Introduction
The rationale for this course lies in the fact that the business of sport is one of the most dynamic areas of expansion within the sport and recreation industry.
Expanding opportunities for participation in sport is high on the political, social and cultural agendas and there is a growing need for professionals who have an understanding of contemporary business processes. Furthermore sport in itself is influenced by a number of related factors such as economic, legal, and media issues. Understanding and being conversant with these factors and how they fit with the political, social and cultural agenda’s is the central philosophy of the course.
Set against recent trends of rising participation and viewing of sport, the commercial and media sectors have not been slow to exploit the enormous potential that sport has to generate and regenerate economic wealth. The appearance of commercial sports managers embedded into traditional sports clubs and organisations is the culmination of this trend. In addition to the relatively new stream of funding from media sources, sport and recreation organisations are increasingly recognising the value and need for strategic planning and management to meet new demands and constraints on their resources.
The public sector still plays an important role within the industry providing local sporting opportunities. The regeneration of these opportunities is once again high on the political agenda, especially in areas where sports provision is limited. Effective sports development and management takes place through a greater sense of partnership between the traditions of sports management and those areas that focus on business and economic development of the industry.
Voluntary sector sports provision is also an important entity in the sports industry and represents a significant proportion of sporting opportunities. The value (and management) of volunteers is important to achieving some of the goals set for increasing sports provision and opportunities and represents an area of study and research that is increasingly significant.
The course thus examines the management of the sports industry from a business perspective. In doing so, it examines social, cultural, legal, political and economic issues. In addition emphasis is placed on developing a range of personal and academic skills appropriate within a higher education environment and which befit a progressive economically astute professional sports business manager.
Course Content
Level 1
- Foundations of Sport Management
- Sport Studies: Techniques and Applications
- Business Planning and Forecasting
- Principles of Marketing
- Investigating Tourism and Sport
- Financial Communications
- Introduction to Human Resource Management
Level 2
- Sport, Society and Cultural Values
- Sports Event Organisation and Management
- Research Methods for Tourism and Sport
- Marketing in Practice (Elective)
- People Management and Development (Elective)
- Sponsorship and Corporate Hospitality in Sport
- Commercial Sports Club Management
- Tourism and Sport Enterprise Project
Level 3
- Optional Work Placement Year
Level 4
- Dissertation
- Policies and Planning for Sport
- Tourism, Sport and Regeneration
- Strategic Management for Tourism and Sport
- Marketing Communications (Elective)
- Human Resource Management (Elective)
Careers
Sport is not only about passion, there is far more to sport in the 21st Century than winning medals. Sport is developing rapidly as one of the fastest growing businesses and is central to one of the largest budgets ever managed within the UK as it takes on London 2012. Therefore the business of sports management is growing and there are many opportunities across the sports sector. These can be in facility management, sports development management and community management and can stretch across the whole of the leisure sector. There is also the opportunity to spread into other sectors, using your core business skills. There are opportunities also to specialise in marketing and media using our programme option selection. In ‘Leisure Opportunities’ this week there were jobs advertised between £52K and £18K in management: Marketing, Operations, Head of Venues, Projects Management, Centre Managers, Head of Communities, Cultural Services Manager, Contracts Management, Services Management and Club Manager etc. The important aspect is to remember that you are more likely to increase your potential earnings within the sports sector working in a management position.
BA (Hons) Sports Business Management Fees
| UK/EU | International | |
| Full-time | £3225 per year | £8950 per year |
| Part-time | £27 per credit point | £75 per credit point |
| Placement (optional) | £643 per year | £4475 per year |
| Assessment | £14 per credit point | £37 per credit point |
Fees shown relate to 09/10 entry only and subject to change