By Daniel Axelrod
St. Thomas University (STU) and the Global Institute of Sport will announce the creation of America’s first “Global Fútbol Management” master’s degree at 3 p.m. today at Inter Miami CF’s Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The new one-year degree, officially dubbed the “Master of Science in Sports Administration with a Global Fútbol Management Specialization,” features classes on how to lead and promote soccer clubs. Students will split their time between classes at Chase Stadium, home to Inter Miami, and STU’s Miami Gardens campus.
STU is the first U.S. university to offer a master’s in Global Fútbol Management and the first American university to partner with GIS to develop such a degree in America. STU will begin offering the degree in the fall 2025 semester beginning in August. GIS and STU jointly developed the curriculum.
Key courses will include Leading Fútbol Clubs & Organizations, Fútbol Fan Engagement, Fútbol Finance, Fútbol Operations Management, Global Sports Industry Engagement, Sports Ethics, Legal Aspects of Sports Administration, and an internship.
STU has been at the national epicenter for sports administration education since 1972, when the university became America’s first to offer an undergraduate sports management degree, now an academic staple at colleges nationwide. Now, STU is teaming with GIS to create a master’s degree in soccer to bolster the university’s robust sports educational offerings.
Students in the new degree program will join the nearly 400 students STU educates in a sports administration-related B.A., B.B.A., and an M.S. The university also offers an M.B.A., and a doctorate in business administration with sports administration specializations, and an M.B.A. with a sports tourism focus.
Since GIS’s inception five years ago, the London-based institute has become a worldwide leader in sports education. GIS serves 500 students via online and in-stadium courses in nine sports business, marketing, and performance-related master’s degrees. The institute, which teaches many of its classes at Wembley Stadium in London, also has partnered with the University of East London and the Free University of Brussels to offer accredited football degrees in Europe.
“Partnering with St. Thomas University to develop America’s first Global Fútbol Management master’s specialization was an easy choice,” said Sharona Friedman, President and CEO of GIS. “STU, like GIS, has a reputation as a pioneer in sports higher education and the industry connections for students to excel. Together with our incredible partners at Inter Miami CF, this program will provide students with the best possible platform to transform the booming Fútbol industry in America and beyond.”
“No other U.S. university has 52 years of experience teaching students how to lead and promote sports teams,” said David A. Armstrong, J.D., president of St. Thomas University. “Sports are much more than fun and games. They are big business. STU’s new Global Fútbol Management degree will give companies the employees they need to keep up with the sport’s incredible global growth.”
Soccer is thriving in America. Major League Soccer’s average per match attendance rocketed 5% to 23,000 fans in 2023, a league record and a higher average attendance than the NBA, NHL, and MLB, respectively. MLS in 2023 signed a 10-year $2.5 billion streaming deal, a 177% annual increase from the last MLS TV deal.
Inter Miami recently became one of four MLS teams to exceed a $1 billion valuation. Students in the Global Fútbol Management master’s degree will take classes at Miami Freedom Park in 2026 when a growing Inter Miami club moves there in 2026.
Beyond watching soccer, 14 million Americans now play the sport outdoors annually. They are helping drive $56.4 billion in worldwide soccer revenue annually, a figure the market researcher Statista expects will top $66.7 billion by 2029.
Soccer is not the only sport hiring. Americans staff a total of 544,460 jobs in arts, entertainment, sports, and associated industries, including roughly 150,300 positions related to spectator sports, which boast a healthy median salary of $92,730, federal data show.
The spectator sports subsector’s median salary is 52% higher than America’s overall median salary, and industry analysts expect the subsector will add 5.4% more jobs by the early 2030s. Market research shows that college graduates stand out among those seeking sports administration positions, including 51,942 workers with bachelor’s degrees and 16,035 with graduate degrees working in spectator sports and related fields.
