BSc (Hons) Sport Management

Program Overview

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Bournemouth University's BSc (Hons) Sport Management program blends academic theory with practical experience, preparing graduates for a range of careers in the ever-evolving sports industry. Its focus on management, marketing, and leadership, combined with a mandatory placement year, empowers students with the knowledge and skills to manage, influence, and lead in the sports sector. The program is accredited by multiple industry bodies and has a proven track record of graduate employability, with 94% of graduates in work or further studies within 15 months of graduating.

Program Outline

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Degree Overview:

This BSc (Hons) Sport Management program at Bournemouth University is designed to prepare students for a career in the ever-changing sports industry.

• Gain varied practical experience from course placement options, providing fantastic opportunities to put learning into practice and make professional connections.
• Become career-ready with 94% of graduates in employment or further studies fifteen months after graduating.

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Outline:

The program is structured over three or four years, with the option of a foundation year for students who do not meet the entry requirements for the degree course. The program includes a mandatory placement year, which can be either a short 6-week placement or a longer 30-week placement.

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Year 1:

• Core Units:
• Beginning Research in Sport & Exercise: Introduces the role of research in various sport and exercise contexts, covering quantitative and qualitative research approaches.
• Principles of Sport Management: Provides a contextual understanding of how core management principles operate in practice within the contemporary sports industry.
• Sport Marketing: Explores the marketing process in relation to internal and external environments, market research and segmentation, and tactics to develop customer loyalty.
• Financial Reporting for Sport: Introduces the techniques involved in the recording and reporting of financial information in a small business, sports club, or society.
• Sport Structures & Processes: Analyzes the structure and systems of sport and physical activity governance, as well as the operational functions of national sport and physical activity organizations.
• Sport, Culture & Society: Uses theories grounded in social science to evaluate and interpret social and cultural issues within the context of sport.

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Year 2:

• Core Units:
• Conducting Research in Sport & Exercise: Prepares students for independent research, developing a sound understanding of the philosophy and skills that underpin quantitative and qualitative approaches to research enquiry.
• Consuming Sport: Provides a detailed understanding of the contexts in which consumer behavior occurs, the consumer decision-making process, attitude change and development, and the role of self and identity in the consumption process.
• Financial Appraisal: Develops the skills and knowledge to facilitate effective financial planning, monitoring, and control mechanisms in the sport sector.
• Sport Management & Leadership: Enables students to develop an understanding of the behavior of people in organizations and how they can use management tools to adapt and respond to these demands.
• Option Units (Choose Two):
• Issues & Controversies in Sport, Culture & Society: Engages students as critical users and producers of sporting cultures, critically evaluating key contemporary issues surrounding sport through a variety of academic perspectives.
• Managing Sport for Development: Develops a holistic understanding of the cases, contexts, and situations in which sport and physical activity are used to achieve physical, social, psychological, or community development and health goals.
• Safe Sport: Develops a critical understanding of contemporary sociology, management, and social psychological theories underpinning coaching practice and coach and athlete welfare.
• Developing Coaching Practice: Engages students in theoretically-driven practical experiences and discussion of sports coaching practice, as well as developing new insights about the complexity of coaching.
• Managing Esports: Explores the principles, applications, and unique challenges associated with the management of Esports (players, teams, leagues, events).

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Placement Year:

• The length of the work placement is optional, with a minimum of 6 weeks taken as part of the three-year degree or a minimum of 30 weeks taken as part of the four-year degree.
• The placement can take place in the UK or overseas and gives students the opportunity to turn theory into practice in a business environment.
• The university has excellent links with sporting organizations, health and fitness clubs, and national governing bodies in both the UK and Australia.

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Final Year:

• Core Units (Choose One):
• Dissertation: Enables students to initiate and carry out an independent and self-managed research project, applying their knowledge and understanding of the research process learned so far.
• Research Expedition: Provides the opportunity to perform in-depth research on the needs and responses of individuals completing a UK-based endurance expedition.
• Option Units (Choose Four):
• Sport & Physical Culture: Develops a critical awareness of sport and physical culture in a variety of contexts by bringing together theory and practice in reflexive fieldwork.
• Talent Development in Sport: Gains a deep knowledge of the development of talent in sport, learning to look beyond headline findings and widely held myths/beliefs.
• Strategy & Leadership: Undertakes strategic analysis, develops strategic plans, and understands the key issues in terms of strategic implementation relevant to public, private, and voluntary sector organizations.
• Applied Sport Marketing: Develops the ability to undertake marketing analysis, develop strategic marketing plans, and understand the key issues in terms of strategic implementation relevant to a wide range of international organizations.
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation in Sport Management: Addresses the importance of enterprise and how entrepreneurship is a key driver in the sports industry.
• Sport Business Analytics: Applies sport management theories to real-world problems that can be addressed and/or better understood through the collation of various forms of data from a range of digital environments.
• Fusion Learning Project: Engages industry partners in student learning, developing students as researchers, and providing them with a platform to influence real-world practice.
• Managing Sport Events for Sustainable Development: Considers a range of issues relating to the planning, development, implementation, evaluation, and legacies of successful sport events that aim to address the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
• International Event Management: Evaluates and applies management theories and techniques to the effective organization of international events.

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Assessment:

Details of the assessment methods and contact hours for each unit of the course can be found in the programme specification.

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Teaching:

• Students are taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit.
This includes senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians, and research students.
• Students also benefit from regular guest lectures from industry.

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Careers:

• This degree will prepare students for work in a variety of sporting settings nationally and internationally.
• Former students have gone on to work for organizations such as Manchester United FC, Milton Keynes Dons, DC Leisure, Fitness First, Elite Sports Promotions, The Kia Oval Cricket Club, British Ski and Wake Board, AFC Bournemouth, Open Golf Championship, and Messe Frankfurt.

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Typical Starting Job Roles:

• Assistant Manager
• Sports Retention Executive
• Graduate Events Delegate
• Digital Marketing Assistant
• Events Manager
• Marketing & PR Executive
• Project Manager

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Industries:

• Sports
• Leisure
• Retail
• Business
• Events

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Further Study:

• Students can further develop their education by studying for a postgraduate degree.
• The university offers a range of extracurricular activities for students to get involved in.
• The university has excellent facilities, including The Sir Michael Cobham Library, the Student Centre, the Fusion Building, and Poole Gateway Building.
• The university also offers a range of scholarships and bursaries to help students fund their studies.