The University of South Florida’s Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management programme finishes in third place in the Postgraduate Rankings for the second consecutive year. The programme moves into its 11th year in 2022-23, although 10th anniversary celebrations will take place in the Spring of 2023, around the 10th anniversary of the course’s first graduation.
Dr. Michelle Harrolle is the program’s director and has held the role since 2019. Dr. Harrolle is one of four full-time faculty members, alongside four adjuncts. Its typical class size is close to 30 and graduates earn a dual-award MBA/MS and study a curriculum designed around providing rounded personal and professional development around the business of sports, placing the industry in its wider global and cultural context.
The course is named after the Vinik family, owners of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning and was launched via a partnership with the franchise. The partnership with the Lightning and the wider Tampa Bay sports community, including organisations such as Fanatics, Valspar, USF Athletics, Women’s Tennis Association, and Hard Rock Casino, is leveraged as part of the program’s focus on experiential learning, with a significant emphasis placed on relationship building throughout the program. Part of this is achieved through trips and events, with students visiting Las Vegas in 2021-22 and presenting student created partnership proposals to MGM Resorts executives as part of the trip.
This was part of a busy schedule in Spring which would see the course leaders plan several in-person events, including the annual USF Esports Summit and USF Sports and Entertainment Analytics Conference, after the opportunity to do so was lessened over 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. These type of trips and events can be linked to the high score the Vinik program achieved in the extra-curricular and industry network metrics among respondents to the 2022 Postgraduate Rankings survey. The program ranked top globally on the industry network measure, with a score just under 99 out of 100 and achieved the same score in the extra-curricular category, placing it second worldwide here.
The program’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is also reflected in the data, topping the global rankings in this measure with a score of 95. Dr. Harrolle discussed the approach of the program in this area in last year’s edition of the rankings, detailing one example of recruitment being conducted virtually to help engage students from underprivileged backgrounds, while Kristine Propokec, class of 2015, details experiences of the commitment to gender equality within the Vinik program in the Alumni Interview below.
This article is part of the 2022 SportBusiness Postgraduate Rankings. To browse the entire report and view the overall tables, click here.