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.
Academic Advisor
Dr. Anthony Church, Director of the School of Sports Administration
Telephone: (705) 675-1151 ext. 4834
Email: spad@laurentian.ca
Office: FA-340
If you’re a current student and would like academic assistance, reach out to Dr. Dana Lee Ellis at dellis@laurentian.ca.
Program Highlights:
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The four-year program leads to an Honours Bachelor of Commerce in Sports Administration (H.B.Com. SPAD).
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First-year introduces Sports Administration, financial information and business statistics, and an understanding of management science and economics.
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The second year focuses on delving further into management principles with courses in accounting, finance, human resources, sports marketing and operations management.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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: Canadian Undergraduate Applicants 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 Professional Development Workshops: Transition to University and Building a Personal Brand
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 0200E Professional Development Workshops: Finding and Securing Employment
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 0350E Professional Development Workshops: Mentoring, Consulting, and Problem-Solving in Sport Business
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)
For the Option in Finance, see program requirements: Specialization in Finance requirements (24 credits, min. grade C).
(Available only to H.B.Com. or B.Com. students)
Option in Human Resources Management (27 credits)
For the Option in Human Resources Management, see program requirements: Specialization in Human Resources Management requirements (27 credits, min. grade C)
Option in Marketing (27 credits)
For the Option in Marketing, see program requirements: Specialization in Marketing requirements (27 credits, min. grade C)
Program Regulations
In order to be considered in good academic standing in SPAD, a student must:
- satisfy all conditions of admission;
- not fail more than 3 credits in an academic year or in the previous 30 credits; and
- 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