Sports Communication

Types of Degrees Sports Communication Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many sports communication graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	758
Basic Certificate	283
Master’s Degree	86
Graduate Certificate	28
Associate Degree	6

What Sports Communication Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to sports communication and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Sports Communication Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Sports Communication Majors

When studying sports communication, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Sports Communication Majors

Sports Communication majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Sports Communication Major?

People with a sports communication degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes	4.7%	$66,040
Communications Professors	10.0%	$68,910
Entertainers and Performers, Sports and Related Workers	8.2%	NA
Public Relations Specialists	8.9%	$60,000

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Communication?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 83% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of sports communication majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	11
Black or African American	64
Hispanic or Latino	71
White	566
International Students	7
Other Races/Ethnicities	39

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Sports Communication, too. About 0.9% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Sports Communication

Some careers associated with sports communication require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for sports communication careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	2.3%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	4.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.2%
Some College Courses	9.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	56.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.7%
Master’s Degree	17.1%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.2%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.5%
Doctoral Degree	2.8%
Post-Doctoral Training	1.8%

Online Sports Communication Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	4	0
Bachelor’s Degree	4	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	7	1
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Sports Communication

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to sports communication.

Major	Number of Grads
Public Relations	4,566
Advertising	4,315
Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	4,239
Communication Management and Strategic Communications	2,031
General Organizational Communication	1,835
Other Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication	1,470
Health Communication	416
International & Intercultural Communication	245
Political Communication	221
Technical & Scientific Communication	167

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Bill Koplitz under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.