Wednesday, Sep 12, 2012
The interdisciplinary program is designed to provide students with courses relevant to the examination of the multifaceted world of sports and appreciate the important role of sports in shaping culture.
by Meaghan Haugh
Dr. Charles McCall, associate professor of Economics, has been named the director of the Business of Sports minor program at Rider University. He succeeds Dr. Ira Sprotzer, associate professor and chairperson of the Department of Marketing, Advertising and Legal Studies, who oversaw the program since its inception.
“I am very pleased to have been appointed by Dean Steve Lorenzet to this position and look forward to working with students and my colleagues to enhance this popular and successful program developed by Dr. Sprotzer,” McCall said.
The Business of Sports minor is an innovative, interdisciplinary program designed to provide students with courses relevant to the examination of the multifaceted world of sports and appreciate the important role of sports in shaping culture. University departments including Communications, Legal Studies and Marketing, Sociology, Gender Studies, and Economics have developed courses for the program enabling students to study and critically evaluate the social, political, ethical, legal, economic and media-related issues in sports.
Over the years, McCall has contributed his economic expertise to the Business of Sports program. His classes have used economic models to analyze issues such as player salaries. The students learn how labor markets work, and discuss reserve clauses, relative salary levels and how much players contribute to the economy of their sports.
The Business of Sports curriculum gives students the opportunity to use the expertise and perspectives from their major to pursue in-depth study of sports related issues. On campus coursework is complemented by hands on internships, experiential learning through international sports related travel courses and presentations from guest speakers employed in a variety of roles in the sports industry. This minor also helps to give students a greater understanding of sports related employment possibilities as well as preparation for graduate work in sports management and administration programs.