The overall Session Long Project (SLP) requires students to develop a Finance and Marketing Guide that may be used in various settings of the sports industry, including (but not limited to) interscholastic, collegiate, and professional sports. This guide will serve as a compilation of written materials and projects that reflect an understanding of the course content while describing knowledge and information related to Sport Finance and Marketing.

Students will develop their Finance and Marketing Guide by completing the following five sections throughout the Session, with one section due each module:

Section 1: Analysis of financial trends and challenges in the sports industry and acquisition and uses of public and private financial resources

Section 2: Presentation of a Sport Sponsorship Proposal

Section 3: SWOT analysis of sport product

Section 4: Application of the Four P's of the marketing plan

SLP Assignment Expectations

As an athletic administrator, you have been asked to present your athletic department’s budget to your leadership board (e.g., school board or Board of Regents).

To do this, you must create a 10- to 12-slide PowerPoint presentation that displays your department’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Include the basic components of a budget along with the details of these components. Identify any sources of public and/or private funding.

There are a number of ways one can lay out a budget; this assignment is not about format, but what information should be included to best communicate the fiscal responsibility of your department. Numbers do not have to be from an actual departmental budget; they can be fictitious, although you may incorporate numbers from an actual school’s budget if you can access it from a school website (be sure to cite this as a source on the reference slide).

In addition to displaying your budget, be sure to list and discuss the various revenues, expenses, and funding sources associated with running an athletics program. Remember, you are presenting to your leadership board so the information should be informative and thorough, yet clear and concise.

Be sure to provide speaker’s notes (100–150 words) for each slide. These should represent, for the most part, what you would be saying to your audience at the presentation. A separate reference slide should accompany your presentation as your final slide (in addition to the 10–12 slides for your actual presentation).

Your presentation should include (but not be limited to) the following:

• Introduce and provide brief overview of your chosen sports program.
• Identify and offer rationale for the budget.
• Compare and contrast the use of both public and private funds for your program.
• Propose an ultimate budget plan for your program and explain the rationale for your plan.

Required Reading

Journals

Collins, R. (2011). Pay-to-Play Programs: Are they an acceptable solution to our budget woes? District Administration. 47(7). 78–78.

Rascher, D. A., Nagel, M. S., Brown, M. T., & McEvoy, C. D. (2011). Free Ride, Take it Easy: An empirical analysis of adverse incentives caused by revenue sharing. Journal of Sport Management, 25 (5), 373–390.

Samson, A. (2013). Financial sustainability of today’s NCAA Division I athletics. Insights to a Changing World Journal. 2013 (3), 126–137.

DeMause, N. (2011). Why do mayors love sports stadiums? Nation, 293 (7/8), 14–17.

Ripley, A. (2013). The case against high school sports. Atlantic, 312 (3), 72–78.

Simplicio, J. (2011). New ideas that are academically sound are good, those that bring in money are even better. Education, 131 (3), 533–537.

Walsh, M. (1998). Public/Private partnership makes sports dome a reality. Parks & Recreation, 33 (1), 26.

Websites

National Journal. Fighting Against ‘Pay to Play’ Sports. Retrieved September 7, 2014, from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_in_sports/…

Plunkett Research, Ltd. Video: Sports-Recreation-Leisure-Market-Research. Retrieved September 7, 2014, from http://www.plunkettresearch.com/video/sports

Schooled in Sports (2012). Budget Cuts in Texas Put Crimp in School Sports. Retrieved September 7, 2014, from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_in_sports/…

Differences Between Public and Private Sources of Funding. Kent State University.
http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/grants/publicVSpriv…

UCBerkeleyevents. (2011, September 19). Fundraising Fundamentals [Video File].