10 Fastest Online Sports Management Degree Bachelor’s Programs

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• McK­endree Uni­ver­si­ty is the #1 school for a fast online bach­e­lor’s degree in sports man­age­ment.
• Pro­grams uti­lize short, inten­sive cours­es to expe­dite com­ple­tion, some as brief as 4 to 8 weeks, allow­ing for more cours­es per year.
• Many pro­grams accept pre­vi­ous col­lege cred­its and may offer cred­it for work expe­ri­ence, reduc­ing the total cours­es needed.
• Grad­u­ates are pre­pared for var­i­ous roles in sports man­age­ment, includ­ing coach­ing, cam­pus advis­ing, and intra­mur­al direc­tion.

Sports man­age­ment is an occu­pa­tion that gives for­mer ath­letes the chance to stay in the game and gives sports lovers a way to make their mark on the indus­try. But for pro­fes­sion­als work­ing in the field who need a col­lege degree to advance, the choice can be tough. If you’re already in a career, you don’t want to leave it to go back to school and give up all the momen­tum you’ve built. You also don’t want to take so long that you for­get why you were fin­ish­ing your degree in the first place.

For work­ing adults who are study­ing to com­plete their bachelor’s degrees, one fac­tor could stand out — how fast can I get my degree? The fastest online sports man­age­ment degree pro­grams use a lot of dif­fer­ent tech­niques to get stu­dents their degrees in a time­ly fash­ion. Many use accel­er­at­ed cours­es, typ­i­cal­ly any­where from 4 to 8 weeks long, so that stu­dents learn more inten­sive­ly and quick­ly. In addi­tion, short­er cours­es allow col­leges to offer more terms than the tra­di­tion­al semes­ter, some­times as many as 10 or 12 a year, so stu­dents can cram more cours­es faster. And of course, an accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram can accept trans­fer cred­its and offer cred­it for expe­ri­ence, so stu­dents can get their degree with few­er courses.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Accelerated Sports Management Program

All of these tech­niques are a part of mak­ing the top 10 sports man­age­ment pro­grams for speed and con­ve­nience, and help earn a place on Bachelor’s Degree Center’s rank­ing of the 10 Fastest Online Sports Man­age­ment Degree Bachelor’s Pro­grams for 2022. To rank the best accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter had a few cri­te­ria. First, pro­grams had to come from a region­al­ly-accred­it­ed insti­tu­tion, which indi­cates a fun­da­men­tal lev­el of qual­i­ty and rep­utabil­i­ty. Sec­ond­ly, bachelor’s com­ple­tion pro­grams had to include accel­er­at­ed course struc­tures, and be capa­ble of fin­ish­ing in less than 2 years.

Final­ly, col­leges that meet these cri­te­ria are ranked accord­ing to an aver­age of their cost, rep­u­ta­tion, alum­ni salary, grad­u­a­tion rate, and job place­ment rate, based on data from IPEDS, Col­lege Score­card, and Niche.

1. McKendree University

McK­endree University’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram is designed for for­mer ath­letes who wish to work in the rapid­ly expand­ing field of sports man­age­ment. McK­endree Uni­ver­si­ty’s online BBA in Sports Man­age­ment is a flex­i­ble and con­ve­nient edu­ca­tion­al deliv­ery method for busy work­ing learn­ers. Course­work for this degree includes eco­nom­ic, mar­ket­ing func­tions, Sports Psy­chol­o­gy and social appli­ca­tions in the world of sports. This sports man­age­ment degree pro­gram requires the com­ple­tion of 120 cred­it hours; how­ev­er, up to 90 cred­its may be trans­ferred if earned from an accred­it­ed school.

McK­endree Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1828 by pio­neer Methodists. The school holds the dis­tinc­tion of Illi­nois’ old­est col­lege. Its 235-acre sub­ur­ban cam­pus is home to near­ly 3,000 stu­dents that rep­re­sent more than 20 dif­fer­ent coun­tries. St. Louis is about 25 min­utes from McK­endree University’s main cam­pus. The uni­ver­si­ty is iden­ti­fied for its stu­dent-focused excel­lence initiative.

Degree: BBA in Sports Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

2. California Baptist University

Cal­i­for­nia Bap­tist University’s BA in Sports, Recre­ation and Fit­ness Man­age­ment degree can be com­plet­ed entire­ly online. CBU’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram is gen­er­al­ly com­plet­ed in only 16 months when the stu­dent com­pletes 49 major units. Course­work includes both the­o­ret­i­cal con­cepts and hands-on appli­ca­tions in the rel­e­vant areas of man­age­ment in the sports field — Fit­ness, Lead­er­ship, Finance, Well­ness, Eco­nom­ics, and Mar­ket­ing, among oth­er sports man­age­ment prin­ci­ples. Grad­u­ates find gain­ful employ­ment in the areas of Coach­ing, Cam­pus Advi­sor, Intra­mur­al Direc­tor, and Tourism Direc­tor or Per­son­al Train­er, among others.

Cal­i­for­nia Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1950 and is a pri­vate Chris­t­ian insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing affil­i­at­ed with the South­ern Bap­tist Con­ven­tion. Its 160-acre sub­ur­ban cam­pus is styled in the tra­di­tion of Mis­sion Revival archi­tec­ture. Cal­i­for­nia Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty receives accred­i­ta­tion from the West­ern Asso­ci­a­tion of Schools and Col­leges (WASC). Cal­i­for­nia Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram is one of the top 10 sports man­age­ment pro­grams in the west­ern Unit­ed States.

Degree: BA in Sport, Recre­ation, and Fit­ness Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

3. Eastern Kentucky University

East­ern Ken­tucky University’s online Bach­e­lor in Sports Man­age­ment can be com­plet­ed entire­ly through EKU’s dis­tance learn­ing plat­form. EKU’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents for excit­ing careers in the chal­leng­ing field of sports man­age­ment by offer­ing course­work that inte­grates the prin­ci­ples of man­age­ment with a love of sports. EKU offers a gen­er­ous cred­it trans­fer pol­i­cy for incom­ing stu­dents. Addi­tion­al­ly, the accel­er­at­ed course work allows stu­dents to begin on one of the pro­gram’s six start dates through­out the year. Class­es are pro­vid­ed in eight-week terms

East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic insti­tute of high­er learn­ing that was found­ed in 1874 as a teacher train­ing school. EKU oper­ates satel­lite cam­pus­es through­out Ken­tucky, but has become espe­cial­ly known for its con­ve­nient and afford­able online pro­grams. Mil­i­tary Times rec­og­nizes East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty as one of the best vet­er­an col­leges. US News & World Report rec­og­nizes East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty as one of the top 10 sports man­age­ment pro­grams in the south­ern por­tion of the country.

Degree: Bach­e­lor in Sports Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

4. Averett University

Averett Uni­ver­si­ty’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram was specif­i­cal­ly cre­at­ed as an Indi­vid­u­al­ly Designed Edu­ca­tion for Adult Learn­ers pro­gram. Averett Uni­ver­si­ty’s BS in Phys­i­cal Edu­ca­tion, Sports Man­age­ment degree pro­gram is an inde­pen­dent study com­plet­ed entire­ly online through their dis­tance learn­ing plat­form with gen­er­ous cred­it trans­fer poli­cies — up to 90 cred­its. Averett Uni­ver­si­ty’s degree pro­gram allows stu­dents to study in a man­ner that meets their sched­ul­ing needs, and each stu­dent is assigned an aca­d­e­m­ic advi­sor to guide them through the course­work. Grad­u­ates are pre­pared to enter the world of sports on a pro­fes­sion­al, ama­teur or col­le­giate levels.

Averett Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that was estab­lished in 1859. It is locat­ed near the Virginia/North Car­oli­na bor­der. It main­tains a Bap­tist affil­i­a­tion since 2011. Although the school began as a women’s col­lege, it was made coed­u­ca­tion in 1969. Averett has earned a rep­u­ta­tion as one of the top region­al col­leges, and is earn­ing still more recog­ni­tion as an online educator.

Degree: BS in Phys­i­cal Edu­ca­tion — Sports Management

5. Missouri Baptist University

Mis­souri Bap­tist University’s BS in Sports Man­age­ment degree can be com­plet­ed entire­ly online. Degree can­di­dates must com­plete a total of 120 cred­it hours, with 45 of these cred­it hours direct­ly relat­ed to their sports man­age­ment major. Mis­souri Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty’s cred­it trans­fer pol­i­cy is quite gen­er­ous as it allows for up to 96 cred­its to be trans­ferred to its accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram. Degree can­di­dates grad­u­ate with the option to become involved in Tal­ent Acqui­si­tion, Sports Broad­cast­ing, Facil­i­ties Man­age­ment, Sport­ing Pub­lic Rela­tions, and Infor­ma­tion Direc­tor, among others.

Mis­souri Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1957 as a pri­vate Chris­t­ian insti­tute of high­er learn­ing. The uni­ver­si­ty cur­rent­ly has twelve loca­tions that offer more than 50-degree pro­grams in the areas of arts, inter­dis­ci­pli­nary stud­ies, social & behav­ioral sci­ences, human­i­ties, and health & sports sci­ences, among oth­ers. Its main cam­pus in Creve Coeur is a part of the greater St. Louis met­ro­pol­i­tan area, giv­ing stu­dents a strong job mar­ket after graduation.

Degree: BS in Sports Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

6. Columbia Southern University

Colum­bia South­ern University’s BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion in Sports Man­age­ment can be com­plet­ed entire­ly online through their online plat­form. Colum­bia South­ern Uni­ver­si­ty’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram requires the com­ple­tion of 120 cred­it hours to earn the degree; how­ev­er, appli­cants have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to trans­fer up to 90 pre­vi­ous­ly earned cred­it toward the cred­it hour require­ments. Course­work inte­grates busi­ness poli­cies and the­o­ries into the sports indus­try back­drop. Grad­u­ates find gain­ful employ­ment as Sports Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Rela­tions Direc­tors, Facil­i­ties Man­age­ment, Front Office Admin­is­tra­tors, and mem­bers of the Coach­ing Staff.

Colum­bia South­ern Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that spe­cial­izes in dis­tance learn­ing degree pro­grams. This fam­i­ly-run school was estab­lished in 1993 and is cur­rent­ly accred­it­ed by the Dis­tance Edu­ca­tion Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion (DEAC) and the Coun­cil for High­er Edu­ca­tion Accred­i­ta­tion (CHEA). The school con­sists of three col­leges offer­ing more than 25-degree pro­grams. Colum­bia South­ern Uni­ver­si­ty’s tuition rates rank among the low­est in the indus­try, includ­ing reduced tuition rates for active mil­i­tary members.

Degree: BSBA in Sports Management

7. Grand Canyon University

Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty’s BS in Sports Man­age­ment degree is offered exclu­sive­ly online by the Colan­ge­lo Col­lege of Busi­ness. Their accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram pre­pares grad­u­ates with busi­ness skills and acu­men to prob­lem-solve and to think crit­i­cal­ly in the realm of sports man­age­ment. GCU’s sports man­age­ment grad­u­ates are pre­pared to enter the sports-relat­ed fields of Admin­is­tra­tion, Event Plan­ning, Guest Rela­tions, Mer­chan­dis­ing, and Mar­ket­ing. The BS degree requires the com­ple­tion of 120 cred­its, of which 56 cred­its are with­in the stu­den­t’s sports man­age­ment major. Upon apply­ing for the pro­gram, degree appli­cants may trans­fer up to 90 cred­its earned from oth­er region­al­ly accred­it­ed insti­tu­tions of high­er learning.

Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate Chris­t­ian insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that was estab­lished in 1949. It holds the dis­tinc­tion as the largest Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ty across the globe, based on stu­dent enroll­ment. The South­ern Bap­tist Con­ven­tion in Ari­zona orig­i­nal­ly found­ed the school, and after a num­ber of years as a for-prof­it insti­tu­tion, GCU returned to non-prof­it sta­tus in 2018. The Com­mis­sion on Accred­i­ta­tion of Ath­let­ic Train­ing Edu­ca­tion (CAATE) accred­its Grand Canyon University.

Degree: BS in Sports Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

8. Mercy College

Mer­cy Col­lege’s BS in Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion Sport Man­age­ment con­cen­tra­tion allows stu­dents hands-on, real-world expe­ri­ence in the com­plex, com­pre­hen­sive sports indus­try. Degree can­di­dates are required to com­plete a total of 120 cred­its to earn their bac­calau­re­ate degree; how­ev­er, up to 90 cred­its may be trans­ferred if earned through a region­al­ly accred­it­ed insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. Pre­vi­ous cor­po­rate place­ments upon grad­u­a­tion include the New Eng­land Patri­ots, the NCAA, and Madi­son Square Garden.

Mer­cy Col­lege is a pri­vate Roman Catholic school that was estab­lished in 1950. The college’s 65+-acre main cam­pus is locat­ed north of New York City in Westch­ester Coun­ty. The school oper­ates sev­er­al satel­lite loca­tions in Upper Westch­ester Coun­ty (York­town Heights), the Bronx, and in Man­hat­tan. Mer­cy Col­lege over­looks the majes­tic Hud­son Riv­er and runs through the Old Cro­ton Aque­duct Trail, a prime des­ti­na­tion for run­ners and hikers.

Degree: BS in Sport Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

9. Colorado Mesa University

Col­orado Mesa Uni­ver­si­ty’s online BS in Sports Man­age­ment degree pre­pares stu­dents for lead­er­ship roles in Collegiate/Professional Orga­ni­za­tions, Facil­i­ty Man­age­ment, Pub­lic Rela­tions, and many oth­er sports management/business relat­ed careers. CMU’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram allows stu­dents to trans­fer as much as 90 cred­its to a fast bachelor’s degree com­ple­tion. Degree can­di­dates study­ing for CMU’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram are required to com­plete a sports-man­age­ment-relat­ed intern­ship for 540 hours, and grad­u­ates can opt to go straight into an MBA from Col­orado Mesa University.

Col­orado Mesa Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic, space-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that was found­ed in 1925. It was ini­tial­ly called Mesa State Col­lege. Besides its satel­lite cam­pus­es, Col­orado Mesa offers many ful­ly online cours­es. Col­orado Mesa University’s urban cam­pus is home to more than 11,000 stu­dents. Col­orado Mesa Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized as West­ern Col­orado’s Selec­tive University.

Degree: BS in Sports Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

10. Liberty University

Lib­er­ty University’s online BS in Sports Man­age­ment degree is one of the best and fastest ways to com­plete a sports man­age­ment degree. Liberty’s accel­er­at­ed sports man­age­ment pro­gram is designed for con­ve­nience and flex­i­bil­i­ty, with ful­ly online, 8‑week long class­es and mul­ti­ple start times. Stu­dents can choose from sev­er­al con­cen­tra­tions in addi­tion to gen­er­al sports man­age­ment: Con­fer­ence and Event Man­age­ment, Sports Admin­is­tra­tion, Sports Com­mu­ni­ca­tion & Pub­lic Rela­tions, Sport Out­reach, and Sports Venue Man­age­ment. Most impor­tant­ly, as much as 75% of the pro­gram can be made up of trans­fer cred­its, help­ing stu­dents com­plete their degree much faster.

One of the most inno­v­a­tive Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ties in the US, Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty began as a con­ven­tion­al Bible col­lege in 1971. All along its his­to­ry, Lib­er­ty was known for out­reach to work­ing adults, but Lib­er­ty embraced online edu­ca­tion in the ear­ly 2000s, quick­ly becom­ing a leader in dis­tance edu­ca­tion. Today, with more than 100,000 stu­dents — near­ly all online — Lib­er­ty has become a mod­el of mod­ern Chris­t­ian high­er edu­ca­tion, includ­ing a top 10 sports man­age­ment program.

Degree: BS in Sports Management

Click here to learn more about the fastest sports man­age­ment degree!

How Fast Can I Finish My Sports Management Degree Program?

A typ­i­cal bachelor’s degree takes at least 4 years to com­plete: 2 years of gen­er­al edu­ca­tion, and two years in your major. Many of the best sports man­age­ment col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties today, though, offer accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for stu­dents who already have their gen­er­al edu­ca­tion from an associate’s degree. With an accel­er­at­ed online busi­ness degree, it will take approx­i­mate­ly twelve to eigh­teen months to com­plete the remain­ing major cours­es after an associate’s degree.

Most cours­es for accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams are about five to eight weeks long. Of course, it depends on the col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty that one attends. Accel­er­at­ed pro­grams may be called Flex or Flex­path, Fast Track, or some sim­i­lar name. The accel­er­at­ed option gives the stu­dent a way to low­er their tuition costs by fin­ish­ing school in a mat­ter of months. It also aligns the student’s learn­ing style to fit the needs of future employers.

For an Asso­ciates degree in sports man­age­ment online, the aver­age is about two years, but with a Flex­path option, com­ple­tion can be done in less than a year. Bach­e­lor degree pro­grams take about four years full-time straight out of high school. Tra­di­tion­al on-cam­pus busi­ness man­age­ment pro­grams typ­i­cal­ly do not have accel­er­at­ed options.

How­ev­er, accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams for bachelor’s may only be 12 months. Com­bine an accel­er­at­ed associate’s degree and an accel­er­at­ed bachelor’s degree, and you may have your full bachelor’s in less than 3 years.

Many under­grad­u­ate degrees will offer cred­it for work expe­ri­ence, so your bach­e­lor of sci­ence in sport man­age­ment can go even quick­er. Hands-on expe­ri­ence shows you’re ready for sports man­age­ment cours­es. You may study the busi­ness of sports or the legal aspects of sport.

Learn more about elec­tives, finan­cial aid, admis­sion require­ments, and GPA requirements.

Will Employers Trust an Accelerated Online Business Degree in Sports Management?

In the past, some busi­ness­es thought an accel­er­at­ed online pro­gram was not cred­i­ble, com­pared to the tra­di­tion­al col­lege expe­ri­ence. Some also viewed accel­er­at­ed online busi­ness degree pro­grams as rush­ing stu­dents through their edu­ca­tion, and believed the insti­tu­tions were not pro­vid­ing hands-on appli­ca­tions appro­pri­ate­ly. A divi­sion pres­i­dent for Insper­i­ty, a firm pro­vid­ing recruit­ing ser­vices, states, “About 75 per­cent of her clients have embraced online cre­den­tials. As for the oth­er 25 per­cent, she doesn’t count on chang­ing their minds.”

How­ev­er, in more recent years, many employ­ers now accept accel­er­at­ed online degree pro­grams from stu­dents that are ded­i­cat­ed and show promise in the sports indus­try. Those inter­est­ed in sports will have many oppor­tu­ni­ties to show off their abil­i­ties to the busi­ness­es or agen­cies they are inter­est­ed in attend­ing. An accel­er­at­ed path, like the Flex­path, allows stu­dents to go through school quick­ly, mov­ing for­ward with their sports career and Employ­ers encour­age their work­ers to take the accel­er­at­ed path. Of course, the accel­er­at­ed Flex­path may not be right for every stu­dent. There are Pros and Cons to every type of edu­ca­tion­al learn­ing style a stu­dent chooses.

Is an Accelerated Online Sports Management Degree Hard?

Sports man­age­ment degree pro­grams are a great option for stu­dents want­i­ng to get a jump-start on an excit­ing and lucra­tive career in Sports. Many sports man­age­ment degree schools offer the Flex­path option because of the cost effec­tive strate­gies it pro­vides the stu­dent. Schools like Capel­la Uni­ver­si­ty and Colum­bia Col­lege are among the top insti­tu­tions offer­ing the Flex­path option.

In some cas­es, an accel­er­at­ed online busi­ness degree, like an online sports man­age­ment degree, may be exhaust­ing, and at times demand­ing. How­ev­er, it is a reward­ing career option and pret­ty sim­ple to mas­ter. Although, for stu­dents who can­not han­dle the fast-paced class­room of an accel­er­at­ed degree, it can become very dif­fi­cult to keep up. Some with learn­ing styles that require more atten­tion to detail can strug­gle from the con­tin­u­ous amounts of course­work assigned to them each week. In addi­tion, bad study habits can hin­der pro­duc­tiv­i­ty in fast-paced classes.

How­ev­er, the good news is that the best sports man­age­ment col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties pro­vide coach­ing or men­tor­ing options for stu­dents who need the extra help in the class­room. No col­lege or Uni­ver­si­ty wants to see a stu­dent fail, and no stu­dent wants to give up on a good edu­ca­tion. Pro­vid­ing every pos­si­ble oppor­tu­ni­ty for stu­dents to exceed in their stud­ies while tak­ing an accel­er­at­ed plan will boost the student’s self-esteem and encour­age success.

Sports and recre­ation man­age­ment doesn’t just mean work­ing for ath­let­ic pro­grams, sports teams, or pro­fes­sion­al sports orga­ni­za­tions. Sports man­age­ment pro­fes­sion­als work in

• social media
• inter­col­le­giate edu­ca­tion programs
• sport law
• sport finance
• non­prof­it
• entre­pre­neur­ship
• sport facil­i­ty management
• sport mar­ket­ing
• sport­ing events

Career oppor­tu­ni­ties include ath­let­ic direc­tor, mar­ket­ing man­ag­er, and more. Your career goals might also ben­e­fit from a grad­u­ate degree like a master’s degree. The Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics shows sol­id growth and salaries.

To find the best sports man­age­ment col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties, research­ing is great­ly involved. Look­ing over col­lege web­sites alone is not enough. Many sports-enthu­si­ast stu­dents search on nation­al­ly rec­og­nized sites like Payscale and the US News and World Report. Each will pro­vide the stu­dent with updat­ed rank­ings and sta­tis­tics on job out­looks and career salary infor­ma­tion for Sports Man­age­ment degree schools and universities.

Relat­ed Rankings:

Best Bach­e­lor’s in Sports Man­age­ment Degree Pro­grams
Best Online Sports Man­age­ment Degree Bach­e­lors Pro­grams
Most Afford­able Online Sports Man­age­ment Degree Bach­e­lor Programs

Best Online Train­ing and Devel­op­ment Programs