BSc (Hons) Sport Business Management

Course Overview

Our BA (Hons) Sport Business Management degree is for those who are passionate about sport and want to develop the management, business and leadership skills required for career success in this expanding and varied sector.

Sport is a truly global, fast-moving, industry, and this course reflects its diversity by focusing upon developing both your knowledge of the wider landscape, and crucial employability skills across public, commercial, and not-for-profit sectors.

The course will focus on the examination of fundamental business skills as applied to the sports industry, including management, leadership, strategy, marketing, policy and governance, finance, events, and entrepreneurship.

Our work with a range of local and regional partners will provide regular opportunities to put your learning into real-life practice through field trips, project development, the delivery of events, and an integrated year-long placement, developing your network of industry contacts whilst you study and learn.

Why this course at Marjon?

We work with the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport & Physical Activity (CIMSPA) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) giving students connections to industry and enabling them to collaborate with national and local businesses and sports organisations, building their contacts and professional reputation.
Our strong industry connections create opportunities for innovative, real-life project working and assessments.
A strong focus on curriculum enrichment activities such as field trips and delivering events for professional and public organisations.
Our values drive us to develop opportunities for all people through inclusive practice in sport and business, with equality of opportunity regardless of background.

Perfect if you're curious about:

How can sport participation be increased?
Under what conditions is sport a good investment for the government?
What are the legacies of mega-events such as the Olympic Games or smaller community events?
How has sport become a global business?
What is the role of sport business in local communities?
How can persistent problems such as doping, violence and corruption being addressed by sports governance agencies?

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Course Snapshot

Phil Brown - Course Leader

"During first year you will learn the principles of business management within the sports industry. You will also learn about people management, finance and marketing in business. Second year teaches you the skills around sport events management, sport governance and innovation in sport. In third year you will learn about sport development and how strategic management applies to the sports industry. You’ll also engage with employability in sport and learn how to further enhance your CV for your future career."

Modules

You will study 6 modules per year and embark on a 100 hour placement or manage sport projects with industry partners:

Introduction to Sport Management
Explains the principles of business management as applied to the sport industry. It focuses on the unique characteristics and requirements of sport management as a profession. As the sport sector continues to grow as do the requirements to manage it. You will study organisations of sport being introduced to marketing, accounting and economics, communications/public relations, human resourcing, performance and strategic and event management.
Engaging with Learning in Sport Business Management
Reflect upon academic personal and professional aspirations and engage in development planning to achieve these. We will look at where you want to be when you graduate and how to get you there.
Accounting & Finance
You will identify the main users of financial information, the characteristics that make accounting useful and examine how businesses are structured.
Introduction to People Management
A broad overview of human resource management developing your knowledge of human resource management processes and practices, for example, recruitment selection, performance management and training and development. You will also develop a range of skills including team working, conflict resolution and leadership.
The Organisation & Structure of Sport
Details the main organisations that shape the sport delivery system in UK and international sport. Explores the blurring boundaries of public, profit and non-profit sectors and the need to create cross-sectoral partnerships.
Introduction to Marketing
Develop your knowledge and understanding of marketing strategy. How do organisations identify customer needs and wants, determine which target markets can best be served, and design appropriate products, services and programmes to serve these markets?

Professional Placement

You’ll spend up to 100 hours working in the sports industry. You can shape the placement to meet your area of interest. This is an excellent module to build your professional network and explore career ideas.

Sport Event Management

Sports event management considering small scale, major, and mega events. Practically students will deliver two small scale events, one with the Plymouth Schools Partnership and another where small groups of students will form event teams and work in partnership with an industry client to deliver a specific sports event.

Research Methods

You will develop your academic and applied research and evaluation skills.

Intraprenuership & Innovation

Perfect if you are curious about the differences between enterprise and innovation. What does it mean to be intrapreneurial within an organisation? And how does that differ from an entrepreneur?

Sports Policy & Governance

Governments influence business through policies that directly and indirectly shape the sports sector. Develop your understanding of how policy effects practice and how good governance is essential to sports organisations.

People Management for Enterprise

Learn how business owners confidently manage their employees and encourage a creative and productive workforce. Work in teams to discover your most effective working styles and explore the people management structures of local, national and global businesses.

Sport Marketing

Explains the principles of marketing as applied to the sport industry. It focuses on creating demand for sport, market segmentation techniques, sponsorship, licensing and marketing for sport participation.

Accounting & Finance for Enterprise

You will explore how accounting and finance procedures differ for small to medium sized businesses. What sources of funding might be available for your business ideas and how can you access them?

3rd Year

Honours Project
You will select a topic you are interested in that relates to your Sport Business Management degree and develop and execute a project as agreed with your tutor. You are expected to source and synthesize relevant academic literature and apply relevant theoretical concepts. You may collect primary data, and you will interpret and analyse key findings. You will share your project via a written report and presentation.
Business Leadership
What does it take to be a great leader? How does an entrepreneurial leader differ from any other type of leader? In this module you will examine leadership theory and use case studies to evaluate leadership in practice.
Strategic Sport Development
Explore the principles of strategic management as applied to the sport industry. Focus on the strategic analysis of the sport business environment, and subsequent strategy formulation as well as implementation for sport organisations.
Leadership and Management
Analyse effective leadership in Sport and develop your own leadership practice. You will learn and apply a variety of perspectives on leadership theory, understanding of what makes a good leader across a number of contexts which makes your learning on this module highly transferable. You will develop a critical understanding of the links between individual characteristics, leadership styles, and organisational performance. You can apply the ideas developed in the module to leadership in a variety of sports contexts.
Business Reality
You can put all of the theory examined on the course into practice through either setting up and running your own business for the semester or undertaking a placement with an employer. You will hone your presentation skills through delivering a pitch to a panel of local business people about your business ideas.
Graduate Employability in Sport
Apply and articulate your learning from the course to develop your graduate employability. We work with industry partners to take you through the recruitment journey, from reviewing job adverts, to enhancing your CV, and to job interviews with industry employers.

Please note: This course is subject to validation which means that it is either a new course or that the content is currently being updated. You can apply for this course now while some of the details of the course are being finalised by the University. Please contact the course leader if you would like further information.

Course Leader

Dr Phil Brown

Senior Lecturer

Phil has over 20 years’ experience working in the sports industry. He has led a number of community and school based sports development projects as well as a national free swimming pilot for Sport England and the NHS. Phil has an excellent network within the sports industry. Phil supports the UK Sport Development Network (UKSDN) and works locally with Active Devon, Plymouth YMCA, Plymouth City Council Sports Development Unit, Plymouth Argyle Community Trust, Devon FA, and Plymouth Schools Sport Partnership.

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Lecturers

Dr Aaron Beacom

Senior Lecturer

Aaron's research interests in the areas of sport and international development, sport policy and disability sports.

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Dr Sarah Preedy

Senior Lecturer

Sarah is a Senior Lecturer in Business and Enterprise. Her research interests are in enterprise education, student led enterprise activities and entrepreneurial learning. Sarah has worked in Higher Education for nine years, teaching on Business Management and Entrepreneurship degree programmes. She has also led several extracurricular enterprise programmes offering support and finance for student entrepreneurs.

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Ryan Thomas

Senior Lecturer

Ryan is personal tutor to many students on this programme. His primary interest is talent identification in youth football and he also enjoys teaching both coaching and event management as he likes seeing academic topics from the classroom being delivered in real-life practice. He is an active Centre of Excellence Coach at Plymouth Argyle Football Club and an FA Licenced Coach Educator, which involves the delivery of the FA Level 1, the FA Youth Award Module 1 and various workshops across the county.

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