The Dispatch
Playing the business game
How has sports risen in the business school curriculum?
By Chloë Lane
“To find a job in leading sports organisations, business expertise is more important than sports expertise.”
“Even those not aiming to work in sports find the learning from sports research valuable, as it resonates with executives and students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.”
For fans and enthusiasts, sports can be more of a way of life than a hobby. Now it can also be a lucrative professional career – even for those whose athletic ability isn’t quite podium-worthy.
Between 2011 and 2022, in the number of people working in sports grew 30 percent, according to the European Research Report.
There is also an increasing awareness of the challenges that the sports industry is facing, in terms of digitalisation, changing business models, new investors and other transformations, says Dr Karoline Strauss, a Professor of Management and the co-director of the European Sports Business Program (ESBP) at ESSEC Business School in France.
These challenges require a highly skilled workforce and people working in sports organisations are now on average more highly educated than they were 10 years ago, the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment reports.
Skills to succeed in sports management
This rising demand for skilled workers in sports management roles has prompted business schools to launch management courses specifically tailored to building the skills needed in the sports industry.
The ESBP, for example, is a collaboration between three top-ranked European business schools that have long-standing expertise in sports business and close connections with the sports ecosystem. The programme is designed specifically for managers aiming to lead organisational change in the sports industry.
ESBP graduates leave with a certificate from three prestigious schools: WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Dusseldorf; The Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden; and ESSEC Business School in Paris.
The sports industry is going through transformations that make it more important than ever for sports organisations to be led by people with expertise in strategy and leadership, Dr Straus tells QS Insights Magazine.
Yet research shows that sports organisations often find that their managers’ ability to lead change needs improvement, and that off-the-shelf training programmes for their managers do not meet their needs.
“This is why we wanted to offer a programme that we have developed in close collaboration with our sports industry partners, to ensure we really meet the needs of our participants and the organisations they work for,” she adds.
Professionalism in sports organisations
While in the past, most sports organisations were managed by former athletes, there is now a trend towards professionalisation within these organisations, reveals Dr Philippe Baecke, Professor of Marketing at Vlerick Business School.
This, he says, requires additional talent who have a background in management, but can also still navigate the industry-specific dynamics in the sports industry.
To support students who strive for a career in these management roles, Vlerick Business School in Belgium runs a Sports Business and Innovation bootcamp covering all these elements: understanding how leagues can be structured, exploring the differences between European and US models, the sponsorship activation strategies and fan community growth through media.
Much like the ESBP, this bootcamp is developed in close collaboration with industry. The school involves business practitioners in the programme, providing students with real-world challenges from organisations like cycling event organiser Flanders Classics and mineral water brand Perrier, as the sponsor of French Open Roland Garros.
For instance, students might tackle a challenge on how to deal with data in sports or how to reinvent cycling to make it more popular with young people. “Students gain a deep understanding of ecosystem thinking and customer relationship management, or CRM,” says Dr Baecke. “They learn about the unique dynamics of the sports industry, such the intricacies of media rights and sponsorships. These insights are invaluable and not commonly found in traditional business programmes.”
Looking to the future, Dr Baecke believes digital transformation, data analytics and AI are crucial trends in sports management. “Technologies are revolutionising how sports organisations operate,” he explains, using the advertising boards in the German football league, Bundesliga, as an example, which can now display personalised ads based on the viewer's location.
An increasingly competitive sector, despite jobs drying up
Nowhere has technology made a bigger impact than in the world of entertainment and sports, agrees Dr Antoine Haincourt, Head of the MSc in Sport Industry Management at France’s emlyon business school. He says technology has dramatically changed how sports organisations engage with their customers.
This is why the school’s MSc in Sports Industry Management has a strong analytics and digital marketing focus. To keep up with the changing nature of sports management, “transforming early makers” is the backbone of the programme – a 3-month course focusing on the management of innovation in the sports sector.
Dr Haincourt believes that there has been an evolution of sports management in higher education, , with the emergence of many new business school programmes focusing on sports.
Despite this, jobs in sports are “drying up,” he warns. “The reason may be found in the inflationist use of a professionalisation of sports that gives credit to the idea of an employment market, thought of as specific, while in the sports sector most jobs remain subsidised and are offered at modest levels,” he says.
To find a job in leading sports organisations, he advises, business expertise is more important than sports expertise. Sports business has become a sector where candidates are expected to demonstrate specific skills to make a difference.
This is where sports management degrees come in. emlyon regularly work with some of the key players in the industry, from governing bodies such as the FIA, FFF, to sports suppliers such as Adidas, Salomon and other organisations like PSG, Tottenham Hotspur, Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
This sets graduates apart when applying to sport-related positions, particularly as they will connect with professionals, experts and fellow students within the industry.
Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Business School has also noted an increase in applications to its BSc Sports Business Management over the past five years.
A possible reason for this, explains Billy Fleury, lecturer in the Sport Policy Unit at MMU Business School, could be an increase in exposure to the business surrounding sport. Watching sports management on TV and online can be hugely influential, and the diversity of sport business and career avenues is also appealing to potential students.
During the programme, students will study modules such as Sport Marketing, Sport Economics, Sport Finance and Sport Events. “The sports business is everchanging and evolving. Our teaching content, informed by world-leading research, reflects this landscape providing students with the opportunity to be competitive within the business management sector upon their graduation,” says Fleury.
Bringing sports passion to the classroom
King’s Business School does not offer a sports management degree, but it does have professors who are sports enthusiasts. A self-described passionate sports fan, Dr Paolo Aversa, Professor of Strategy at King’s Business School weaves sports references and examples throughout his teaching.
The professor’s research, often based on sports data, directly informs his teaching, with students studying his papers as part of their courses. His aim is to bring sport’s passion and excitement to the classroom.
“Most people have some sort of interest in sports, either as spectators or participants, making these industries appealing as they are driven by passion and purpose,” he says. “Even those not aiming to work in sports find the learning from sports research valuable, as it resonates with executives and students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.”
According to Dr Aversa, sports management has several crucial aspects relevant to any business – elements he incorporates into his teaching.
“[The sports] industry faces changes similar to other businesses, such as digital transformation and a push towards sustainability. As a result, students are increasingly interested in joining this industry as executives and active players within it,” Dr Aversa comments.
The focus on performance, for example, is easily measurable in sports but difficult in many businesses. Similarly, there are lessons to be learnt about team management, where in sports the value of individual skills is emphasised.
Specialising in the business of Formula One, the King’s Business School professor frequently introduces students to case studies involving various Formula One teams.
“I have invited executives from the sport to speak to the students about the unique challenges they face, the push for innovation, and the growing emphasis on sustainability, including efforts to develop net-zero biofuels,” he says.
While teaching at King’s, he has also organised sailing regattas to observe how boats mimic each other's movements when the wind shifts. This approach stems from research on how competition drives innovation. He takes students directly to the boats where they compete against each other – “a memorable way for them to understand effective performance under pressure,” he remarks.
This hands-on experience, he says, is directly inspired by sports and helps students enhance their teamwork, “much like a pit stop crew in Formula One racing”.
Dr Aversa also enjoys learning from the sports his students are passionate about, like eSports. ‘My classes are a co-creation of knowledge, where students’ contributions are equally valuable,” he adds.
Esports is growing in popularity
Esports, or electronic sports, referring to online, multiplayer games, are a growing topic of interest among students. According to GlobalData, the Esports market is now valued at over US$1.6 billion, and is only continuing to grow.
Sheffield Business School recently launched a Bachelor’s in Esports Management.
“We can see Esports growing in popularity because the target audience is much younger than traditional sports, and the general population is shifting its perception of the validity of a career in Esports,” says Dr Daryl May, Interim Deputy Head of Department Service Sector Management and an Esports lecturer at Sheffield Business School.
“As the industry is so young, it allows our students to take risks and discover the career path that suits them best through a plethora of experience opportunities,” he says.
Sheffield Business School’s three-year Esports Management programme combines academic study with hands-on application. Alongside the theoretical knowledge needed to work in the industry, the curriculum includes planning and executing Esports events, Esports enterprise, digital marketing and securing sponsorship deals. It also addresses ethical and legal issues, preparing graduates for various roles and entrepreneurial opportunities either in Esports or in another industry.
“When I wanted to start my career in Esports, I had to apply my knowledge from a traditional business enterprise course to the Esports industry,” says Dr May. “Now, students can discover their niche in the Esports industry and apply academic theory to their understanding.”
Sheffield Business School ensures students graduate from the programme with a portfolio of work that demonstrates their skills. This way, as graduates they can approach potential employers and have evidence of where they can add value to the business.
Sports and Esports programmes offer their students a wealth of transferrable skills that can be applied to many industries.
However, rapid growth in sports careers has left a notable demand for highly skilled professionals beyond the athletes themselves.
Business schools globally strive to fill this gap with their diverse range of sports management courses. Whether this trend continues to grow is yet to be seen.