MBA (Sport Leadership and Management)

This MBA is one of the first of its kind in the UK. It equips you with an advanced practical knowledge of strategic leadership alongside the skills you need to prepare you for work in this expanding sector. Drawing on expertise from our Business and Sport Science schools, you develop your critical understanding of the issues facing sport and physical activity in the UK and around the world. Designed to develop your strategic thinking, you uncover a range of approaches to widen participation in physical activity, setting you up for impactful leadership in this thriving field.

What will you study?

Studying our Sport Leadership & Management MBA course will equip you with the knowledge and skills in the combined areas of strategic leadership, sports and physical activity. Building on the foundations of your study, you will discover how sport is developed and delivered across the globe in our Sport in The Global Context unit. Through analysing the political, social and economic factors that impact this sector, you will understand how sport can be used as a tool for social good and global development.

You will then explore the role of strategic leadership and management in sport in our Strategy Analysis in The Global Environment. Here, you will unpack strategic management principles by critically analysing data sources and industry information to create and implement effective strategies to address challenges within sports leadership and management. To add to this, you will explore research and practice around leadership and management in the context of sport in our Leading and Managing Sustainable Organisations unit. Furthermore, you will consider the principles of responsible leadership, ethical decision making, and effective stakeholder engagement while also analysing management processes in other fields of work such as human resources and finance.

In practical areas of work, you will have the opportunity to work with a sports organisation in our Applied Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Sport unit. With a critical approach, you will identify an area of the business where you could implement change or innovation and subsequently produce a research proposal with suggestions for development. To support you with this, this unit will allow you to explore how to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across various organisations in the sporting sector.

Finally, you will complete an MBA Applied Project where you will be able to apply your leadership and management knowledge to a sporting management environment. Here, you will work with a sporting organisation to solve complex problems while taking into consideration organisational values and stakeholder concerns.

Careers

The skills, knowledge, theoretical concepts and practical experience you gain from this MBA will support you in progressing within the sport and physical activity sector, offering career opportunities at a local, national and global level. Roles include working for a governing body, professional club or sports-related charitable organisation. The leadership and managerial focus of the course also provides numerous transferable skills relevant to a variety of service industries. Upon graduation, you could also continue your studies at PhD level.

2.2 honours degree or equivalent in a related subject area.