Final Term Paper Requirements:
The term paper is a comprehensive semester-long project. Students will complete this project in the steps described below. Your Term Paper is your major contribution, where you will exhibit your learning. Students will develop a sports business plan for a company that they would like to establish in any area that might be related to sports: Sports team, athletic facility (gym, stadium, arena, etc.), services (medical, recreational, etc.), or other. In your plan, consider the following suggested elements:
Marketing plan – What is the size of market you will go after? How would you assess that? What ways and means would you engage to explore and win the necessary market segments for your success?
Financial plan – Where would the initial capital come from? Predict the cash flow in the first months of the operation. How would you finance the business growth? How would you finance operational costs? How will you define financial success?
Legal Plan – What legal challenges would have to be addressed? How would you make sure that your business is in accordance with the law?
Company Structure – Develop an organizational structure. Discuss positions that would have to be filled. How many employees in those positions, planned compensation, required qualifications? What will you use for a facility? Will it be rented, owned, constructed, or adapted? Where is the location? What is the cost of acquiring and cost of maintenance?
This project will incorporate important concepts and frameworks introduced throughout the course and will demonstrate the students’ ability to understand and properly apply these concepts in real-life contexts.
Parameters and guidelines for the term paper are as follows:
Develop an organization, e.g., a corporation, company, firm or association for in-depth analysis of sports management practices.
The term paper should be at least 1,500 words with at least 3 scholarly references in addition to your eText for a minimum of 4 total references. Please keep in mind that the word count requirements point out the minimum amount of effort that should be put into the paper. Word count isn’t everything because quality of writing and research matters as well, but it is an indication of the quantity of effort put into the assignment. Note that word count does not include title, abstract, or reference pages. Not following this requirement will significantly impact the grade.
Use scholarly peer-reviewed references rather than websites. Scholarly references are generally more credible and make a more persuasive argument. Non-academic websites are not typically recommended for academic writing. While most of the information generally is correct, it is not always reliable because anyone can change the content, bias is often present, and it is not peer-reviewed. For example, it’s best not to use news websites, Wikipedia, investopedia.com, about.com, smallbusiness.chron.com, huffingtonpost.com, ehow.com, forbes.com, cnn.com, online encyclopedias, or similar non-academic websites. Articles in these types of websites are written by reporters or individuals who may or may not be experts in the field, and consequently may have incorrect or biased information. Instead, it adds much more credibility to use the class eText, other related textbooks, and peer-reviewed articles, i.e. scholars have analyzed and evaluated the content for accuracy, quality, and reliability. Be sure to use the university library to help you find these types of scholarly references. The library has a setting in database searches that allow you to search for peer-reviewed articles only.
The Term Paper should be well organized with the required components, a cover and references page and encompass the above subject and content guidelines, and an electronic copy of the project should be submitted via Turnitin.