Sport Business Management
The closest fit. Shares the SPM prefix and the industry logic, and Media in Sport counts toward both.
Esports Management Minor
Competitive gaming is an industry now, with teams, leagues, sponsors, broadcast rights, arenas, and a workforce. The Esports Management minor teaches you the business behind it: how tournaments get designed and run, how sponsorships are built and activated, how fans are engaged and kept, and how the economics of interactive entertainment actually work. It’s open to every student on campus, whether or not you’re in the Business School.
Why Study Esports Management
Florida Southern was early to this. The College launched varsity esports in January 2018, the first varsity program in Florida and the first Florida school to join the National Association of Collegiate Esports, and built the academic program on top of an established competitive one. That sequencing matters: the minor was designed alongside people who run teams and events, not assembled from adjacent business courses.
The curriculum reflects it. You study the economic impact of gaming, team development, tournament design, consumer behavior, and the strategic management of interactive entertainment, with a heavy emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship. The tournament design course covers researching, planning, coordinating, marketing, managing, and evaluating an actual event, and the sponsorship course examines revenue generation and consumer behavior in light of current industry trends.
Pairs Well With
A minor's value is in how it complements your major. Esports Management is open to all students, inside and outside the business school, and pairs naturally with:
Interactive and Game Design
Pair the craft of building games with the business of competing in them.
Communication
Media in Sport is cross-listed as COM 2150, and broadcast, production, and social strategy are central to how esports reaches an audience.
Marketing and Business Administration
Sponsorship activation and fan engagement are marketing problems with an unusual audience.
Computer Science
The department the varsity program originally partnered with, and still the technical backbone of the industry.
Program Details
The Esports Management minor is 20 credit hours: four required courses plus one game design course you choose.
Required Courses
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| SPM 1150 | Introduction to Esports Management |
| SPM 2150 | Media in Sport |
| SPM 3150 | Esports Tournament Design |
| SPM 4150 | Esports Sponsorship, Activation, and Fan Engagement |
Game Design Course — Choose One
Select one course from the options below:
| Course | Title | Wright Foundations |
|---|---|---|
| ART 1150 | Principles of Game Design | Fine Arts |
| ART 1175 | History of Game Design | Global Perspective |
- The SPM sequence is strictly ordered: Media in Sport is the prerequisite for Tournament Design, and Tournament Design is the prerequisite for Sponsorship, Activation, and Fan Engagement. That’s three courses that cannot be doubled up, so plan for at least three semesters on that chain alone and start no later than your sophomore year.
- Introduction to Esports Management and the game design courses stand alone: SPM 1150, ART 1150, and ART 1175 carry no prerequisites and can be taken in any semester, which gives you flexibility around the fixed SPM chain.
- Your game design course may also satisfy a WRIGHT Foundations requirement: ART 1150 carries a Fine Arts designation, and ART 1175 carries Global Perspectives. Choose based on which Foundations requirement you still need.
- Media in Sport is cross-listed: SPM 2150 is the same course as COM 2150. Register under either prefix.
- Earn a 2.0 in the minor: All minors at Florida Southern must be completed with a 2.0 grade point average.
- Complete half the minor here: Complete at least 50 percent of the minor requirements at Florida Southern College.
Beyond The Classroom
The minor sits alongside one of the longest-running varsity esports programs in the country, and you don’t have to compete to benefit from it. Mocs Esports fields varsity teams that compete nationally, and the Snake Pit arena on campus offers gaming stations open to the general student population as well as space for varsity and community competition. Between the teams, the events, and the arena, there is a working esports operation on campus to learn from and contribute to.
Where It Can Lead
Esports careers cluster in a handful of places: enterprise and team management, event management and production, finance and accounting for gaming organizations, and sponsorship and marketing. Those roles exist at interscholastic, intercollegiate, and professional esports organizations, at event organizers, and in entrepreneurial ventures across the space. The skills also transfer directly into adjacent industries, since tournament operations, sponsorship activation, and audience engagement are the same disciplines that run traditional sports, live events, and streaming media.
How To Declare This Minor
Skip to next section- 1
Return it to the Office of the Registrar on the second floor of the Buckner Building, or email it to registrar@flsouthern.edu. Esports Management does not require departmental signature.
- 2
Requests are reviewed and updated in the FSC Portal within three to five business days, and you will receive an email confirmation at your FSC Mocs email.
- 3
No approval is required to declare, but the three-course prerequisite chain is the tightest scheduling constraint in the minor. Start early.
Get in Touch
Questions about the Esports Management minor, or ready to declare?
Nicholas "Nick" Nugent, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Business and Economics, Sports Business Management Program
- 863.680.4397
- 863.680.4355
- nnugent@flsouthern.edu
- Becker Business - 329
Jon Nachtigal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
- 863.680.4700
- jnachtigal@flsouthern.edu
- Becker Business - 334
Take the Next Step
This is a big decision, and we’re here to help you make the choice that’s right for the future you’re imagining. Choose a next step to explore the possibilities at FSC!