Career Paths

• Speakers and Visitors to the Master's Program 
• The Internship Program 
• The Alumni Connection 

Students come to The Master's Program to develop management and marketing skills that lead to long-term professional growth in the sport marketplace. Some students come with one area, such as professional sports or intercollegiate sports, as a target. Others come to explore the opportunities in a wide range of areas to develop skills that will help them navigate the increasingly interlinked sport marketplace over the course of a career.

The aim of The Master's Program is to provide professional preparation for management or leadership positions across a range of organizations in the sport industry. These organizations include professional sports teams, large and small colleges with intercollegiate, intramural and recreation programs, amateur athletic organizations, private and public health and fitness clubs, corporate fitness and wellness programs, sports stadia and arenas, and the sports and fitness marketing, management, and communications firms that service the larger marketplace.

Professionals in the sports industry are frequent speakers at courses in The Master's Program and are featured at special events sponsored by The Master's Program. California urban markets define a uniquely saturated market in terms of the number of its professional sports teams, large and small colleges and universities participating in intercollegiate athletics, and the number of private and public health, fitness, and recreational sports facilities and events. As a result, the amount and pace of sport related business, marketing, and communications in the Bay Area brings constant new challenges to its professional community.

The Master's Program is fortunate have a diverse group of professional leaders in the sports and fitness industries to draw on as resources to enrich our classes and events. This group of professionals gives our students an added advantage by keeping students connected to the pulse of current developments inside the industry and inside its leading organizations.

Speakers and Visitors to the Master's Program

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The Internship Program

The Internship Program is an important aspect of The Master's Program curriculum. Internships are set in a professional fieldwork setting that enable students to experience the basic concepts and principles of their career specialization. With the completion date targeted to the end of the third semester in residence, the Internship experience often provides a critical event in clarifying the student's professional goals. Often the student will find that the Internship experience helps provide an organizational context that may continue to be applied to The Master's Project during the last semester in residence.

The building of professional competencies and a network of contacts the student may draw on in the sports industry is a primary goal of the Internship experience. It is not uncommon that students enter into the Internship experience with high hopes of landing a job at the organization they are placed with. While the Internship does give students an inside look at organizational opportunities and a showcase for their talents, the Sport Management Program has designed the Internship Program with the long term best interests of the student in mind. Thus, our Internship experience encourages students to develop professional competencies that can be transferred from one organizational context to another and to use the professionals encountered at the organization as a resource for the building of a network of contacts that can facilitate professional growth beyond the Field Site Organization itself.

Students have earned internships with professional sports teams, collegiate athletic departments, community and collegiate recreational sports programs, public and private facilities, corporate wellness programs, private health and fitness clubs, sports marketing and consulting firms, and various amateur athletic organizations.

An assessment is made of the student's professional goals and qualifications during the first semester in residence. Generally, it is the goal of the Master's Program to have the student commence some aspect of the Internship experience during the second semester in residence so that it may be completed along with the coursework that is scheduled to be completed at the end of the third semester in residence.

The Sport Management Program maintains a Program Contact Database that facilitates a posting system for new internship or practica requests we receive from organizations within the sport industry. The Database System we have in place helps students identify organizations and people in the sports industry that may have internship opportunities and helps the Master's Program track students through their Internship experience.

The Internship placement is directed and evaluated by the Internship Class Professor, with supervision of an on-site professional. In a seminar setting of the Internship course, each student shares highlights from the Internship Analysis in an Oral Summary Presentation so that other students may benefit from the analysis of organizational issues in diverse contexts.

The sports industry supports our Internship Program by regularly providing opportunities for Sport Management students in their organizations. Major and minor league professional sports teams, large and small colleges and universities with intercollegiate and intramural athletics and recreation programs, private and public health and fitness clubs, golf and tennis clubs, corporate fitness and wellness programs, hospitals, public schools, amateur athletic organizations, youth sports camps, sport magazines and television production companies, sport marketing firms, sports attorneys, city agencies, and public service agencies have all made the internship connection with students in USF's Sport Management Program. Professional site supervisors at each organization provide direction and guidance to students during their internship. Over the course of their stay with the internship site organization, students in the Sport Management Program take on tasks that help build a network of professional contacts.

Students in the Sport Management Program at USF have earned internships with the following organizations:

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The Alumni Connection

Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Monarchs, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, San Jose Sharks, San Jose Earthquakes, Los Angeles Galaxy, San Jose SaberCats,

Leagues, Facilities, Ownership Groups
NFL, NFL Europe, NBA, WNBA, NHRA, Staples Center, HP Pavilion Arena, Phoenix International Raceway, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment,

College Athletics
Big West Conference, West Coast Conference, Pac-10, NAIA, USF, USC, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Davis, CSU-Los Angeles, CSU-Fullerton, CSU-Northridge, CSU-Bakersfield, CSU-Hayward, CSU-San Bernardino, Long Beach State, Sonoma State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Tennessee, Minnesota, Ohio State, Colorado State, Northern Arizona, Pennsylvania, South Florida, York College, Marymount College, University of Chicago

Consultancies, Agencies, Councils/Commissions
Octagon, Ogilvy PR, IMG, GMR Marketing, Paragon Marketing, Hutt Sports Group, BRC Group, Sony, Nike, Nike-Japan, SportsMark, Global Sports & Entertainment, Premier Partnerships, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sharpe PR, Oakland Football Marketing Association, ADC Partners, The Sports Management Group, Goodwin Sports Management, Reich, Katz & Landis, BDA Sports Management, Billy Casper Golf Management, Southern California Golf Association, U.S. Professional Tennis Association, USOC, San Diego International Sports Council, Sacramento Sports Commission,

Media, Manufacturers, Other Organizations
ESPN, FOX Sports, FOX Sports Net, Clear Channel (SFX), ESPN Videogames, EA Sports, Sega, MLB Advanced Media, CollegeSports Online, www.sportsline.com, X Games, Volvo Ocean Race, Harlem Globetrotters, Special Olympics, AYSO, Kristi Yamaguchi Foundation, Newport Sports Museum, Sports Club LA, Tiger Woods Foundation, Power Plate USA, Anderson Bat Company, California Skier, Mastercraft, Powerbar, Western Athletic Clubs.

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