Sports Administration
Combine your business degree with the premier sport management program in Canada.
SPAD is the first undergraduate business degree in sport management in all of Canada.
While it is the best preparation for working in the sports industry, the SPAD degree is also valued by many non-sports organizations. Because SPAD graduates are great team players with tremendous work ethic, and outgoing, engaged, and creative thinkers, a variety of industries prefer to hire our grads, including banks, marketing firms, apparel companies, insurance companies, and many others. The knowledge and skills developed in SPAD are desirable across all industries and valued by all organizations.
Want to learn more about the Sports Administration program?
Contact the program director, Dr. Anthony Church, at achurch@laurentian.ca.
If you’re a current student and would like academic assistance, reach out to the Academic Advisor.
Academic Advisor
Dr. Dana Lee Ellis
Email: dellis@laurentian.ca
Office:
705-675-1151 x4834
spad@laurentian.ca
Program Highlights:
-
The four-year program leads to an Honours Bachelor of Commerce in Sports Administration (H.B.Com. SPAD).
-
First-year introduces Sports Administration, financial information and business statistics, and an understanding of management science and economics.
-
The second year focuses on delving further into management principles with courses in accounting, finance, human resources, sports marketing and operations management.
-
In the third year of the program, course content and student experience focus on applying business principles to the sports industry with courses in sports finance, sports law, sports media and communication, together with elective courses from human kinetics and other disciplines.
-
After the third year, students embark on a 4 to 8-month internship with a sports organization or business, designed to provide them with in-depth industry experience before graduation. students have interned for Toronto Maple Leafs, Hockey Canada, Toronto FC, Canadian Olympic Committee, Scottish Aquatics, Ottawa Senators, Georgia State Games, IMG, Trojanone, Under Armour, Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, Red Bull, Edmonton Oilers.
-
When students return to campus for the final fourth-year term, the curriculum focuses on final preparation for graduation and industry employment through special sports management courses as well as a major sports consulting trip where students present solutions to real problems faced by sports organizations. On past trips, students have consulted on projects for the Pittsburgh Penguins, NY Mets, NJ Nets, NY Knicks, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars, Belfast Giants, Stanford Athletics, Miami Heat, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Athletics, Sport Canada, International Olympic Committee and many others.
-
This program is only for the type of student who has an inquiring mind, likes to work with others, is driven to succeed, and will take advantage of the unique and incredible opportunities presented to them. SPAD is looking for hard-working, positive-minded people looking for career success and happiness. Business is what we do and sport is our passion.
Connect with SPAD Online
Twitter: @LU_SPAD
School Instagram: laurentianspad
Student Council Instagram: lu_spadcouncil
Connect with our alumni: https://laurentian.ca/spadalumni
Internships
SPAD believes strongly in the importance of experiential education (learning through doing, rather than just attending lectures). Highlights of the experiential learning approach are the internship opportunities offered throughout the four years. It is possible to have work placement terms during the summer after the first year, the summer after the second year, the summer after the third year and at any point during their fourth year.
Through 50 years of alumni and industry contacts, SPAD is incredibly well connected, with many organizations offering exclusive opportunities to SPAD students. Opportunities exist with every major professional sports league and teams throughout North America, as well as with sports apparel companies, national and international sports organizations, major games, marketing firms, player representatives, various agencies, and many other organizations within or outside of the sports industry.
Students are not limited to accepting internships locally. In fact, some of the best internship experiences have been when students have travelled to the United States, Scotland, England, and many other international destinations.
For more information about the internships or how to advertise an internship to SPAD students, please feel free to contact:
SPAD Internship Coordinator
Prof. Kathleen Zinn
Capstone Industry Consulting Experience
In the final semester of the SPAD program students are provided with a capstone experience that allows them to better understand the inner workings of large sports organizations and builds important and highly-relevant skills and knowledge. This provides the student with valuable experience, setting them up for a career in the sports industry.
Beginning at the start of the semester, small groups of students are given an organization to work within one specific international market. The organization will describe a significant business problem with which they are faced and the students are tasked with the responsibility of working with members of the organization, researching industry best practices and trends, analyzing the market, and developing recommendations for the organization.
In the final month of the semester, all students travel to the host community and deliver their recommendations to the organization’s executives in their board rooms. Often the recommendations provided by the student consultants are immediately adopted and job opportunities occasionally are offered to top-performing students.
Past trips have included Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and many other world-class sports cities. Partner organizations have included NCAA institutions, WNBA, NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, MLS, MLL, and many minor league teams, as well as agencies, sports facilities, and apparel companies.
Visit the School of Sports Administration for more information
Ontario High School Applicants
Program Prerequisites:
- 1 grade 12 English U/M course; 1 grade 12 U/M Math courses; 4 other grade 12 U/M courses
- A minimum overall average of 75% in the 6 best grade 12 U/M courses
Additional information for applicants who have completed Advanced Placement courses.
Additional information for applicants who have completed the International Baccalaureate.
Applicants from outside an Ontario High School
Canadian High School Applicants from outside Ontario
Canadian Applicants
If you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you must complete your application through the Ontario Universities Application Center (OUAC).
For detailed instructions on the application process, see the How to Apply: Undergraduate Studies page.
Apply Now as a Domestic Applicant
International Applicants
If you’re an international applicant, you must fill out the International Application Form.
For detailed instructions on the application process, see the How to Apply: International Students page.
Apply Now as an International Applicant
The degree options listed below are for the upcoming academic year, not the current academic year. If you are a current student looking for which courses to take in order to complete your degree options from a previous academic year's curriculum, please consult with an academic advisor.
Effective September 2016, COMM course codes will be replaced with ACCT, MGMT, MKTG, OPER and FNCE codes. This table explains the course equivalencies to help students and others understand the transition to the new course codes.
Students must follow these regulations in order to meet graduation requirements.
Program Requirements - 120 credits
FIRST YEAR
OPER 2006E Introduction to Management Science
ACCT 1001E Introduction to Financial Accounting
ECON 1006E Introduction to Microeconomics
ECON 1007E Introduction to Macroeconomics
SPAD 0100E Colloquia (0 credits)
SPAD 1016E Global Sport Business I
SPAD 1017E Global Sport Business II
STAT 2066E Business Statistics
MATH 1506E Introduction to Business Mathematics
OR 3 credits of first year MATH (excluding MATH 1911 and MATH 1912)
3 credits of Indigenous content (may include courses from a list designed by the Faculty of Arts, and may be taken in upper years)
3 credits of electives
UPPER YEARS
To proceed to the upper year required courses, students must complete all first year requirements with a minimum GPA of 5.5, with a minimum grade of C on all required courses.
SECOND YEAR
ACCT 2011E Management Accounting I
FNCE 3006E Financial Management I
MGMT 2007E Commercial Law
OPER 2106E Management Information Systems
PHIL 2867E Business Ethics
SPAD 0300E Internship Preparation (0 credits)
SPAD 2036E Sport Marketing I
SPAD 2037E Sport Marketing II
SPAD 2046E Event and Facility Operations
6 credits of electives
THIRD YEAR
HROB 2001E Introduction to Organizational Behaviour
HROB 2002E Management of Human Resources
OPER 3006E Operations Management
SPAD 0400E International Consulting Preparation
SPAD 4401E The Future of Sport Business
SPAD 4136E Sport Finance
SPAD 4146E Sport, Media and Communication
SPAD 4156E Sales in the Sport Industry
3 credits of SPAD or Faculty of Management 4000-level electives
6 credits of electives
FOURTH YEAR
MGMT 4033E Strategic Management and Policy
SPAD 4005E Internship
SPAD 4046E Field Trip Research Project
6 credits additional SPAD or Faculty of Management 4000-level electives
12 elective credits
Minor in Applied Sport Operations (FOR SPAD STUDENTS ONLY)
Students must use the electives in their SPAD degree to fulfill the requirements.
Required Courses (15cr):
PSYC 1105E Introduction to Psychology
SPAD 4006E Internship II
SPAD 4166E Sports Performance Analytics
LBST 2206E Labour Relations and Professional Sports
Elective Courses (9cr from the following):
SPAD 4027E Directed Study
SPAD 4167E Business Analytics in Sport
SPAD 4326E Independent Projects
SPAD 4336E Event Management
OPER 4006E Process and Capacity Analysis
OPER 4016E Project Management
HROB 4051E Interpersonal Skills
LBST 3056E Collective Bargaining
LBST 4096E Issues in Labour Arbitration
PHED 2317E Risk Management in Physical Education, Sport and Recreation
PHED 2606E Adventure Leadership
PHED 4216E Sports Psychology
Option in Finance (24 credits)
(Available only to H.B.Com. or B.Com. students)
a) Required Courses (15 credits):
FNCE 3007E Financial Management 2
FNCE 4006E Applied Corporate Finance
FNCE 4007E Investment Management
FNCE 4016E Global Financial Markets and Institutions
FNCE 4026E Portfolio Management
b) Elective Courses: 3 COMM courses (9 credits) from the following:
(All courses are 3 credits, except otherwise specified)
FNCE 4017E Management of Financial Institutions
FNCE 4027E International Finance
FNCE 4036E Risk Management
FNCE 4037E Entrepreneurial Finance
FNCE 4906E Current topics in Finance
FNCE 4916E Management Research Methodology in Finance
FNCE 4917E Research project in Finance
FNCE 4995E Internship in Finance (6 cr)
FNCE 4815E Cooperative Education II in Finance (6 credits)
ACCT 4001E Advanced Management Accounting
ACCT 4011E Advanced Accounting Topics I/External Financial Reporting (IV)
ACCT 4051E Advanced Accounting Topics II/Financial Accounting Integration & Analysis
MGMT 4021E International Business Management
MGMT 4081E The Business Environment
Option in Human Resources Management (27 credits)
A. 12 credits required courses:
HROB 4101E Training and development
HROB 4102E Recruitment and Selection
HROB 4906E Current Topics in Organizational Behaviour
OR LBST 2106E Occupational Health and Safety, Level I
HROB 4091E Compensation Management
B. 6 credits from the following: All courses are 3 credits, unless otherwise specified
MGMT 4906E Topics in Management
Course admissible if the research topic is in the field of the option.
MGMT 3816E Coop Placement I
MGMT 4815E Coop Placement II (6cr)
MGMT 4995E Internship (6cr)
The above courses are admissible if the placement is in the field of the option.
ACCT/FNCE/MGMT/MKTG/HROB/OPER 4906E Current Topics in Administration
The above courses are admissible if the course topic is in the field of the option.
MGMT 4101E Small Business Counselling I
MGMT 4102E Small Business Counselling II
MGMT 4041E Case Analysis and Competitions I
MGMT 4042E Case Analysis and Competitions II
The above courses are admissible if the counselling or case topic is in the field of the option.
OPER 4147E Management Information Systems
Course is admissible if the counselling or case topic is in the field of the option.
HROB 4021E Industrial Relations in Canada
HROB 4051E Interpersonal Skills
MGMT 4072E Venture Start-Up
MGMT 4081E The Business Environment
MGMT 4105E Humanist Issues-Comm. Practice (6cr)
MKTG 4061E Social Media Marketing
OPER 4016E Project Management
C. 9 credits from the list below than have content related to theme A, B, C, …, or any other course approved by the program coordinator): Please see departmental listings for more elective choices. Prerequisite requirements may apply as well as instructor's or department approval for registration in non-BBA course electives outside the Faculty of Management. All courses are 3 credits, except otherwise specified.
ANTR 2046E Peoples of the World: Tribes, States and the Global Village
ANTR 2136E Work and Livelihoods Across Cultures
ANTR 2146E The (De) Colonial Struggle
ANTR 2906E Introduction to Linguistics
ANTR 3087E Ethnomedicine: Cross-Cultural Healing
ANTR 3106E Cross-Cultural Studies of Local Development
ANTR 3116E Anthropology of the Arts
ANTR 3166E Development and Canadian Indigenous Community Organization
ANTR 3216E Visual Ethnography
ANTR 4116E Critical Perspectives in Medical Anthropology
ANTR 4136E Ethnopsychiatry and Cross-Cultural Mental Health
BIOL 3066E Indigenous Peoples: Ecology, Science and Technology
COST 2446E The Dynamics of Interpersonal Communication I
COST 2447E The Dynamics of Interpersonal Communication II
COST 2606E The Decorated Body as Communication
COST 3006E Technology and the Individual Experience
COST 3606E Sports, Communication and Culture
COST 4506E New Media Policy
COST 4507E Mass Media and Democracy
COST 4526E Current Issues in Communication Studies
ECON 3046E Labour economics I
EDUC 1046E Indigenous Ways of Learning
EDPH 4516F Management du stress
ENGL 1511E Academic Reading and Writing in English for Aboriginal Students I
ENGL 1512E Academic Reading and Writing in English for Aboriginal Students II
ENGL 1561E Business Writing
ENGL 3496E Indigenous Women’s Resistance Writing & Material Art
ENGL 3556E Principles and Practices of Workplace Communication
ESPA 1005E Introduction to Spanish (6cr)
INDG 1116E Foundations of Aboriginal Peoplehood
INDG 1117E Implications of Aboriginal Peoplehood
INDG 2136E Aboriginal Political Resistance in Canada
INDG 2285E North American Native People: Tradition (6cr)
INDG 2316E Foundations of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge
INDG 3105E Canadian Law, Politics and Aboriginal People (6cr)
INDG 3285E Living With the Land: Indigenous Knowledge in Theory and Practice (6 cr)
INDG 4405E Seeing With A Native Eye (6cr)
JURI 2136E Introduction to Interpersonal Dispute Resolution
ITAL 1005E Introduction to Italian (6cr)
LBST 1006E Introduction to Labour Studies I
LBST 1007E Introduction to Labour Studies II
LBST 2026E The World of Work
LBST 2246E What Do Unions Do?
LBST 3046E Workers, Disability and Labour Rights
LBST 3056E Collective Bargaining
LBST 3106E Occupational Health and Safety Management – Level 2
LBST 3116E Stress, Health, and the Workplace
LBST 3126E Public Sector Unions
LBST 3136E Occupational Health and Safety: the Social, Political, and Economic Landscapes
LBST 3246E Workplace Rights Advocacy
LBST 3256E Canadian Labour History
LBST/JURI 3616E Labour Law
LBST 3626E Labour Law and the Modern State
LBST 4096E Issues in Labour Arbitration
PSYC 1105E Introduction to Psychology (6cr)
PSYC 2706E Emotion
PSYC 2707E Motivation
PSYC 3806E Social Psychology I
PSYC 3807E Social Psychology II
SOCI 1015E Understanding Society (6cr)
SOCI 2026E The World of Work
SOCI 2246E What do unions do?
SOCI 2656E Social Inequality
SOCI 4086E Class, Race, Gender and Ethnicity in the Workplace
THEA 1115E Introduction to the Theatre (6cr)
WGSX 1005E Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (6cr)
WGSX 2016E The Production of Knowledge
WGSX 2036E Gender, Work and Families
WGSX 2046E Gender, Race and Racism
WGSX 3326E Girl Cultures
Note: required and elective courses in Human Resources Management may be available on a two-year rotation or more. Students are responsible for planning their course choices accordingly during the upper years of the program. Students are also encouraged to consider obtaining the CHRP or HRPA designation (information may be obtained from Human Resource Management or HROB courses’ instructors), as well as a Certificate in Labour Studies, as described at: https://laurentian.ca/program/labour-studies
Option in Marketing (27 credits)
(Available only to H.B.Com. or B.Com. students)
a) Required Courses (9 credits):
MKTG 4071E Consumer Behaviour
MKTG 4021E Marketing Communications
MKTG 4031E Advanced Marketing Planning
b) 3 Faculty of Management electives (9 credits) from the following: All courses are 3 credits, except otherwise specified
FNCE 4916E Research Methods
MKTG 4905E Research (6 cr)
MKTG 4917E Research Project
The above courses are admissible if the research topic is in the field of the option.
COMM 4976E Coop placement I
COMM 4985E Coop placement II
MKTG 4965E Placement
The above courses are admissible if the placement is in the field of the option.
COMM 4017E Current Topics in Administration
COMM 4026E Current Topics in Administration
COMM 4027E Current Topics in Administration
MKTG 4906E Current Topics in Administration
The above courses are admissible if the course topic is in the field of the option.
MGMT 4101EL/ COMM 4086E – Small Business Counselling Service I
MGMT 4102EL/ COMM 4087E – Small Business Counselling Service II
MGMT 4041EL/ COMM 4036E – Case Analysis and Competition I
MGMT 4042EL/ COMM 4067E – Case Analysis and Competition II
The above courses are admissible if the counselling or case topic is in the field of the option.
MGMT 4071E Venture Initiation
MGMT 4081E Business Environment
MKTG 4091E B2B Marketing
MKTG 4041E International Marketing
MKTG 4061E Social Media Marketing
c) 3 non-Faculty of Management electives from the list below (9 credits) or any other course approved by the programme coordinator): Please see departmental listings for more elective choices. Prerequisite requirements may apply as well as instructor's or department approval for registration in non-Faculty of Management course electives outside the Faculty of Management. All courses are 3 credits, except otherwise specified
CINE 1005E Motion Picture Arts: Form (6 cr)
CINE 1206E Photography
COST 3606E Sports, Communication and Culture
COST 4506E New Media Policy
COST 4507E Mass Media and Democracy
COST 4526E Current Issues in Communication Studies
COST 4527E Media Spectacle
DEUT 1005N Introductory German (6 cr)
ENVI 1507E Introduction to Environmental Studies
ENVI 2516E Ecological Footprints and Demographic Change
ESPA 1005E Introductory Spanish (6 cr)
GEOG 3267E Contemporary Issues in Economic Geography
GEOG 4217E Population and Development
GEOG 3056E Topics in Geographic Information Systems Application
HIST 3866E Popular Culture of the 20th Century
INDG 1116E Foundations of Aboriginal Peoplehood
INDG 1117E Implications of Aboriginal Peoplehood
INDG 2285E North American Native People: Tradition (6 cr)
INDG 2316E Foundations of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge
INDG 3105E Canadian Law, Politics and Aboriginal People (6 cr)
INDG 3285E Living With the Land: Indigenous Knowledge in Theory and Practice (6 cr)
INDG 4405E Seeing With A Native Eye (6 cr.)
ITAL 1005E Introductory Italian (6 cr.)
LANG 1005F Grammaire appliquée à la rédaction (6 cr.)
LANG 3016F Le français et les médias
LANG 4036F Rédaction professionnelle
MUSC 1015E Introduction to the History of Music in Western Culture (6 cr)
PHIL 1115E Introduction to Philosophy (6 cr)
PHIL 2217E Environmental Ethics
PHIL 2525E Contemporary Moral Issues (6 cr)
PSYC 1105E Introduction to Psychology (6 cr)
PSYC 2707E Motivation
SOCI 1015E Understanding Society (6 cr)
SOCI 2007E The Adolescent and Society
SOCI 2636E Desire, Love, and Work I: The Social Making of Gender
SOCI 2656E Social Inequality: Gender, Race, Class and Power
SOCI 3636E Desire, Love, and Work II: The Social Making of Sexuality
SOCI 3056E News, Pop Culture, and Power, Critical Perspective on Mass Media
THEA 1115E Introduction to the Theatre (6 cr)
WGSX 1005E Introduction to Women's Studies (6 cr)
WGSX 2106E Representations of Gender in the News
WGSX 3326E Girl Cultures
Program Regulations
In order to be considered in good academic standing in SPAD, a student must:
1) satisfy all conditions of admission;
2) not fail more than 3 credits in an academic year or in the previous 30 credits; and
3) maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 4.0
A student who fails to meet the requirements for good academic standing will be allowed to continue in the program for no more than one year on academic probation. During the probationary year, if the student is able to achieve passing grades in all of their courses (a minimum of 24 credits is required) and return their cumulative grade point average to at least 4.0, then the student will be returned to good academic standing. A failure to achieve good academic standing following a probationary year will result in removal from the program.
Pass/Fail:
A passing grade in the Faculty of Management is considered to be at least a C or 4.0 grade. Any grade less than C or 4.0 in a course offered within the Faculty of Management is considered to be a failing grade.
Number of 1000-level Credits:
Students may only count a total of 42 credits at the 1000 level towards the 120 credits required for the degree. Any credits that exceed the limit of 42 must be replaced by at least an equal number of credits taken at the 2000, 3000, or 4000 levels.
Removal from the Program:
Students will automatically be removed from the program for any of the following reasons:
- failure twice to achieve a minimum of at least a C grade in a required course;
- failure to achieve good academic standing in 2 consecutive years
- more than 18 credits of failure overall; or,
- a notation of X on a student’s transcript, as per the Laurentian University Policy on Academic Honesty.
Readmission to the Program:
Students forced to leave the program, or those who choose to leave the program, must reapply through the internal program transfer process overseen by the Laurentian University Admissions Office prior to February 1 of the academic year preceding their intended return to the program. Readmission to the program will be subject to students being able to enter in good academic standing. Students could be eligible to receive advanced standing for courses completed while not in the program. Such cases will be considered on an individual basis.
Please note that first year students are only required to take one 1000 level MATH Elective.
List of Faculty Members
Sessional Faculty:
- Jean-Paul Rains
- Dania Johanson
Anthony Church
School of Sports ManagementDana Lee Ellis
School of Sports Management
Kamran Eshghi
School of Sports Management
Claude Vincent
School of Sports Management