UCFB course named among world’s best sports Master’s programmes

UCFB is delighted to have been named in SportsBusiness Magazine’s Top 40 Postgraduate Programmes for a second year running.

Our MSc International Sport Management Master’s degree was named the seventh best sports business course in Europe, and the 23rd best in the world for 2023.

This is a significant improvement on last year’s figures, where the course was named 34^th best in the world and 13^th best in Europe.

This sees UCFB’s course named in the edition ahead of elite higher education institutions such as Loughborough University, New York University and the Johan Cruyff Institute.

SportsBusiness Magazine said in the edition: “With the NBA, MLB and NFL now using annual international fixtures to expand their reach, and bodies like FIFA and World Rugby looking enviously at the US market for growth, the industry is starting to require different kinds of people, both with more general commercial skillsets, and with more specific local knowledge.”

It added: “By having an international base and approach, Sharona Friedman feels that the course is able to cherry pick the best knowledge from each territory it works in, and then disseminate that knowledge around the world.”

When speaking about this international approach to education, Sharona president said: “When looking at Australia, for instance, they’re really big on sustainability.

“They have the best fan engagement in the world, it’s very successful and very different from the model in the US, where they’re much better on things like sponsorship and marketing. So every market has something different they bring to the table, which we want to build into our courses.

“And I would argue that different places have inherently different cultural values, so a part of what we’re trying to do is actually level the playing fields around the world by taking areas of strengths and weaknesses and disseminating them accordingly. It’s about that cross-pollination.”