While mastering the theoretical side of leadership and management, students will be regularly involved in a variety of work placements with the University’s educational sports partners – including Luton Town Football Club, Be Active Beds and Bedford Blues Rugby – allowing them to continually develop their skills and put their learnings into practise.

Additional units will focus on strategy, work place scenarios including human resources and financial considerations and analysis of the rapidly-growing international sports landscape. It will also include how to navigate the 21^st century challenges facing sports organisations, such as how sport and physical activity can be used as a tool for social and political change.

Stuart Wilson, Senior Lecturer and Course Lead for MBA Sports Leadership & Management, commented: “If you are an ambitious individual aspiring towards a strategic leadership position in the field of sport and physical activity, this MBA is the course for you. It will bring together joint expertise from across the University of Bedfordshire, providing you with modern, industry-focused teaching to develop your critical understanding of the management and business-based issues facing sports in the UK and around the world.”

He continued: “We have designed this MBA with successful professionals in mind and look forward to developing our cohort’s strategic thinking and their ability to apply creative and innovative approaches for encouraging community sports engagement and participation.”

Devised in partnership with academics from both the University’s Graduate School of Business and the School of Sports Science & Physical Activity, this highly anticipated Sports Leadership & Management MBA is one of the first of its kind in the UK. Based at the Bedford campus which boasts excellent sport science facilities, such as BASES-accredited laboratories and a national-standard sports arena, the course will also draw on the expertise of two of the University’s research institutes – ISPAR (Institute for Sport & Physical Activity Research) and BMRI (Business and Management Research Institute) – with this combination of expertise providing a unique offering for those wanting to enter the competitive postgraduate sphere.

Upon completion, this prestigious postgraduate qualification will equip participants with the necessary requirements for a number of employment roles across the multi-billion pound industry, such as with professional clubs, National Governing Bodies (including The FA), International Governing Bodies (such as UEFA and FIFA), and overseas roles with NGOs and voluntary organisations who deliver sport as a tool for community development.

Applications for Bedfordshire’s September 2024 cohort can be submitted throughout the summer via the University’s website (www.beds.ac.uk/enquire) or by calling 0300 3300 073 to speak directly with the friendly admissions team. To celebrate its launch, the fees for this one-year MBA course will be reduced by over a third down to £10,000 for all 2024/25 students.