Int. J. Sport Management and Marketing, Vol. X, No. Y, xxxx 1 Copyright © 200x Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Innovative pedagogy in sport marketing: the annual SPAD field trip Ann Pegoraro* School of Commerce Faculty of Management Laurentian University Sudbury Ontario, P3E 2C6, Canada Fax: 705–673–6518 E-mail: apegoraro@laurentian.ca *Corresponding author Benoit Séguin University of Ottawa School of Human Kinetics 125 University Street Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada E-mail: bseguin@uottawa.ca Norm O’Reilly and Steven Harrington School of Sports Administration Faculty of Management Laurentian University Sudbury Ontario, P3E 2C6, Canada Fax: 705–675–4836 E-mail: noreilly@laurentian.ca E-mail: sharrington@laurentian.ca Abstract: The issue of the relevancy of business education has been a topic of ongoing discussion since the late 1980s (Porter and McKibbon, 1988). At the time, business educators also began to recognise the value of experiential learning as a teaching method to increase the knowledge and skill development among graduates (Slavin, 1988). Beginning in 1982, the Sport Administration Program (SPAD) at Laurentian University adopted a 4th Year ‘Field Trip’ course as the capstone to its applied programme. This experiential learning based course involved students working in teams on Client-Based Projects (CBPs). This paper presents four mini-cases of these field trips over the past 20 years to illustrate the considerable benefits realised by all stakeholders. Key conclusions are drawn to create a proposed model for a CBP-based capstone course for sports management, a model for use by both practitioners and researchers in the development of the future workers the industry desires. Keywords: innovative pedagogy; experiential learning; Client-Based Projects; CBPs; field trips.