By Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu
Posted on June 15, 2020
The University of South Carolina’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management is proud to announce the renewal of Matthew Brown as chair of UofSC’s Department of Sport and Entertainment Management. Brown, who joined the university in 2005, began serving as chair since 2013, and student enrollment in his department has doubled since then. The department is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. according to the Global Rankings of Sport Science Schools and Departments by ShanghaiRankings.
“It has been an honor serving as department chair and I look forward to leading the department for three more years. I am fortunate to have a great faculty and staff that truly cares about educating our students and helping them achieve careers in the sport, entertainment, and venue management industries,” Brown says.
Brown brings a long and distinguished background to the chair position, having served on the faculty of Ohio University’s well-respected Sports Administration and Facility Management Program before coming to South Carolina. He has also been a liaison between the department and the Lexington County Blowfish baseball team, chief financial officer of the Southern Ohio Copperheads and as treasurer of the board of directors of the Southern Ohio Collegiate Baseball Club. He also served as the treasurer of the North American Society for Sport Management and is a member of the Sport Marketing Association and North American Association for Sports Economics.
In addition to Brown’s renewal, the department also announces the addition of a new faculty member, Assistant Professor Yongjin Hwang, who will begin August 16. Hwang comes to South Carolina from Arkansas State University and will be teaching live entertainment management and sport and entertainment marketing.
We are grateful and excited Dr. Brown will continue providing leadership to this successful and still growing program. Under his leadership, the department has achieved its highest ranking and recorded growth every year. I have no doubt that additional success for the department is yet to come, given his leadership and the remarkable world-class faculty.
— Haemoon Oh, dean of the university's College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management.
Hwang is the newest addition to the department’s roster of world-renowned faculty. The program combines theory and practice like no other program in the nation with leading scholars preparing students for career success alongside faculty known for their industry expertise such as former president of Washington Sports Entertainment Susan O’Malley, former Carolina Panthers President Danny Morrison, former Churchill Downs VP of Marketing and Sales Todd Koesters, former Charlotte Coliseum Manager Sporty Jeralds and more.
The department is home to leaders of national industry organizations, including president of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association, president-elect of the Sport Marketing Association and others. It is also home to the College Sport Research Institute and the newly named Center for Advancement of Sport Management.
Sport and entertainement management bachelor’s degree students may choose to focus on entertainment management, sport management, venue and event management or a research track. The department’s Master of Sport and Entertainment Management degree program, ranked No. 15 in the U.S., offers thesis and non-thesis options. The Ph.D. program, based on a three-year period of residential study, prepares students to conduct both theoretical and applied research within the broadening domain of sport and entertainment and to be an effective teacher and mentor to students, as well as a valuable resource for other industry professionals.
Students earning degrees from the department have moved into countless leadership positions in the industry and academia. The department offers unique opportunities to connect with top employers and gain real-world experience, giving students a competitive career edge. They build their resumes working at events like PGA championships, the Kentucky Derby, March Madness and Disney on Ice. They engage with an exclusive lineup of guest lecturers, including industry professionals from the Carolina Panthers, Feld Entertainment, Contemporary Services Corporation, LiveNation, the SEC, ESPN and more.
The department hosts two annual conferences: Sport, Entertainment and Venues Tomorrow and the College Sport Research Institute Conference, bringing industry and academic leaders from across the country to share knowledge and spark discussion.