Program Overview

Sport Business Management

The sports sector's continued growth has created opportunities to become a business professional in an expanding, borderless industry. Offering a wide perspective of the sports sector, this business-focused course explores areas such as economic impact, investment in facilities, community programmes, sport event management, sport marketing and sport management.

About the Course

You benefit from work experience in Year 2 and a work placement in Year 3. To prepare you for your final-year dissertation, you also take two research units: Introduction to research methods (Year 1) and Research methods for sport, exercise and physical activity (Year 2).

What Will You Study?

Your subject-specific units are:

• Year 1
  • Working in sport and physical education – Prepare for your career, looking at the many pathways available within the sector.
  • Sport in action – Examine the role of strategic leadership and management in sport.
  • The sport industry and Introduction to sport business management – Discover how sport, and the industry around it, has evolved to become a global cultural force.
  • Sport, physical activity and social inclusion – Explore contemporary social issues around gender, race, sexuality, class and (dis)ability, and their effect on people's experience of sport.
• Year 2
  • Sport and physical activity management – Explore research and practice around sport leadership and management.
  • Contemporary issues – Analyse the political, social and economic factors impacting the sector.
  • Sports marketing – Unpack how sports are marketed, and marketing's influence on the industry globally.
  • Sport governance – Understand how sport is developed and delivered across the globe.
  • Enterprise and entrepreneurship in sport – Work with a sports organisation to identify an area where you could implement change or innovation.
  • Dissertation preparation – Work with a supervisor to solve a complex organisational problem.
• Year 3
  • Sport economics and finance – Understand the financial side of the sports industry.
  • Managing elite sport – Explore the links between high-performance management and athlete success.
  • Sport in a global context: sustainability and development – How sport can be used for social good and global development.
  • Strategic sport management – Use your strategic management skills to create effective strategies.
  • Running a business – How to establish a small/medium enterprise across a range of sport sectors.
  • Development and employability – Plan for your future career.
  • Dissertation – Conduct and deliver a piece of original research in your chosen area.

Careers

Career paths for graduates of this course include sport management, sport development and specialised posts in the leisure, sport and recreation industries, including going on to pursue careers with companies like FIFA and Sport England. Possible roles include broadcast executive, sport technology specialist, sport/sports technology business owner, commercial development manager, global strategic partnership manager, and academic roles in universities in the UK and abroad.

Entry Requirements

• 96 UCAS tariff points including 80 from at least 3 A-levels or equivalent
• 48 UCAS tariff points including 32 from at least 1 A-level or equivalent

Fees

• The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the Academic Year 2026/27 is £9,790 per year.
• The full-time standard undergraduate tuition fee for the academic year 2025/26 is £16,900 per year for international students.
• Excellence Scholarships: Worth £2,500 per year of study over three years when you score a defined number of UCAS tariff points from specified qualifications.
• Achievement Scholarships: Offering £500 per year of study for students with 120 UCAS tariff points.

Course Accreditation/Industry Endorsement

We increase the employability of our graduates by being a Higher Education Partner of the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA).

Facilities and Specialist Equipment

• External sports pitches
• Sports arena
• Purpose-built strength and conditioning facility
• Free gym and Olympic weight room
• Multi-use games areas
• Sports therapy and rehabilitation centre with a sports injury clinic, open to staff, students and external athletes/clients
• Sports massage rooms

Career-Powered Links

We are official partners of Luton Town FC and Bedford Blues RFC as well as other sporting organisations in the region, giving you opportunities to build your employability through work placements.