In this sports driven course, students will be introduced to the sport industry as a professional endeavor. The class provides a broad overview of sport management by presenting extensive discussions of the foundational aspects of the profession and current topics from the sport industry. Students will have an introduction to the following components of the sport industry: management, ethics, leadership, communications, marketing, finance, event management and entrepreneurship. The course will include and combine theoretical foundations, exercises, activities, and projects designed for practical application of the leadership concepts. In addition, the students will be exposed to industry leaders and networking opportunities through a variety of site visits (virtual and actual) to sport organizations. Examples of organizations that may provide executives to speak to the students may include: NASCAR, Carolina Panthers, Columbia Fireflies, Charlotte Hornets, PGA, and USC Gamecock Athletics.
Program Dates and Audience
- July 6-11, 2025
- Rising 6-9 grade students
Program Fees
Choose from:
- Commuting Scholar - $665
- Commuting Scholar Plus Evening - $750
- Residential Scholar - $1150
Meet Your Instructor
Stephen Shapiro
Stephen Shapiro joined the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management in fall 2017. Shapiro previously worked for nine years as a faculty member in the sport management program at Old Dominion University. He served as graduate program coordinator from 2012 to 2017. Shapiro received his doctorate in sport administration with a doctoral minor in statistics from the University of Northern Colorado. He received his Master of Science in management and Bachelor of Arts in advertising and public relations from the University of Central Florida.
Shapiro's research interests are focused in the areas of ticket pricing and consumer behavior. Specific research topics include dynamic ticket pricing in sport, consumer behavior within the ticket purchase process, factors affecting price and demand for the sport product, sport gambling, attitudes and sport consumption in college athletics, and fantasy sport consumer behavior. Shapiro's research has been published in highly ranked sport management journals such as the Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review, European Sport Management Quarterly, Sport Marketing Quarterly, the International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, and the Journal of Gambling Studies.
Based on this scholarly productivity, Shapiro was awarded research fellow for the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM, 2013), the Sport Marketing Association (SMA, 2016), and the College Sport Research Institute (CSRI, 2022). He served as the editor of Sport Marketing Quarterly (SMQ) from 2016-2018 and currently serves on editorial boards for SMQ, the Journal of Global Sport Management, and the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.