Football fans who want to learn about the business of football can study at their Football Club thanks to a new BA Hons degree in Sports Business Management, which will be available at 17 EFL Clubs from September 2023.

Delivered in partnership with the University of South Wales, the degree is specifically designed for students who are looking for a career in business and management within the sports industry. Each individual will get the unique chance to study at their local Club, often at the stadium via an online learning platform and will receive mentoring support and practical work experience through the Club’s Community Organisation. 

To launch the degree, BTEC students from QPR were invited to demonstrate their business acumen and  to come up with ways to boost matchday revenue for the Club. Their ideas were pitched to a group of football ‘dragons’, including QPR players Josh De Silva and Trent Rendall. 

QPR is one of 17 EFL Clubs running the new degree from September where students will cover topics including business planning, financial management and marketing. 

The first pitch at the launch event was by Avante Joseph and Myles Mari who presented the ‘QPR App’, giving  fans the chance to access exclusive content about the Club, from the men’s first team to the academy, as well as live commentary of games. 

The second pitch by Denzel Magezi, Matheus Rossi and Oliver Hearn-Lee proposed the ‘E-sports room’, offering fans the opportunity to compete in E-Sports tournaments against their heroes in renowned games such as FIFA and Fortnite. 

The final pitch came from Angela Oceja, whose idea was a pre and post-match ‘Community Festival’ to ensure the Club embraced every aspect of its local community. It would give a platform to local DJs, performers, food business and other local entertainers to participate.

On the judging panel, the ‘dragons’ included Josh De Silva and Trent Rendall from QPR, Emily Fermor of Hanbury Strategy and Jay Probert from the University of South Wales.  

Emily said: “We were very impressed with the plans and it was obvious that the students had done their market research. We were particularly impressed with how each pitch had considered and looked to improve the fan’s experience and deciding the winner was very difficult.”     

After a long deliberation of three very impressive pitches the judges awarded  Denzel, Matheus and Oliver’s ‘E-sport room’ as the overall winners, with the pair both taking home their very own tablet as their prize.”

Cathy Abraham, Chief Executive of the EFL Trust added: “The degree is a fantastic opportunity for people to learn about the business side of sport and to do so while getting invaluable hands on experience at a professional Football Club. This is another great example of how Clubs use the power of the badge and their unique position in the community to improve people’s education and chance of gaining meaningful employment.“ 

Clubs delivering BA Hons Degree in Sport Business Management: Accrington Stanley, AFC Fylde, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Burton Albion, Cardiff City, Carlisle United, ,Derby County, Exeter City, Hull City Leyton Orient, Lincoln City, Nottingham Forest, Preston North End, QPR, Sheffield United, Shrewsbury Town, Tranmere Rovers,West Brom Albion


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