A new, first-of-its-kind bachelor of commerce in Sport and Event Management at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph is going digital, offering a fully asynchronous online option.
The program offers an accessible and flexible learning environment for a broad spectrum of students starting in fall 2025, delivering the same content as the successful in-person program, complete with group projects and case-based learning.
"This allows us to expand and provide the opportunity for more students to study on their own schedule, breaking down the barriers of time zones that are common with distance learning and integrating with students from around the globe," says Dr. Ann Pegoraro, Lang Chair in Sport Management and professor in the Department of Management.
Lang learns pandemic lessons about the future of online learning
When the pandemic shifted learning online, valuable lessons were learned about how to offer a quality education in a digital world, Pegoraro says.
The sport and event management program at Lang launched in 2020; its first cohort just graduated. What faculty have discovered is that a flexible learning environment that meets students where they are is future-focused and positions U of G to reach a broader audience.
Athletes who professionalize early such as figure skaters, tennis or gymnasts who don't have the capacity to be on campus regularly look for flexible programs to work around the pursuit of their sport, Pegoraro says.
Similarly, working students and international students unable to travel or relocate to Guelph can now access the program focused on marketing, accounting, leadership, economics, and management, through a sports management lens.
Faculty augment those traditional courses with others on sport media and communications, social media marketing, fandom, the impact of business on sport and how it is financed.
"This program opens all kinds of doors for students," Pegoraro says. "And this online option is going to make U of G an enticing, economical option for those students."
A scholarship valued at up to $15,000 for international online BComm students is also available through Lang to ease financial barriers and reflect the school's commitment to global engagement and developing leaders with broad, cross-cultural perspectives.
AACSB-accredited program boasts 96% job placement rate
Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Lang is only one of two Canadian universities that offers a bachelor of commerce in sport and event management. It ranks in the top six per cent globally with a 96 per cent job placement rate.
The in-person program has proven popular and receives upwards of 800 applications each year, with room for approximately 130.
"This online option allows us to expand and provide the opportunity for more students to study," Pegoraro says.
Sport and event management students recently won the NHL's Industry Growth Fund Hockey Innovation Competition, competing in a pitch-style format to create innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions to increase participation and fandom. Their first-place project will leverage the NHL's Mobile Museum to tailor experiences to school classrooms making it accessible through field trips.
"Our faculty members knew we had something special with the in-person and co-op options of our Sport and Event Management BComm program," says Dr. Kathleen Rodenburg, Lang associate dean (academic).
"With the kind of demand we're seeing for the career focused, industry aligned education we deliver, it made sense to share that expertise with students beyond Southwestern Ontario."
