educational institutions for high quality academicians with a sport and entertainment management background. Students will be given the opportunity to generate industry-specific knowledge through exposure to and participation in academic research with a discipline-specific application. Subsequently, as professors, they will be equipped to disseminate such knowledge to the public and industry stakeholders.

Learning Outcomes

1. Upon completion of all core coursework, students will be familiar with key research in the areas of sport and entertainment management, marketing, finance and law. 
2. Students will have the necessarily skills to lead and conduct their own research projects, and be able to cooperate with, or support other scholars in their scholarly endeavors.  
3. Students will acquire skills needed to teach in a college setting. 

Degree Requirements (60 Post-Masters Hours minimum)

The Program is based on a three-year period of residential study beyond completion of a Master’s degree in sport and entertainment management or a related field. It will consist of a minimum of 60 credit hours beyond the master’s degree in the following four areas:

1. Core Seminars,
2. Statistics/Research Core,
3. Cognate(s), and
4. Dissertation

Prerequisites

Students who have not had prior exposure to the sport and entertainment industry through a related undergraduate or graduate degree are required to enroll in a 15-hour Prerequisite Core. Courses in this core in the following:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
SPTE 640	Venue Management: Principles and Practices	3
SPTE 701	Management in the Sport and Entertainment Industry	3
SPTE 746	Risk and Security Management in Public Assembly Facilities	3
SPTE 760	Principles of Sport and Entertainment Marketing	3
SPTE 790	Sport and Entertainment Finance	3
Total Credit Hours		15

Note: These courses may be waived for those with prior academic exposure or significant industry experiences.

Program of Study

The Program will expose students to advanced and current research being conducted in the sport and entertainment industry. A substantial portion of the coursework will consist of courses that focus on research methodology and statistical analysis techniques. These courses are designed to develop students’ critical analysis skills while serving as the basis for developing a sustainable research agenda.

Because the department’s unique focus on both sport and entertainment management (as opposed to only sport management), students will develop a distinct and more holistic understanding of both sport management and entertainment management and be better positioned in the academic job market in that the breadth of their training should make them qualified for either sport-specific or entertainment-specific positions within those programs.

Core Seminars (15 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
SPTE 810	Seminar in SPTE Education	3
Remaining 12 credit hours must be selected from 800-level SPTE seminars		12
Total Credit Hours		15

Statistics/Research Core (15 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Selected courses must be in the topic areas of research methods or statistics		15
Total Credit Hours		15

Cognate (18 Hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
The students should specialize in their chosen area of research interest. At least 6 hours of coursework must be taken outside the SPTE Department.		18
Total Credit Hours		18

Dissertation (12 Hours)

A minimum of 12 credit hours will constitute the dissertation, which provides students with the opportunity to identify and rigorously analyze a relevant issue within their specialized field, with an aim toward generation of original knowledge.

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
SPTE 899	Dissertation Preparation	12
Total Credit Hours		12