From its recreation centers to its professional sports arenas, Chicago has a passion for sports that creates career opportunities for well-trained managers as well as athletes. To help students make the most of these opportunities in Chicago and around the country, DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business will launch an MBA concentration in sports management this September.

Students in the new program will complete core courses in DePaul’s part-time MBA program and then study sports leadership, management and operations, as well choose from elective courses in quality management, recruitment and selection, managing service operations, negotiation skills and project management.

“Most people envision sports management only as working in the front office of a professional sports team,” said Scott Young, chair of DePaul’s department of management and an avid runner who has completed 32 marathons. “Our program not only will prepare students for these competitive positions but also for many other opportunities available in sports-related management. Collegiate athletics, fitness and racquet clubs, and hotel and resort recreation programs all need managers. There also are opportunities with companies–such as Nike and Gatorade–that make sports-related products. This new program will combine the business and sports industry knowledge needed to succeed in these positions.”

Students who seek non-sports related management positions also may benefit from some of the program’s classes, Young added. “Students in the sports leadership course study the management styles of leading professional and collegiate sports coaches, which can be applied to any workplace where managers are charged with motivating employees to perform to their potential.”

DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business enrolls more than 1,800 students in highly respected, career-focused, flexible programs of business study that are fully accredited by the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business-International. The school’s part-time MBA program is ranked ninth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, and its graduate entrepreneurship program is rated No. 2 in the country by Entrepreneur magazine. MBA courses are offered weekday evenings and on weekends. A new morning MBA program debuts in September.

For more information about the sports management MBA concentration, call (312) 362-8810, or visit the program’s Web site.