Overview
The BA (Hons) Sport Business Management aims to develop your capabilities in technical, supervisory and managerial aspects of sports business. You'll experience the world of sports management in an engaging and real-life way and learn about sport-specific topics.
- Focus on developing business and professional skills through good communication.
- Gain strong consumer insight and an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Pursue opportunities in the sports business ethically and sustainably
With a sports business management degree, you'll be career-ready to work in the dynamic and competitive world of sport business management, whether that be football, athletics, sports journalism or marketing.
This course is in Clearing
Our LLM course is a top choice
UEL’s LLM programme has been recognised as a top choice in the latest PTES survey, achieving 1st place rankings for satisfaction, teaching and more.
What makes this course different
Industry connections
Balance academic rigour with industry readiness, skills, knowledge, and experience. Benefit from our strong employer, industry, and trade association link including our membership with Global Sports.
1st in the Country
Our Tourism, Transport and Travel courses ranked 1st in the UK in 3 categories including “Learning Opportunities” & “Wellbeing Support” in the 2024 National Student Survey. (National Student Survey 2024, Results published 10 July 2024)
Read the full NSS survey resultsProfessional business skills
Our modules link the skills development required, the career paths open to you and the needs of sport employers – helping make you employable.
Course modules
In the first year, you'll study the introduction of academic and research skills, undergo formative assessments to address study skills issues, and complete coursework to test your grasp of key business concepts, including sectoral structures, issues, management, and market dynamics. Employability and work-based skills are integrated and evaluated across all modules. Various teaching methods such as lectures, guest lectures, sport field trips, and project work, supported by specialist guidance from support services, enhance your learning experience. This sport business management degree will equip you with essential skills and knowledge to excel in your academic journey and future career endeavours in the sporting arena. This will help you navigate the first year effectively and prepare you for the next modules.
In the second year, you will further develop your academic and research skills, particularly in report writing, logical thinking, and evidence interpretation. Exams will prompt you to apply theories to case studies. Throughout the second year, emphasis is placed on cultivating your employability in the sport business world and work-based skills and knowledge.
During your sport business placement, you'll get the chance to see how your modules relate to real-world situations, giving you a broader perspective on how your placement organisation and the sport sector as a whole operate. You'll have the opportunity to apply what you've learned in a practical business setting. Through self-reflection and critical analysis, you'll integrate your academic knowledge with your work experience, expanding and contextualising your professional skills. This placement is designed to boost your confidence and skills as you approach your final year, setting you up for success in your future career in sport business management.
In the final year, you will focus on fostering self-managed learning, particularly through research and management reports, with possible connections to your sport work experience. Modules will predominantly involve class-based activities, prompting you to use theory to critically analyse various issues and topics. This approach will enhance your analytical skills and prepare you for real-world challenges in sport business management.
NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.
Your future career
With sport contributing £39 billion to the UK economy, this course gives you the expertise and experience to thrive in the sports business. Launch your dream career in the sports industry with our BA in Sport Business Management, based at a campus with state-of-the-art sports facilities. Gain crucial business acumen from marketing to finance, while refining your analytical and problem-solving skills. This course provides the ideal mix of knowledge, skills and practical learning to become an employable graduate ready to make your mark in sport business management.
Industry links
We deliver workshops and events in partnership. Students greatly benefit from the industry insight provided by these events, in addition to the networking opportunities they offer. You'll leave UEL with a solid foundation of work experience in the sports industry.
Graduate employers
Our sport alumni have gone into roles at organisations such as Barn Elms Sports Trust, Taylor Wimpey, and UEL.
Job roles
With a degree in sport business management you will get well-rounded training in many areas of sport. You can use this to go into roles like:
- Sports marketing manager
- Sports event manager
- Sports development officer
- Sports retail manager
- Sports partnerships manager
- Community sports manager
- Sports data analyst.
Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sports sector on our Career Coach portal.
Further study
If you want to stay on and do further study, we offer an MSc Sports Management which will set you apart from other graduates, giving you the skills to thrive in the fast-paced world of sport management.
As a university committed to your career growth, we've curated dedicated Career Zones across all of our campuses with practical services tailored to your success. From internships, personalised coaching, and employability workshops to volunteering, mentoring, placements, and enterprise opportunities, we offer a diverse range of support."Rema Khatun
Career Zone
How you'll learn
We pride ourselves on giving students a fantastic experience and great support from day one. We’re an inclusive university with a close-knit community of students and our teaching reflects that.
Teaching is delivered through a diverse range of methods, not only to develop your different skills but also to enrich the learning experience. As well as traditional seminars and lectures, you’ll have the chance to go on trips to sport businesses across London, learn from guest speakers and gain useful, practical experience. Our location in East London - near Canary Wharf in Docklands, the Olympic Park in Stratford, the London Stadium and multiple world-leading sporting venues - gives us incredible access to exciting business partners in one of the world's greatest cities.
Guided independent study
When not attending timetabled lectures or workshops, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This will typically involve skills development through online study, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects and preparing coursework assignments and presentations. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, and specialist facilities, such as game labs, the library, the full Microsoft Office software, including MS Teams, and Moodle: our Virtual Learning Environment.
Workshops and internships
We deliver workshops and events in partnership with UEL. Students really benefit from the industry insight that these events provide, as well as the networking opportunities they present.
We encourage students to find internships during the course of their studies, offer a work-based learning module in the second year and allow you to arrange a year of work between years 2 and 3; through our Global Scholars scheme, you'll also be able to study abroad for a full year, enriching your CV and your own student experience.
Day-to-day teaching reflects the world of work to prepare you for your future career in sport business management. You'll work on projects, deliver presentations, maintain a portfolio and work on group tasks - all ways of working you will encounter after you leave university.
Dedicated personal tutor
If you need a bit of extra help with certain skills such as academic writing, English, maths, or statistics, academic tutors offer workshops, drop-in sessions, and one-to-one appointments to help you achieve your potential.
You can receive advice and guidance on all aspects of the IT systems provided by the university from our IT Service Desks located on all three campuses. Our Student Support hubs feature centralised helpdesks.
UEL provides support and advice for disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties (SPDs).
Workload
Here are some of the ways you'll learn throughout the course:
- Lectures, seminars, tutorials, and workshops.
- Practical tasks: e.g. designing, delivering, and evaluating some training.
- Independent study, supported by our specialist business library and a selection of digital materials, handbooks, notes, and other resources.
- Working in a team to share ideas and insights.
- Guest speakers representing a cross-section of sport business expertise.
Your timetable
Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9.00am and 6.00pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.
Class sizes
The size of classes can vary depending on the nature of the course, module and activity. This can range from large groups in a lecture theatre setting, to smaller groups taking part in seminars and collaborative work.
How you'll be assessed
Assessment tasks are mainly spread across the year to make the workload manageable. More details will be included in the student handbook and module guides.
You'll always receive detailed feedback outlining your strengths and how you can improve. We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 15 working days, although you will receive immediate feedback following many of our face-to-face assessments.
Campus and facilities
Our campus and the surrounding area
Our waterfront campus in the historic Royal Docks provides a modern, well-equipped learning environment.
Join us and you'll be able to make the most of our facilities including contemporary lecture theatres and seminar rooms, art studios and exhibition spaces, audio and visual labs and a multimedia production centre.
Features include our 24/7 Docklands library, our £21m SportsDock centre, a campus shop and bookstore, the Children's Garden Nursery, cafés, eateries, a late bar, plus Student Union facilities, including a student lounge.
The University of East London is one of the few London universities to provide on-campus accommodation. Our Docklands Campus Student Village houses close to 1,200 students from around the world. We are well connected to central London and London City Airport is just across the water. We also run a free bus service that connects Docklands with Stratford campuses.
Who teaches this course
This course is delivered by the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience.
The teaching team includes qualified academics, practitioners and industry experts as guest speakers. Full details of the academics will be provided in the student handbook and module guides.
What our students and staff say
I was given so many opportunities with UEL and West Ham. Getting the opportunity to see what the sports industry looks like and hearing from experts was priceless. My highlight was the work experience and placements, without them I wouldn’t be working in sport."
Mohammed Ali
What motivates and inspires me is helping to provide opportunities for students from a range of backgrounds. I was from a working-class town, and nobody expected me to go into further education. However, I was given an opportunity to study at a widening participation university and I fell in love with my subject area and eventually went on to do my PhD."
Dr Michael Palkowski
Senior lecturer, sustainable tourism and development