According to Barringer and Ireland (2012), entrepreneurship is "the art of turning an idea into a business" (p. 6). Many students who have graduated from college professional preparation programs in sport management have gone into jobs where there is an established work force in an existing business with a set job description, specific duties, and pre-determined salary (e.g., marketing position in a college athletic program). These graduates have not had to develop their own business concept or business plan or seek funding to start up a business.

In other words, many sport management graduates over the years have gone into employment settings such as sport facility management or sport event management or athletic administration where the jobs and organizations have existed for years. This is not entirely the world that exists today in sport management. Jobs in the sport and fitness industries are becoming harder to find when compared to previous years. Part of the reason for this is linked to a slow economy and part of the reason is because of an abundance of graduates coming out of the hundreds of college sport management programs who are looking for sport related jobs. Thirty-five years ago there were fewer than 100 college sport management programs. Today there are over 400 programs (Case, 2017). Several hundred sport management graduates are entering the job market each year. The prospects of finding a good paying sport management job are sometimes difficult and frustrating.

One area that has been virtually untapped by sport management college programs (including programs in fitness management, recreation management, and exercise science) is the area of entrepreneurship. Although some graduates of these programs have started their own sport related start-up businesses, oftentimes it was done with virtually no start-up business skills. In the past, very few sport management graduates received formal training in the knowledge and skills required to start their own business. In other words, they received virtually no training in entrepreneurship. Instead, they learned through trial and error and the school of hard knocks.

Sport management college programs have grown from mainly an athletic administration orientation during the 1960s and 1970s to a sport management perspective in the 1980s and 1990s to a sport business perspective today. Historically, many sport management programs were housed in Colleges of Education and located under the umbrella of physical education. In recent times, a shift to "stand alone" majors in sport management has taken place with a number of sport management programs now housed in Colleges of Business. Sport management has even transitioned from a North American Society for Sport Management/National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASSM/NASPE) approval process in the 1980s and 1990s to a Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) process today.

Although sport management has grown into a separate discipline with its own national organization (NASSM), annual conference, journals and sub-disciplines like sport marketing, newer ideas and innovations in curriculum design and coursework have been slow to develop. For instance, sport management program curricula have been slow to embrace the private sector by not providing entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to students so they can start their own sport related businesses. For a number of years, curriculum experts in sport management have talked about developing sport specific sales courses. Now there appears to be another push nationally to offer sport sales courses with the development of new sport sales textbooks and training materials. Business schools have offered sales courses for many years. In a similar way, it now appears to be the time to consider sport entrepreneurship courses as a viable offering in sport management curriculums. Although some college sport management programs seek out entrepreneurship courses in the College of Business, it is clear that sport management has a unique setting where students can create, foster, and hone entrepreneurial skills that can be used to start sport related businesses or develop sport related products. Sport management students are beginning to realize that there are only so many college athletic program marketing positions. Front office positions in professional sport leagues are also limited in number. Students who want to work in a sport related career area would be well served to consider starting their own sport related business.

Don't be mistaken. Positions in sport facility management, sport event management, sporting goods industry, sport commissions, sport marketing agencies, administration of youth sport club teams, Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) sport programs, Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) military intramural programs, college recreational sport programs, college athletics, professional sport, and high school athletic administration are still available. But, with each passing year the competition for these positions is increasing and landing a good paying job in professional sport, for example, is becoming tougher. As a result, it is suggested that sport management graduates wear many hats. Generally speaking, they should be able to move in different directions with a wide variety of skills and a broad knowledge base.

Colleges of Business have realized the need for versatility and flexibility for years. This is why many business programs have placed emphasis on developing majors, minors, coursework, certificates, and degrees in entrepreneurship. For example, Old Dominion University has established the Strome Entrepreneurship Center to encourage and support entrepreneurial initiatives, activities, and programs on campus. A certificate in entrepreneurship has been established for undergraduate students. An annual "Shark Tank" competition that awards prize money and scholarships has been created!

The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Center for Entrepreneurial Studies has a motto which is "learn, launch, lead". Their innovative entrepreneurship program is designed to help students find success beyond the start-up phase and eventually transition into a lifelong entrepreneurial career. MBA and undergraduate concentrations in entrepreneurship have been established at UNC.

Sport Entrepreneurship Body of Knowledge

Barringer (2015) writes that about two-thirds of the over 2,000 colleges and universities in the United States offer courses in entrepreneurship. Hundreds of books have been written about entrepreneurship and related areas. The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity states that approximately 543,000 new businesses are created each month in the United States. However, a recent study by Case (2017) found that of the 407 undergraduate sport management programs in the United States, only 32 (7.9%) require an entrepreneurship course. Only 5 of these programs require a specific "sport entrepreneurship" course. At the master's degree level, 2% (5 of 235) graduate sport management programs require a course in entrepreneurship or sport entrepreneurship.

According to Barringer (2015), a body of knowledge does exist in entrepreneurship. This entrepreneurship body of knowledge can be applied to sport settings to include the following:

* How to generate and identify sport business ideas;

* How to assess whether the sport business idea is worthwhile;

* How to conduct feasibility studies and market/industry analyses;

* How to recognize legal issues involving intellectual property and selection of an appropriate business legal structure;

* How to seek funding and investors;

* How to organize a business and hire an effective management team;

* How to write a comprehensive and dynamic business plan that includes an executive summary, marketing plan, and financial projections.

A positive feature of offering a sport entrepreneurship emphasis within the existing sport management curriculum is that a number of complimentary courses are already being taught in the typical sport management undergraduate curriculum. For example, sport marketing is a valuable asset to a sport entrepreneurship emphasis because a key component of the typical sport business plan includes a marketing section. Courses in sport finance and accounting compliment the budgeting and financial projection parts of the business plan. Sport law (including business legal structures, contract law, and intellectual property law), and sport administrative theory and leadership courses can supplement the business plan as well (Pinson, 2014; Steingold, 2015).

Types of Sport Businesses

The types of sport business ideas seem almost endless. For example, in Virginia Beach there is a new golf driving range and restaurant/lounge facility called Topgolf. Its initial start-up has been very successful. In Hampton, there is a multi-sport complex called the Boo Williams Sportsplex. It hosts a number of sporting events including AAU regional basketball tournaments. In Fredericksburg, there is a similar facility called the Field House where local club teams conduct their sport practices and adult leagues are offered in sports like soccer, flag football, and volleyball. J&A Racing is a private race management business that plans and organizes running events such as the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach and the Crawlin' Crab Half-Marathon in Hampton, Virginia. Virginia Rush is a large soccer club that caters to the development of young soccer players and it is located at the SportsPlex in Virginia Beach. The Virginia Baseball Academy is a privately owned business that provides specialized baseball skill training and camps to youth in the Hamptons Roads area. Planet Fitness is a health club franchise that is located in many communities throughout Virginia. Elite Sport Marketing is a Virginia Beach based business that specializes in economic impact studies for sporting events. From a national perspective, Team Unlimited is a Hawaii based sport marketing firm that conducts XTERRA off-road triathlon events worldwide. Twenty years ago Tom Kiley and Janet Clark had a dream to develop a small water and land sporting event for tourism in Hawaii. The event has grown to the point that it is now the largest off-road triathlon event in the world with races held in numerous countries. The XTERRA East Coast Championship was held in Richmond for a number of years. The list of sport and fitness related businesses and success stories can go on and on ...

Some colleges with majors in exercise science, fitness management, and recreation management have developed courses in entrepreneurship. If a student majoring in exercise science decides to open a health and fitness club someday, it would be a good idea to have basic entrepreneurial knowledge and skills so that he or she can start a new business. Some have suggested that taking a course in sport entrepreneurship is more than learning about how to write a business plan. It is developing an "I can do it" proactive mindset where anything is possible. This entrepreneurial spirit and mindset can prove to be invaluable for college graduates who are seeking employment as they can always turn to their own ideas and initiative in order to start a sport or fitness related business or create a new sport product.

Many entrepreneurs invent new sport products or develop new techniques that benefit others. The Big Bertha driver or the Ping Putter in golf are just two of many examples. Another example would be the author of this article who started a sport marketing business fifteen years ago and since that time he has conducted over 100 economic impact studies for sport organizations throughout the United States.

Sport Entrepreneurship Online Course

At Old Dominion University, an online sport entrepreneurship course is being offered through the sport management program. The primary goal of the course is to develop an entrepreneurial knowledge base and skill set that will allow students to feel comfortable in writing a business plan so that someday they can start their own sport related business. A key part of the ODU entrepreneurship course is to develop an "I can attitude" and "entrepreneurial spirit" in each student. This attitude and mindset can be used in any life situation. Students formulate a sport business idea, research the feasibility of the idea, conduct a market analysis, and then write a comprehensive business plan for a potential sport business. The course culminates in a "shark tank" type competition where business experts review and judge the sport small business ideas and plans that are presented by the students.

Over thirty years ago the author of this article remembers a time when people questioned why sport management college programs were needed and why coursework should be offered in sport marketing, sport finance, sport law, sport event management, sport facility management, etc. The test of time has confirmed that the establishment of college sport management programs to educate and train students in sport related business careers was a good idea. In a similar way, some tough curricular decisions will need to be made in the future for sport entrepreneurship courses. Initially, societal interests, trends, and changes resulted in the development of college sport management programs as individuals were needed to organize, market, and administer the growing number of sport programs in the United States. Additional changes are taking place today and they relate to the types and number of jobs available to sport management graduates. Sport entrepreneurship knowledge and skills can help meet these changes and challenges by providing students with the necessary skill sets that will help them in starting their own sport related businesses. The future should prove to be exciting!

References

Barringer, R. (2015). Preparing effective business plans: An entrepreneurial approach. New York: Pearson Publishing.

Barringer, B., & Ireland, R. (2012). Entrepreneurship: Successfully launching new ventures. New York: Pearson Publishing.

Case, R. (2017). Sport entrepreneurship: Its time has come to be part of sport management curricular offering. Paper presentation at the 2017 NASSM Conference, Denver, CO.

Ciletti, D., & Chadwick, S. (Eds.). (2012). Sport entrepreneurship: Theory and practice. Morgantown, WV: FIT Publishers.

Pinson, L. (2014). Anatomy of a business plan. Tustin, CA: Out of Your Mind and Into the Marketplace Publishing.

Pinson, L. (2014). Steps to small business start-up. Tustin, CA: Out of Your Mind and Into the Marketplace Publishing.

Ratten, V., & Ferreira, J. (Eds.). (2016). Sport entrepreneurship and innovation. London: Routledge.

Steingold, F. (2015). Legal guide for starting and running a small business. Berkeley, CA: Nolo Publishing.

Robert Case, PhD, Sport Management Program, Old Dominion University