Esports and Gaming Administration

INTRODUCTION TO ESPORTS MANAGEMENT ~ Between 2018 and 2019, the number of jobs in esports nearly doubled – growing a staggering 185%. In addition, there are numerous business jobs elsewhere in the games industry, including roles in distribution, research, sales, and marketing. The explosive growth in esports – and the attendant growth within the games industry which it has field – has created a demand for business professionals with a solid understanding of the nuances of the industry. This course provides students with an understanding of the complexities specific to managing esports teams and leagues. This course has weekly assignments and includes the option to attend live Zoom class sessions. One weekly 90-minute class session will be scheduled with the instructor during the first week of class.

INTRODUCTION TO GAMES ~ Of all the new media forms that have emerged since digital technologies have become ubiquitous in our social and cultural environment, videogames could be described as the form that is most fundamentally “native” to the computer. As a form of entertainment, they have introduced new relationships between audiences/players and the media with which they interact, and present unique challenges to producers, critics and the public at large. There are two broad goals for this course. The first is to provide an overview of digital games as a cultural form. This involves a historical account of their emergence in the mid-twentieth century, an enquiry into theories of play and their relationship to culture, the origins and evolution of game genres, and the changing nature of game-development and the game industry to the present day. The second is to learn contextual and formal methods for the analysis of digital games and gameplay. The coursework involves a number of activities: reading key texts and textbooks relevant to the topic, participating in small-group discussion exercises, occasional quizzes based on reading material, group and individual game history and analysis presentations, and finally a mock-pitch for an original game design. No programming or game design experience is required for this course. This course has weekly assignments and includes the option to attend live Zoom class sessions. One weekly 90-minute class session will be scheduled with the instructor during the first week of class.

CONVENTION, EVENT, AND TRADE SHOW PLANNING ~ One of the major ways in which games are marketed to consumers is the convention. Shows like the Tokyo Game Show, PAX and E3 attract audiences ranging from 60,000 - 300,000 and serve as one of the best opportunities for game studios to generate excitement and favorable word-of-mouth for upcoming projects. Successfully executing a company presence at one of these shows requires a working understanding of budgeting, goal-setting, demo creation, logistics, staffing, merchandising, and ROI evaluation, all topics covered in this course. This course has weekly assignments and includes the option to attend live Zoom class sessions. One weekly 90-minute class session will be scheduled with the instructor during the first week of class.

Prerequisite: ESPT 10500

DISTRIBUTION OF GAMES:THE ROLE OF THE PUBLISHER ~ The role of a publisher in the games industry is to ensure that a game can get in front of its audience successfully. To do that, a publisher must consider a variety of distribution strategies and channels. This course explains the role of a publisher in game distribution and details the various channels by which a game can be distributed. This course has weekly assignments and includes the option to attend live Zoom class sessions. One weekly 90-minute class session will be scheduled with the instructor during the first week of class.

Prerequisite: ESPT 10500 and MKTG 15500

INTRODUCTION TO SPORT MANAGEMENT ~ This course serves as an introduction to the field of sport management, offering a diversity of information pertaining to essential topics in the field of sport administration, including management and marketing principles, amateur and professional sport industry, international sport, facility and event management, sport broadcasting, and career preparation.

FACILITY AND EVENT MANAGEMENT IN SPORT ~ Principles and techniques of planning, operating and managing sport facilities and events. This course will emphasize the principles and concepts of organization and administration including communication, personnel management, management of physical resources, and risk management. This course will examine a variety of sport operations such as indoor stadiums, athletic field complexes, and managing recreation and intramural activities.

CAREERS IN SPORT MANAGEMENT ~ This course will provide students with information and skills to prepare them for careers in sport management or other related fields by using a guided approach to individual skills discovery and career exploration. Students will develop an academic plan to provide a strong base in the breadth and depth of the field, as well as in their liberal arts coursework, and learn to market their Hiram College experience for their future career plans. Coursework includes participation in class discussions, giving presentations, conducting informational interviews, developing a résumé, and completing other written assignments.

Prerequisite: SPMT 10100

PRINCIPLES OF COACHING AND LEADERSHIP ~ This course is designed for those students preparing to enter a coaching career or be involved in the management and organization of an athletic program. Students will learn guidelines and principles for organizing a successful athletic program. Topics include, but are not limited to developing a coaching philosophy, evaluating theories in motivation, understanding team dynamics, communicating effectively, and improving player performance. This course will also emphasize an awareness of the demands of the coaching profession and explore issues and ethical considerations significant to coaching.

THE MEANING OF MOVEMENT:IM ~ Grounded in experiences of several forms of physical activity, students in this course will explore ways of understanding and expressing the meaning of engaging in movement. Students critically reflect on different reasons for engaging in movement, the impact of social environment on experiences of movement, and ways of understanding experiences of movement through a variety of mediums ranging from poetry to drawing to reading empirical research.

Core: Interpretive Methods

STRATEGIC SPORT COMMUNICATION ~ An introduction to sport communication. Emphasis is placed on the fields within sport communication, including but not limited to sports information, public relations, media production, marketing and research, interactive media, media trends, production competencies, and employment options and trends. Special attention is given to topics such as historical and theoretical features of the field, personal and organizational processes, sport media, services and support systems, and sociological aspects. This course is also listed as COMM 24700.

SEMINAR ~

INDEPENDENT STUDY ~ Open to all sport management majors with the consent of the instructor. It affords sport management majors the opportunity to design their own course of study in an area that is not currently taught. The independent study normally requires the students to write a research paper.

FIELD EXPERIENCE ~

HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT IN THE U.S. ~ This course covers the history of sport and physical activity in the United States (1776–present) to understand the field in a broader context. Students will learn how past events and issues influence current beliefs and behaviors as well as common themes permeating throughout sport history (e.g., social and political activism). The philosophy unit of the course will cover philosophical approaches to the practice of physical activity. Students will learn how one’s philosophy guides thoughts, emotions, and behaviors about relevant issues such as physical activity lifestyles and career choices.

SPORT IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY:UD ~ Sports are an integral part of social life in the U.S. with millions of people growing up playing sports and/or spending countless hours watching them. In many ways, the world of sports is an arena through which we can understand more about our society’s dynamics, values, and problems. This three-week course explores the intersections between sport and topics such as race, ethnicity, gender, social class, sexuality, and physical ability. Students will examine population subgroups in their historical context and how those groups have evolved over the years and how they have fared in society. The course will examine these groups from a sociological and legislative standpoint.

Core: Understanding Diversity Home

INCLUSIVE APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP ~ This course is designed to guide students to critically examine the concept of leadership as it applies to teams and organizations with the aim of developing the critical awareness and skills to cultivate inclusive and collaborative teams. Students will apply theories of power proposed by critical and cultural studies scholars to explore traditional and contemporary approaches to leadership. In doing so, students will identify and develop strategies through which they, as leaders, can disrupt marginalizing systems of power and promote diversity, equity, justice, inclusion and belonging on their teams and in their organizations. This course is also listed as PSYC 34300.

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF SPORT:ES ~ This course provides an extensive overview of legal principles and ethical issues in sport. The different fields of law and issues (Federal Amendment, torts, contracts, labor relations) as they relate to sport will also be introduced. In addition, the basic philosophical issues concerning ethics and moral reasoning and how these issues relate to sport will be examined. Furthermore, this course is designed to help future sport administrators develop an ethical decision-making process. Potential topics may include concepts of morality, personal philosophy regarding social responsibility, theories of ethics, professional code of ethics, etc. Course restricted to sophomore level and above.

Prerequisite: SPMT 10100

Core: Meaning/Ethics/Soc Responsibil

SPORT SECURITY MANAGEMENT ~ This course will address the nature and scope of sport security and issues involved in securing sport venues and events from domestic and international threats. Motives, methods, and impact of terrorism activity, natural disasters, and crowd management issues in sport will be discussed. This course also includes an examination of the basic legislation and operations of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, risk assessment process, security planning options, emergency response and recovery, and staff training and exercises. This course is also listed as CRLJ 36000

SEMINAR ~ Includes various topics or upper-level specialty courses.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN SPORT ~ This course is designed to provide students with an overview of significant issues surrounding the world of sport in today’s society. This course is designed to enhance student’s comprehension of sport, its place on society, and possible changes it may need in order to maintain a positive future. Arguments for and against the inclusion of sport in our social institutions will be made. Relevant legal issues will also be addressed.

Prerequisite: SPMT 10100

SENIOR SEMINAR ~ This course is the second piece of the capstone experience for the sport management major, and will provide students with the necessary information to integrate their specific area of concentration and internship or research experience into a portfolio and oral presentation as the culmination of the sport management program. The purpose of this course is to allow students to demonstrate achievement in competency areas and to engage in self-reflection and self-evaluation.

Prerequisite: SPMT 48100 (may be taken concurrently) or SPMT 49800 (may be taken concurrently)

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ~ The course is open to sport management majors with junior standing or above with the consent of the department. This affords junior and senior sport management majors the opportunity to design their own course of study in an area that is not currently taught. The independent research course would normally require the student to write a research paper.

INTERNSHIP ~ For a complete description of this program students should consult with a member of the sport management faculty.

APPLIED SPORT MANAGEMENT SKILLS ~ Through this course, students will engage an in-depth analysis of the relationship of sport and management. The study of sport includes sporting goods manufacturers; fitness centers; recreation departments; broadcasting; Little League teams; and high school, NCAA, and professional leagues. The study of management follows the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Students also will apply and deepen their knowledge on these topics through engaging in a community-based project with classmates and a nonprofit community sport organization.

STRATEGIC SPORT MARKETING ~ This course serves as a broad overview of marketing in the world of sports. Several marketing concepts from the undergraduate level will be emphasized further, such as the marketing mix, consumer behavior, advertising, and target segments. Further analysis of theories related to the concept of sport marketing will be explored. Strategic marketing and the importance of developing an effective marketing research paper will be emphasized.

SPORT FINANCE AND ECONOMICS ~ This course is designed to use sports to deepen our understanding of economics and financial markets and to use economics and financial markets to deepen our understanding of sports. Topics may include attendance modeling, salary structure, salary caps, financing of stadiums, tournament structure, competitive balance, doping in sports, and gambling markets. Key economic principles covered may include supply and demand, industrial organization, price theory, labor markets, salary determination and discrimination, tournament theory, Coase Theorem, and game theory. Financial principles covered include the financing of sports teams in different leagues, public vs private financing of stadiums, efficient markets hypothesis, and behavioral finance. We will cover historical topics and address current events.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING FOR SPORT LEADERS ~ It is vitally important for sport management students, who are and/or will be leaders in sport organizations, to be informed about how to create the conditions that enable all people within their organization to thrive personally and professionally. Sport organizations ranging from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and Nike, Inc. have stated commitments to promoting inclusivity. However, many inequities in sport persist, hindering many peoples’ access to participation in sport, safety while participating in sport, and opportunities to take on and succeed in professional leadership roles. In this course, students will read, analyze, and discuss research on leadership, diversity, equity, and belonging from the fields of leadership, education, organizational management, sport management, and sociology and utilize and analyze research-based practical resources for sport leaders created by experts on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in sport. Throughout this course, students will evaluate the ways in which common models of leadership hinder or promote inclusion of people with minoritized identities, examine key barriers people with minoritized identities in the US sport context face, and identify strategies and practices sport leaders and organizations can do to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in sport organizations.

NCAA COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT ~ This course will allow for a deeper understanding of the NCAA legislation and applications, from proposal creation to interpretation/waiver process to corrective actions through enforcement regulations.¿ Taking the philosophical, big picture perspective of the NCAA governance structure to the day to day inner workings of the application of legislation to situational circumstances in compliance and enforcement processes.¿ This will give students a hands-on understanding of the governance discussions in a situational, real life applications.

SEM:

FITNESS AND HEALTH PROMOTION & MANAGEMENT ~ This course is designed to equip students with a series of promotion, management, and other administrative tools necessary to operate fitness and/or health related programs. Students will become familiar with the assessment of certifications, proper group exercise instruction, and exercise leadership skills. In addition, students will also become familiar with current standards to organize fitness facilities and exercise programs in a variety of settings such as public and private sport facilities, recreation complexes, corporate fitness centers, and hospital wellness programs.

PSYCHOLOGY OF COACHING ~ This course will serve as a practical guide to navigating some of the challenges coaches experience through a psychological lens. Each student will use their own coaching philosophy as a foundational material for this course – and it will likely evolve throughout. We will focus on evidence-based information – including scientific research, experiential data from master coaches, and student experiences – to inform our exploration of mental tools and skills that could be used and developed to enhance one’s impact as a coach. Students will play a role in determining the exact topics to be covered in the course.

METHODS AND APPROACHES OF DISCIPLINES ~ This course will expose students to a particular discipline or related disciplines and explore the particular disciplinary perspective and insights that the disciplinary perspective tends to produce. Students will examine the various assumptions and theories of the discipline, phenomena the discipline generally engages, and methods for producing and evaluating discipline-related insights. Students will discern the assumptions of scholars in different disciplines, describe the methodologies used by scholars in different disciplines, compare and contrast the methodologies used by scholars in different disciplines, prepare a literature search in two disciplines on a question or topic of significance, prepare an annotated bibliography of sources in two disciplines on the question or topic chosen, and prepare a critical literature review of sources in two disciplines on the question or topic chosen. Cross-listed with MAIS 57300

FIELD EXPERIENCE ~

ADVANCED COACHING AND LEADERSHIP ~ This course is designed for those students preparing to enter a coaching career or be involved in the management and organization of an athletic program. Students will learn guidelines and principles for organizing a successful athletic program. Topics include, but are not limited to developing a coaching philosophy, evaluating theories in motivation, understanding team dynamics, communicating effectively, and improving player performance. This course will also emphasize an awareness of the demands of the coaching profession and explore issues and ethical considerations significant to coaching.

LEGAL ISSUES AND RISK MANAGEMENT IN SPORTS Sports-related litigation continues to escalate in America year after year, due at least in part to increased pressure in the multibillion-dollar sport industry for all who are involved in the operation of sport. This course provides an extensive overview of legal principles and issues (Federal Amendments, torts, contracts, labor relations, etc.) as they relate to sport and how to mitigate associated risks. A key component of this course will be developing a detailed understanding of safety principles and risk management decisions that assist sport managers to provide reasonably safe environments. Various theories of risk management will be examined as managerial functions in modern sport organizations.

THESIS CREDITS ~