A sports venue management emphasis will be implemented into the hotel and restaurant management major in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources for fall 2011.

This new emphasis would allow students to focus on a wide array of sports-related business practices, assistant teaching professor Lance Hatfield said in a news release.

“Students will receive specialized instruction in the management and operation of sport venues in addition to the business of live entertainment, including sports games, tournaments, concerts and event production,” he said.

Freshman David Nordwald, a hotel and restaurant management field major, said he heard in his classes there is a growing interest in sports venue management. He said the field could offer a variety of jobs, such as maintaining private arenas, sports complexes in hotels and on a larger scale, managing the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

“From a couple of classes I’ve taken, I’ve heard scattered interests (for the sports program), and different speakers have said there are other people coming out with sports management programs,” he said.

MU will be the first university to allow students to focus on sports venue management in the hotel and restaurant curriculum, Hotel and Restaurant Field Chairman Jim Groves said in the news release.

“Most traditional sports management programs offer only a course or two on venue management,” Groves said. “We see this as an excellent opportunity to draw quality students to our program.”

The news release stated the new emphasis will require students to take six credit hours as part of their hotel and restaurant major – which involves hands-on experience — as well as teaming up with MU Athletics and other sports programs in the university.