An immersive, 18-month master’s experience built with the sports and outdoor industry’s best.
Student life in the University of Oregon’s Sports Product Management (SPM) program moves at the pace of the industry itself. Taught onsite at our Portland campus, the program takes you through the complete product creation lifecycle across five intensive, 10-week terms—plus a summer required industry internship and a 10-day global immersion in Asia.
Most coursework is done in multifunctional teams, mirroring how real brands bring footwear, apparel, and equipment to market. Graduates will tell you that time flies and each term is challenging in its own way. Being part of the SPM community is exhilarating, engaging, and hands-on—preparing you to step directly into the global sports and outdoor industry after graduation. The program also offers several networking events and supplemental experiences with student clubs, industry experts, and alumni.
At a Glance
Want to learn more about our Sports Product Management master's program and the students currently enrolled? Take a look at our Player's Roster.
Your 18-Month Roadmap
Each of the five academic terms focuses on a distinct stage of the product creation lifecycle, building from consumer discovery to global commercialization:
Insights
Fall Year 1
Creation
Winter Year 1
Business
Spring Year 1
Global
Fall Year 2
Launch
Winter Year 2
Ready to see the exact course sequence, credit breakdown, capstone structure, and embedded professional development workshops for each term?
Student Project Teams
A key differentiator of the Sports Product Management program is its intense focus on building skills in product creation through a multifunctional team. During Orientation, students are placed on a team of students who represent diversity in undergraduate degrees, functional interest, country-of-origin, gender, ethnicity and communication style. Students work on these teams throughout their time in the program, and develop skills in collaboration, problem-solving, innovation and iteration.
Watch the video below to see how Team Arneau are rethinking the ballet pointe shoe by diving deep into dancer pain points, durability issues, and performance demands in order to bring modern product thinking to a centuries-old design.
Teaching through the Heart and Hands
Product creation teams put classroom theory into immediate practice every week inside the SPM Innovation Lab. Specially designed for rapid concept ideation and physical execution, our world-class Portland product creation space gives you direct, hands-on access to specialized equipment used to design, build, and test prototype sports and outdoor footwear, apparel, and equipment.
Take a Virtual Tour of the Portland Campus and Lab
Global Immersion
Asia Footwear and Apparel Industry Experience
From factory floors in Vietnam to design studios and retail showrooms in Tokyo, our graduate students gain unparalleled access to the global sports and outdoor product industry during this transformative international experience.
Built into the curriculum of the Sports Product Management master's program, this 10-day global immersion bridges classroom strategy with the real-world complexities of global manufacturing and retail. You witness the scale, complexity, and innovation of global product creation while deepening your understanding of how brands and factories adapt to sustainability, supply chain challenges, and shifting market trends.
This immersion is a defining experience that reflects our core pillars: innovation, sustainability, inclusiveness, and global business. Students call it "life-changing"—returning more inspired, more informed, and better equipped to lead change.
(Note: Global trip locations may vary each year to align with our evolving curriculum and the ever-changing pace of the industry.)
Recent Global Immersion Highlights
- World-Renowned Manufacturing Access: Behind-the-scenes floor tours with leading production partners, including Ching Luh, Salomon, Lay Yih, and Alliance One
- Global Brand and Retail Immersions: Visits to international hubs for Arc'teryx, Goldwin, Columbia, and Starbucks Japan to examine market entry, retail presentation, and consumer trends.
- Cultural and Consumer Discovery: On-the-ground exploration of regions like Vietnam's Mekong Delta and Tokyo's Cat Street, connecting local culture directly to product trend forecasting.
- Executive Networking: Direct conversations and shared meals—including a traditional yakatabune boat dinner—with international leaders in design, factory management, and sustainability.
Mentorship, Internships, and Career Pathways
During your first term, you are matched one-on-one with an experienced industry leader from Oregon’s 3,000+ company sports and outdoor ecosystem. Mentors volunteer their time throughout your 18 months in the program to offer career perspective, review portfolios, and open doors across their networks—forming relationships that frequently continue long after graduation.
Then, during their summer term between Year 1 and Year 2, students complete an industry internship or applied project with a sports or outdoor company in the United States or abroad. Recently, 22 percent of our cohort interned internationally at manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Ecuador, while others interned with leading brands including Nike, adidas, On Running, Brooks, Hoka, HydroFlask, and Outdoor Research. Faculty and staff within the Sports Product Management program source internships and provide career guidance and networking opportunities to facilitate this process, working with each student according to their interests and needs.
Overthe years students have interned at an impressive list of companies:
- adidas
- Camelbak
- Ching Luh
- Columbia
- Dakine
- Hydro Flask
- Mizuno
- New Balance
- Nike
- Patagonia
- Revant
- Saucony
- Skechers
- Under Armour
- And more!
The end result is that graduates leave the program with strong skills in job search, networking, and leadership, transitioning into roles in the sports and outdoor industry across product management, marketing, merchandising, product development, sourcing and costing, account management, operations, innovation, materials, design, and many other functional areas.
Experience a Week in the Life of an SPM Student
What does a typical week of classes, lab sessions, team meetings, and networking actually look like in Portland? Follow SPM student Yoshimi Saito as she shares her firsthand experience inside the master's program.
