MBA in sports management fosters lifelong connection with sports for enthusiasts

NEW DELHI: Saurav Vats was a cricket player. He was in the Indian Premier League (IPL) camp playing for Rajasthan Royals when he suffered a bad back injury during a fitness activity in January 2018. The world came toppling down for Vats as his MRI report indicated that he would not be able to play cricket anymore.

Although a massive setback, Vats did not break down. Nor did he let go of cricket.

The alternative for someone who chooses sports as their profession from a very young age as Vats did is to work on other aspects of professional sports to be in the sector. “I decided on studying sports management,” said Vats. At present, he is in the final year of the two-year post-graduate degree course in sports management at the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM), Mumbai. He had earlier completed a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.

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“I decided [on this] because it will keep me involved in the game and I will also be in the back end of the process”, he added.

Saurav Vats students, IISM

With sports increasingly becoming a major business, several standalone management institutes and universities have started offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in sports management. Although a highly specialized course with an emphasis on sports, much of the curriculum covers the same content as a standard business management degree.

MBA curriculum and sports

The curriculum looks at all the management subjects from the perspective of sports. “They are given a lot of practical exposure on how the sporting industry works. For example, if we have to manage a premier kabaddi league right from the initial formation of the team, and then how the league has to be managed,” said Amit G., chief operating officer, IISM.

The programme covers working for sports development, planning activities in the field of sports, organizing relevant resources, managing a sporting event, coordinating, marketing and working on communication, media and
public relations.

“Not everybody who likes sports can become a good player, but they can have passion for sports. Every single student who I come across is here because they love sports and would love to stay connected with the industry and that is the reason they study sports management,” said Avanti Desai, professor, IISM.

Sports Management: Who can join

A candidate seeking admission for an undergraduate programme in sports management should have cleared Class 12 with a minimum of 50 percent in any stream. That is the minimum eligibility for appearing for the institute’s entrance exam, if there is one. For admission to IISM, the entrance test is Sports Management Aptitude Test (SMAT) is being conducted online at present due to Covid. It is approved by the Mumbai University to which the institute is affiliated. The candidate also has to present case studies as part of the admission process.

“The students these days appear for the test from the convenience of their residence because of Covid. Previously, we had centres in different states where students appeared for the test online. The tests are highly proctored,” Amit G added.

The eligibility criteria for gaining admission to these sport management programmes in other institutes include clearing entrance exams like Common Admission Test (CAT); Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT); Common Management Admission Test (CMAT); Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) and the Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP).

MBA: Jobs and placements

The job opportunities after a programme in sports management are immense and are still growing, said Amit G. Most of the institutes offer placement.

As per the records of Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), in 2019, 95 percent of the students were placed. The highest salary package offered was Rs. 4.2 lakh per annum. All students secured internships in sports management companies like Tenvic and Edusports.

IISM achieved 100 percent internships and has maintained a consistently good placement record. Students were placed in sporting organisations, television channels, non-profits and even trade and industry bodies. They found jobs in BCCI, IMG Reliance, Star Sports, Olympic Gold Quest, FICCI, Rajasthan Royals, Sportz Interactive and sports federations like Indian Olympic Association, All India Football Federation, and Paralympic Committee of India.

“It is the complete management of a sporting event and that is what is taught here. Our students mostly get into sports operations, marketing, sales etc. We have students who are content writers so various options are available post doing the course,” said Amit G.

Amit G, chief operating officer, IISM

As many as 56 official national sports federations look out for professional sports managers. Also, global sports goods brands like Nike, Reebok, Decathlon, Puma, Adidas and many more also look for sports professionals who have a good understanding of sports merchandising, added Amit G. Channels like ESPN, TEN, Star Sports are also potential recruiters.

There will be a sharp increase in job opportunities in the sports sector by 2022, according to the IISM Knowledge Report, created for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). India has been identified as the key player in the sports market, the report said.

Teaching sports management

IISM was the first institute to offer management courses exclusively on sports. It was started by former Indian cricketer, Nilesh Kulkarni, in 2010 with the aim of creating industry-ready professionals for sports. IISM was recently awarded the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar by union minister for youth affairs and sports Anurag Thakur.

Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), set up in 1953, was the first management institute in India to offer sports management programmes. The curricula for the programmes were similar to the MBA programmes in sports management offered by the universities and institutes in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Other management institutes teaching sports management include Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Rohtak. The ISBR Business School, Bengaluru; NASM Academy of Sports Management; Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, Pune; GD Goenka University, Gurugram and Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha.