New Jersey has a long tradition of sports and recreational opportunities. Both the New York Jets and Giants play in East Rutherford’s brand new MetLife Stadium — one of the most expensive ever built — and the MLS Red Bulls and New Jersey Devils also call the Garden State home. (Six minor baseball teams play in the area.) Collegiate sports are a favorite, too. Rutgers, the state’s largest university, is a member of the Big Ten Conference and a major contender on the national level, particularly in football. Meanwhile, Princeton and Seton Hall each have men’s basketball programs that routinely play Cinderella in March Madness (The former famous pioneered the “Princeton Offense” style of play.) But for sheer numbers, New Jersey high school athletics are worth highlighting: 22,000 schools, 330,000 coaches, and almost 4.5 million athletes participate in the NJSIAA. All this, plus major urban areas’ proximity to New York City, has created a unique sports culture in New Jersey and helped increase sports-related employment in recent years. Check out our favorite locations, universities, and degree programs for sports management below!
Planning Your Education
Currently there are 8 universities in the state of New Jersey offering online programming in sports management degree fields located throughout the state. 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 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 your interested in, check out our directory of sports management degrees in New Jersey.
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
Sports management jobs are on the rise in New Jersey, recently growing by as much as 25%. Today, there are approximately 20,000 positions, which make up about 6% of related jobs nationwide. The majority of these are full-time positions, though part-time, temp, and internship roles also exist. Newark appears to be the largest area of employment, according to Indeed.com, followed by Jersey City, Hoboken, and Princeton. For both quantity and quality, universities like Rutgers and Princeton are good places to start the job search. Rutgers in particular, with a student population of nearly 70,000, is a serious player in the NCAA and member of the Big 10 Conference. (Referred to as “the birtplace of football,” it hosted the first intercollegiate football game against Princeton in 1869 and remains a top regional program.) Outside of the collegiate sphere, New Jersey has four professional sports teams located in the state — including the “New York” Jets and Giants — plus a number of gyms and health and fitness clubs.
Earning Percentiles for Sports Management Professionals in New Jersey
With the growth in New Jersey sports manageement employment has come a salary bump of 16% in recent years. Middle-of-the-pack earners make nearly $110,000 per year, and senior level positions average over $160,000. (To compare: the mean salary for management positions in spectator sports is $117,000 nationwide, which would place near the 60th percentile for sports management salaries in New Jersey.) While there is a large earnings disparity in the field, this trend is typical in New Jersey and lower-paying positions still offer competitive compensation. Indeed.com (which mostly lists entry- to mid-level positions) lists a median salary of about $43,000 for available positions at present.
Need more inspiration to pursue sports management-related opportunities in New Jersey today? Check out the range of job opportunities below!
Top Sports Management Degree Programs: NJ
While there are a variety of top schools offering a range of sports management-related degrees online in New Jersey, 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 New Jersey 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 New Jersey, 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 New Jersey 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 New Jersey-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.
[tcpaccordion id="1178"]
NC Sports Management Degree Database
| Seton Hall University | South Orange, NJ | Online SM Degrees:1 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO (973) 761-9000 400 S. Orange Avenue, South Orange, NJ 07079
|
|||
Asynchronous and synchronous deliveries| Georgian Court University | Lakewood, NJ | Online SM Degrees:1 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO (800) 458-8422 900 Lakewood Avenue, Lakewood, NJ 08701
|
|||
| New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark, NJ | Online SM Degrees:1 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO (973) 596-3000 University Heights, Newark, NJ 07102
|
|||
| Rowan University | Glassboro, NJ | Online SM Degrees:1 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO (856) 256-4000 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ 08028
|
|||
| Berkeley College | Woodland Park, NJ | Online SM Degrees:2 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO (973) 278-5400 44 Rifle Camp Road, Woodland Park, NJ 07424
|
|||
| Fairleigh-Dickinson-University-College-at-Florham | Madison, NJ | Online SM Degrees:1 | |
 ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940
|
|||
| Fairleigh Dickinson University Metropolitan Campus | Teaneck, NJ | Online SM Degrees:1 | |
|
ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO 1000 River Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666
|
|||