BA (Hons) Sports Business and Management
Are you passionate about a career in the business and management of sport? This degree provides the opportunity to study in the workplace of a professional organisation in this sector, thus enhancing your employment opportunities.
To study this degree you’ll need a formalised affiliation with a professional Sports club, through the English Football League Trust. Lectures are produced by USW staff, but you study these materials remotely at your club's learning environment. You then attend USW up to 3-times per year for Residential Study Visits. You’re also assigned a Mentor from your club who facilitates your learning and supports the organisation of your weekly placement.
A key part of this degree is the increased amount of placement hours you will experience. You will undertake 4-8 hours per week in year 1 and 7-14 hours per week in years 2 and 3. These experiences will mainly be working within the remit of your club and will give you practical experience of working within the sports business and management industry. You may also get a wider experience through opportunities at your club’s sponsors and partners.
This course is subject to validation.
BA (Hons) Sports Business and Management | University of South Wales
The majority of study-time on the BA (Hons) Sports Business and Management will be conducted remotely within your club, with attendance at up to 3 Residential Study Visits to USW per year. Learning materials include pre-recorded online lectures and live online seminars and tutorials. The course will teach you aspects of sports business and management including marketing, managing people and projects, strategy and governance. The course will also develop your leadership and creativity skills with an eye on you becoming future managers and leaders in the sports industry. There will be further opportunities to apply your knowledge with the extensive work-based learning programme provided by your club.
Year 1
Your first year will provide you with the underpinning theory and practice of sports business and management.
You will gain knowledge of how sport is organised, delivered and managed at a variety of levels, and you will have the opportunity to lead sports activities and events. Understanding fundamental principles of how to recruit people to sport and how to keep them there are crucial at this level.
You will learn how sports businesses are led and how their finances are managed. This knowledge will help to inform your work-based learning experience. You will also have the opportunity to undertake additional education and qualifications to boost your CV.
Academic Research and Study Skills (20 credits)
Managing Sport (20 credits)
Promotion and Marketing in Sport (20 credits)
Sports Business and Management (20 credits)
Sports Finance (20 credits)
Reflection on Learning in the Workplace (20 credits)
Year 2
You will develop the skills and knowledge gained in year one around understanding business and management principles, and approaches to recruiting and retaining people in sport. You will enhance your breadth of knowledge by studying digital marketing, human resource management and business analytics. This knowledge is then applied during a placement module, allowing you to put your ideas and knowledge into practice.
The applied nature of these modules mean you would often be completing assessments that are being delivered in the real-world. This may be the creation of a new enterprise or business opportunity, leading a marketing campaign or managing a team of Community Coaches.
Enterprise in Sport (20 credits)
Human Resource Management (20 credits)
Digital Marketing and Public Relations in Sport (20 credits)
Project Operations Management (20 credits)
Business Analytics (20 credits)
Sports Placement (20 credits)
Year 3
You will consolidate your knowledge and understanding of key sports business and management principles, whilst challenging their application through your extensive work-based learning experiences. The particular highlight during this year will be your Applied Professional Project where you’ll conduct a research or management project, based upon the topics covered through the degree and in your club.
Your understanding of the management of sport will be challenged through learning sports policy, law and governance. You’ll also develop further as a leader in sport, through enhancing your leadership and management skills.
Policy, Law and Governance (20 credits)
Leadership in Sport (20 credits)
Strategic Business Management (20 credits)
Business Insight for Managers (20 credits)
Applied Professional Project (40 credits)
Teaching
You’ll be enrolled as a student at the University of South Wales and have access to a number of learning materials. Your weekly learning hours will be between 6 and 18 depending on the year of study and time of year, with online lectures facilitated within your club’s learning environment. There may also be live tutorials and seminars with USW staff.
Residential Study Visits are hugely popular with students on similar degrees and you’ll attend up to 3 per year. These visits will be based across our suite of University of South Wales Pontypridd Campus’ including our High-Performance Centre USW Sport Park, whilst receiving fully funded accommodation during these teaching blocks.
You’ll have access to an online library, blackboard and other learning materials, and will spend time at the University of South Wales to complete practical teaching. You’ll complete work-based learning that is supported by your Club Mentor and managed through tutorials and a mentoring programme. The work-based learning programme can be completed within your own club’s projects or with their partners or sponsors.
You will also have the opportunity to complete additional qualifications within your organisation that are suited to your own development and career ambitions.
Assessment
You’ll be assessed via a range of methods to ensure you develop a range of different skills. Approximately 80% of the assessment methods are coursework orientated
Assessment methods include written essays and reports, presentations, practical sports management and leadership assessments, work-based learning assessments, posters and leaflets, reflective blogs, team debates, exams (multiple choice and essay style).
Accreditations
This course is delivered in partnership with the English Football League Trust.
Placements
You’ll have support in gaining regular placement opportunities, provided by your Club Mentor and an opportunity to reflect upon your development through termly meetings with an Academic Development Officer. These Officers are employed by the English Football League Trust, but are there to support our students development.
Facilities
The vast majority of your learning on this degree will be based at your own club’s learning environment and the facilities at these will vary. Many clubs have their own specific facilities based in their communities, but many of them also deliver the learning at the club’s stadium.
When on Residential Study Visits during the course you may be based at USW Sport Park. This specially designed sporting performance facility focuses on rugby and football coaching. It includes a specialist centre for strength and conditioning with 12 lifting platforms, providing a high-performance environment for aspiring athletes. Our full-size indoor 3G pitch is built to the Fifa Pro standard and World Rugby 22 standard. It will guarantee training all year round for our rugby, football and coaching students. We are the only university in England and Wales to offer this facility.
You'll also find a notational analysis suite and over 30 acres of playing fields, including five floodlit pitches. We have a sand-dressed 'astroturf' pitch, as well as a full-size FIFA approved 3G pitch. In addition to these all-weather pitches, there are six grass football pitches, three grass rugby pitches, and a large changing pavilion. Our facilities are regularly used by international professional teams, such as the Wales national football team and Cardiff City Football Club, as well as the touring New Zealand, South Africa and Australia rugby squads. This confirms the high quality of our pitches and the versatility of our equipment.
Lecturers
The USW Sports Coaching and Development team are experienced staff all of who have worked in the sports coaching and/or development industry, some of whom have even played and coached at a professional/elite level. Our staff have experience of coordinating and managing sport in both local authorities, sports clubs and national governing bodies of sport, and are able to bring this real-life knowledge and experience into the classroom to bring topics to life. Many of our staff are still active in the industry either coaching or representing sports organisations on boards and strategic groups.
Chris Emsley, Course Leader
Support
You’ll be supported by termly meetings with an Academic Development Officer, who are employed by the English Football League Trust, but there to support our students development. These Officers would be an extra level of pastoral and academic support, in addition to the support of your Club Mentor, Course and Module Leaders.
We regularly revalidate courses for quality assurance and enhancement
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
This course is delivered predominantly online and not available to International Students wishing to reside in the UK on a student VISA as formal affiliation with a UK EFL Trust sports club is required.
Typical A-Level Offer
BCC - CDD (this is equivalent to 104-80 UCAS tariff points).
Typical Welsh BACC Offer
Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C/D in the Skills Challenge Certificate and BC - CD at A Level (this is equivalent to 104-80 UCAS tariff points).
Typical BTEC Offer
BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Merit Merit - Merit Merit Pass (this is equivalent to 112-80 UCAS tariff points).
Typical IB Offer
Pass the International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum score of 29 overall including 5 or above in English at standard level.
Typical Access to HE Offer
Pass the Access to HE Diploma and obtain a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points.
Additional Requirements
GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances
Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee will remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course.
August 2023 - July 2024 Fees
Full-time UK: TBC
Full-time International: TBC
Part-time UK: TBC
Student Perks
Each course also has their own unique student benefits to prepare you for the real word, and details of these can be found on our course pages. From global field trips, integrated work experience and free course-related resources, to funded initiatives, projects working with real employers, and opportunities for extra qualifications and accreditations - at USW your future, is future-proofed.
Click here to learn more about student perks at USW.
Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
Apply via UCAS if you are a UK residing applicant, applying for year one of a full-time undergraduate degree, Foundation Year, Foundation Degree or HND and you have not applied through UCAS before. If you are applying to study part-time, to top up your Foundation Degree or HND, or to transfer to USW from another institution, please apply directly.
Please ensure you make it clear within your application, which club you have a formalised affiliation to.
The BA (Hons) Sports Business and Management will prepare you to work in a multitude of sports business, management and leadership roles, instilling the skills that will allow you to work within a range of sports businesses. The nature of this degree where you are ‘learning on the job’, means you have 3-years to impress a potential future employer (your club), as well as impress any of their key partners or sponsors.
You’ll have support in gaining regular placement opportunities, provided by your Club Mentor and an opportunity to reflect upon your development through termly meetings with an Academic Development Officer. These Officers are employed by the English Football League Trust but are there to support our student's development.
Graduates from this degree could gain employment at professional football clubs, national governing bodies, sports marketing agencies, and in the hospitality industry, business management, logistics, digital marketing, advertising, Sports Business Development, Sport and Leisure Management and Administration, club directorship, sports facilities management, sports agency, sponsorship and commercial management, sport operations management and sports entrepreneurship.
Our Careers and Employability Service
As a USW student, you will have access to advice from the Careers and Employability Service throughout your studies and after you graduate.
This includes one-to-one appointments from faculty based Career Advisers, in person, over the phone or even on Skype and through email via the "Ask a Question" service. We also have extensive online resources for help with considering your career options and presenting yourself well to employers. Resources include psychometric tests, career assessments, a CV builder, interview simulator and application help. Our employer database has over 2,000 registered employers targeting USW students, you can receive weekly email alerts for jobs.
Our Careers service has dedicated teams: A central work experience team to help you find relevant placements; an employability development team which includes an employability programme called Grad Edge; and an Enterprise team focused on new business ideas and entrepreneurship.