BA (Hons) Sports Business and Sports Law

Whilst sports law is now widely recognised as a discrete jurisprudential category of law, it has nonetheless its foundations in the traditional areas of law such as contract law, tort law, criminal law, employment law and European Union law. Like other areas of law, it is also heavily influenced by legislation and judge made law. As a future expert in sport law, you will need to develop a strong understanding of how the law operates and evolves within different legal systems and, in particular, within the English Legal System. The module will provide you with an in-depth knowledge of the fundamental legal principles, institutions and procedures upon which the English Legal System is founded, allowing you to fully understand how the law operates in England and Wales. This module will introduce you to a wide range of legal skills including legal research, legal writing, legal referencing and legal etiquette, as well as familiarisation with alternative legal systems.

The contemporary sport industry has embraced a number of dynamic innovations used in other sectors, helping to transform both its management and administration, steering it in a more professional manner in some aspects of sport, yet not others. Growing revenue has taken on increasing importance yet some sports still have issues with the media monopoly of others. Resistance to change, amateur practices and poor treatment of some players remain within the industry. You will explore these and other key issues through examining how the core parts of the business (marketing, finance, the media, sponsorship, event management, leadership and HR) operate. You will analyse the development of sport and governance of both elite and grassroots organisations.

In order for you to achieve your university and future workplace goals, you need to be aware of a number of personal qualities and behaviours that can impact your ability to succeed. It is also important that you understand the industry and societal context in which you plan to work. This module aims to introduce you to personal and professional factors relevant to employment in the sport industry, and to enhance your awareness of the industrial landscape. Additionally, it will support you in developing some essential academic skills for higher education (such as academic writing and referencing). The module will introduce you to a wide range of perspectives, philosophies, and principles of critical and ethical thinking which will equip you with the competencies and confidence to achieve your academic and employability goals.

This module provides the intellectual foundations to the study of sports law by examining the historical and contemporary debates concerning the relationship between sport and law. The module provides an introduction to how sport is regulated and how sport organises itself. It provides key definitions, such as the meaning of the specificity and autonomy of sport. The law of negligence and its application to sport is examined. Legal issues particular to the sports industry are analysed, including anti-doping. The interaction between human rights and sports is considered in this module as well.

This module seeks to develop an awareness of and an understanding of the source and purpose of accounting information to organisational stakeholders – both internal and external. You will be introduced to both strands of accounting, that being Financial and Management accounting and their constituent audiences’ needs. With reference to Financial Accounting, you will be introduced to the different statements or ‘accounts’ included within the annual financial report produced by companies, their differences and the information they convey to users. Through the use of case studies, you will be taught how to draft and analyse these statements. With reference to Management Accounting, you will be introduced to accounting principles and frameworks which can be used to aid management, when it comes to decision making, planning and controlling organisational activities. You will also be introduced to the various sources of finance and their related implications to the organisation.

You will learn how different factors have influenced the development of the football business. It is essential that future students understand the framework within which all football-related institutions coexist and the unique role that clubs play in society which creates an environment that distinguishes football business from other environments.

Sports governing bodies are faced with many challenges relating to safeguarding the safety of those connected with sport and maintaining the integrity of sporting competitions. Many of these challenges stem from the deviant behaviour of sports participants, spectators or those seeking to criminally exploit sport. This module explores these issues by critically examining how the sport’s governing bodies and the law of the land regulate misconduct and criminal activity by sports participants on the field of play, and combat threats to the integrity of sport involving forms of corruption. This builds upon and applies a consideration of key criminal law principles provided at the beginning of the module.

The aim of this module is to understand and analyse the political and economic contexts in which sport operates, and to understand the structure of the sports industry. You’ll develop a higher-level understanding of business and management principles and their application to the sport industry. This will allow you to advance your knowledge of the processes that have contributed to the emergence of sport as a global phenomenon at significant political and policy levels across public, private and voluntary sectors of international economies. Many tensions have emerged as sport has become more globally salient, and this course will arm you to assess and act on the implications for the future development and management of sport.

Following on from your previous training regarding personal qualities and behaviours that can impact your ability to succeed, this module focuses on developing your practical skills relevant to a workplace environment. This module will ask you to apply your knowledge and personal skillset to problem-based learning scenarios, and live projects. You will learn project management skills, develop your personal pragmatism, and enhance your industry-based interests and understanding. You will work both as part of a team and independently, developing essential aspects of your emotional, social, and professional self.

As a practitioner in your discipline you will be required to engage in evidence-based practice. This module supports your ability to become an evidence-based practitioner by providing you with an introduction to the processes involved in conducting research within your discipline and equipping you with the skills and knowledge to be able to critically analyse the work of others. This module will build on skills and knowledge which you will have acquired throughout your course so far, and has been designed to prepare you for conducting your own independent project as part of the Professional Project module at Level 6. Specifically, this module will enable you to gain an applied understanding of the research process. This will involve identifying a contemporary industry-relevant issue; developing project aims and objectives; understanding reflexivity and the role you play in the design and execution of a project; understanding methodologies and different methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation; and appreciating the importance of ethical practice. The delivery of this module will be facilitated by your engagement in a research project to investigate contemporary industry-relevant issues.

This module critically examines the regulatory framework affecting the governance choices made by a range of sports governing bodies. In doing so, the module critically reviews how the decisions of governing bodies can lead to legal challenge and in what way. The module also explores the claim that sports has ‘specific characteristics’, that make it unique to other forms of organisation and that it should be free to determine its own organisational and regulations without legal intervention under the auspices of sports law (Lex Sportiva). To support and refute this claim, the module will explore the role and regulatory function of governing bodies by examining a range of legal sports cases, how and why they have come about and in what ways the legal process has been applied. The knowledge and skills gained from this module will be highly beneficial in preparing you for roles in sport, which relate to governance, regulation compliance and law.

Entrepreneurship is more a state of mind than an actual discipline. It involves the full gamut of business knowledge and skills, commonly taught on business related courses. You will develop a business idea within a group. To realise this idea, you will produce a pitch deck which will be presented to an investment panel. Based on feedback and comments from the panel you will then produce a business plan. There is also an increasing need for innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in a wide range of industries. This practical focused module will therefore also provide you with the skills and knowledge from the world of business underpinned by relevant theories and models to help you succeed in a variety of careers. The ultimate aim of this module is to give you a realistic and viable alternative career opportunity establishing and running your own business.

This module explores the web of contractual relationships that operate within sport from an employment perspective. Athletes, managers, coaches and support staff can have different employment rights. They may be employed by clubs or sports organisations or operate as workers of self-employed. An understanding of contracts relating to work is thus imperative. Parties may also find themselves contractually bound by the rules of a sports governing body. This module navigates through this complex web of contractual relations and explores how a unique a system of public and private regulation applies to sport. It examines the employee-employer relationship, how contracts are negotiated, what terms appear in contracts, how parties to a contract can be disciplined and how contracts are ended.

Studying this module will develop your knowledge and appreciation of strategic management in different organisational and environmental settings. You will learn how strategic thinking and planning is applied within football (grassroots/professional) and sporting ecosystems. You will also be able to critically evaluate how leadership approaches support strategy expectations. The module will provide you with theoretical concepts and relevant tools for undertaking strategic analyses, considering strategic choices and making strategic recommendations for any sports related organisation.

This module provides you with the opportunity to synthesise the knowledge and skills you will have developed during the course of your studies and independently design, develop and execute an individual professional project. This project aims to investigate an original contemporary industry-relevant issue and will be a platform through which you will demonstrate the knowledge, skills, understanding and expertise you have developed in your discipline thus far. It is expected that your project output will contribute to industry practice and/or academic and practitioner knowledge. To achieve this, you will investigate an original contemporary industry-relevant issue and make judgments on the basis of sound evidence and therefore, the project will be research- and inquiry-based. The project will be directly relevant to your course and will be produced and disseminated in the format best suited to the project aims and to developing a career of your choice. The project will build on the L5 Research Methods assessment and you will be working closely with a project supervisor who will provide guidance and support throughout your project.

Following on from your previous training regarding personal qualities and behaviours that can impact your ability to succeed, this module focuses on practical application of that knowledge during a workplace visit. Until now, your modules have provided learning opportunities about the industry and societal context in which you plan to work. This module aims to introduce you to a workplace environment. Doing so will allow you to enhance your awareness of the industrial landscape through experience. This module creates a space for you to apply competencies developed in your modules to date to a real-life setting, leading to experiential and reflective learning.

Over the years, sport has developed into a lucrative business but the right to exploit its commercial value is not unfettered. In this module, you will explore a variety of legal issues arising from the progressive commercialisation and juridification of sports. By looking at domestic, European and international law, you will explore how athletes, clubs and event organisers are able to exploit the commercial value of sport whilst also protecting their rights from infringement by third parties. Additionally, you will also examine the specificities of sport and whether these preclude the application of UK and EU competition law or whether sport should be treated, in law, the same as any other business. As you prepare to enter the sports industry, this module will also provide you with an understanding of the key negotiation theories and skills you will need to negotiate a variety of sports business contracts.