Formally announced in 2005 under the leadership of Dean of the College of Health and Human Services Gary Neiman, the Center for Sports Administration was founded to strengthen the links already existing between the sports industry and Ohio University's faculty, students and alumni.

"The Center for Sports Administration is a necessary step in the evolution of sports business and academics that is the backbone of our program," Neiman said. "I know it is going to help our interface among students, faculty and the industry in a manner that is very progressive. Our tradition has always been the best in the world because we were the first and now the Center for Sports Administration allows us to focus that energy to ensure that our output of students and knowledge continues to live up to and exceed that reputation."

The Center for Sports Administration is located within the College's School of Recreation and Sport Sciences and continues to conduct research on issues in the sports industry with a focus on the practical application of knowledge. The Center, located in Grover Center on campus, has room for a reception area, office of the Executive Director, several work stations for graduate assistants and students working on industry-related projects, as well as a conference room used for Center meetings and teleconferences with organizations throughout the world.

One of its goals is to assist sports organizations and related businesses - both in the United States and abroad - with planning and resource development, Neiman said. "The center will be active in organizing conferences and seminars to help exchange knowledge within the industry," Neiman said. "It will really be an infusion of ideas and concepts to reflect our vision to place a mix of the industry, outstanding students and faculty at the epicenter of sports business information and knowledge."

Under Neiman's vision, the Center for Sports Administration has been founded to serve as a resource to solve the increasingly difficult issues facing the sports industry. The Center for Sports Administration serves as a platform that brings together various constituent groups associated with Ohio University's Sports Administration and Facility Management Program. Each of these groups benefits from Center for Sports Administration's unique arrangement: Alumni of the Program can come to the Center for solutions to issues that present particular challenges to their organizations. The Center uses the resources at its disposal to find workable solutions to these challenges, while current students in the program will be given the opportunity by the Center to research solutions to industry challenges while applying the skills that they have acquired through their two-year course of studies in the MBA/MSA program. Through their research efforts, students will increase their knowledge base while building their own personal networks.

The Center for Sports Administration will also has an active curricular and fundraising role. The educational mission includes providing student development opportunities through industry mentoring and participation in sponsored research. As for fundraising, Neiman expects the center to develop partnerships with organizations in the sports industry to generate financial resources for academic programs and support services "The Center for Sports Administration will provide our current students with the opportunity to build on the consulting experience they have during year one of their MBA in the Voinovich School and apply the skill sets to real problems in the sports industry," Kahler said. The support from practitioners is already apparent as companies from all sectors of the sports business community have signed on as Center for Sports Administration Corporate Partners in a very short period of time. To date five organizations have signed on as Corporate Partners for the Center including Turnkey Sports, CSTV, Ellerbe Becket, Distributive Networks, and Game Plan Technologies. "My first day on the job I called Len Perna, President of Turnkey Sports and a 1990 graduate of the program. Thirty minutes later, we had our first Founding Partner," added Kahler when asked about the response he has received from the sports business industry. "For research, lead generation and executive searches, we believe Turnkey Sports is the industry leader and a logical partner for the Center for Sports Administration."

"It's important for us at Turnkey Sports to be working with the top people in the sports industry," noted Perna. "For 40 years now, Ohio University has been educating the future leaders in sport. We are pleased to partner with the Center for Sports Administration at Ohio University."

"In less than 90 days, we secured three corporate partners," Kahler said. "To be honest, it has put us further along than I thought we would be and the future looks even more promising for recruiting companies to become corporate partners. It is a further testament to where this program has been and where it is going."

Another partner, Game Plan, believes so much in Ohio University that they are establishing an office in Athens to further strengthen the relationship. While based in Lincoln, Neb., Game Plan sees that the opportunity to have a footprint on site will allow them to create an office mixed with full-time employees and students to help discover new ways to enhance their video analysis software systems. "Ohio University will be an integral part of our growth," said Mike Browne, president and chief executive officer of Game Plan. "It will be a tremendous partnership. They have become our lab and testing site for developing new products, and we get the opportunity to work with these extremely bright and motivated young people who are preparing to spend their whole lives in the business of sports." The decision to partner with a sports management program was one of Browne's goals to help grow their business. He said they seriously considered two other programs prior to learning of Ohio University's. After that, the decision became obvious. "The bottom line is other programs offered us the chance to work with students looking to learn on-the-job and Ohio University gives us professionals who just happen to be students," Browne said. "After doing our due diligence, there really was no comparison."

While the access to the industry is paramount to the merging of the industry with Ohio's academic program, the true test of the success of the program's legacy will always rest with the students.