The Grand Canyon State hosts some of the nation’s oldest historic cities and national landmarks. As one of the most renowned states in the Southwest for higher education and business, Arizona is home to four major league sports franchises, including the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns, and Arizona Diamondbacks. The state plays host to the collegiate sports teams of some of the United States’ largest universities, such as those found in Phoenix, Tucson, and Tempe. The State of Arizona also houses over 50 institutions of higher education, which include 3 public universities that, taken together with its private universities, comprise one of the largest university systems in the Southwest, with an average enrollment of over 400,000 students per year. One of the best parts of living in the twenty-first century is that residents from almost anywhere can choose to attend college almost anywhere, so that someone in Tuscon can attend a university in Phoenix and vice versa, all from the privacy of their own home. To be sure, there are a growing number of reasons why an increasing number of U.S. citizens want to move to Arizona—the same reasons why Arizona residents might want to stay right where they are—and get everything they need from their online degree in sports management.
Planning Your Education
There are currently 6 universities in the State of Arizona offering online programs of study in sports management. While this level of choice and convenience is great, potential students should be counseled to know that there are many potential ways to enter into sports management fields. Many degree types can give students a variety of unique edges on the competition, but it’s for students to choose which degree type is the best for entering into a sports management field or role of their choice. For an in-depth treatment of this subject, check out our degrees page. Or if you already know what degree types you’re interested in, check out our directory of sports management degrees in Arizona.
Types of Degrees Surveyed:
- Sports Management
- Coaching Education
- Nutrition
- Recreation Management
- Kinesiology
- Communications and Public Relations
- Physical Education
- Health and Wellness
- Sports Psychology
- Business Administration: Sports Management
Degree Levels Surveyed:
- Associates
- Bachelors
- Masters
- Doctoral Degrees
- Graduate and Undergraduate Certifications
Career Opportunities
Number of Jobs
Arizona is one of the smaller markets for sports management jobs in the nation, acting as homebase for approximately 1% of all sports management professionals in the United States. Because available positions are often filled by people who are already climbing the ladder of sports management career paths, job opportunities have rarified over the last decade, having reached 5,850 in 2008 before dropping to 4,580 in 2010. According to Indeed.com, there are over 600 job openings related to the search terms “sports management” in Arizona. These jobs tend to congregate around the Phoenix metro area, although some are also located in Tucson, Tempe, and Mesa. The vast majority of these job openings are listed under the classification of Full-Time, affording sports professionals a wealth of opportunity to further their careers in the State of Arizona, where conversations and careers that revolve around professional sports powerhouses like the Patriots, Celtics, and Red Sox are common cultural currency.
Earning Percentiles for Sports Management Professionals in Arizona
Across all segments of the working population, Arizona yields the thirtieth highest average wages in the nation by state. Sports management jobs in Arizona tend to offer salaries that are above average, with 90 percent of sports management professionals earning above the Arizona average income of $46,709. For leadership positions in spectator sports, the mean salary for management positions is $117,000 nationwide, a figure that the top 10% of sports management professionals in Arizona easily supersedes. This means that at least one in every ten sports management professionals in Arizona is in a leadership position and taking home more than most sports management professionals in similar positions and other states.
Need more inspiration to pursue sports management-related opportunities in Arizona today? Check out the range of job opportunities below!
Top Sports Management Degree Programs: AZ
While there are a variety of top schools offering a range of sports management-related degrees online in Arizona, students will first and foremost want to consider the exact degree type they're interested in pursuing. We've chosen out our three "recommended" schools for Arizona below, but aspiring students should keep in mind that not each of these universities will necessarily have a program of study that can lead directly to the particular sports management career of your choice. If you're already set on pursuing sports management-related schooling in the state of Arizona, we advise you to not only consult out ranking of top schools below, but also peruse our database of all sports management-related programs in Arizona below. While there are additional benefits of pursuing an online degree in your own state (in-state tuition, and the ability to take classes or intensives in person), future students should also note that there are many online programs available nationwide, and consult our wide-ranging rankings for the top online sports management schools in the nation.
With that said, there are many top Arizona-based programs available entirely online. We've selected our top three through equally weighting two metrics: the number of sports-management related degrees available online through the institution, and the academic prestige of the given institution.
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AZ Sports Management Degree Database
Largest Public U.S. University By Total Enrollment
| Mesa Community College | Mesa, AZ | Online SM Degrees: 1 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO (480) 461-7000 1833 W Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ 85202
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| Ottawa University Phoenix | Phoenix, AZ | Online SM Degrees: 1 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO (602) 371-1188 9414 N 25th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85021
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