Learn from the best

Course speakers have worked at these sports companies - and more

The Football Association logo
British and logo
NFL logo
European Tour logo
Formula-E logo
FIFA logo
Creative Artists Agency logo
International Olympic Committee logo
Williams Racing logo
COPA90 logo

  • 16 hours of lectures from industry experts

    Our speakers are leaders in sport business. Benefit from their practical, first-hand experience in the industry. Contemporary learning and real-world case-studies.

  • Access our speakers

    We offer exclusive 1-on-1 access to our speakers for careers advice and networking. Subject to speaker availability and additional fees.

  • Boost your employability

    Our applied, employer-led learning will greatly enhance your employability. Connect with our Employment Partners for job opportunities in the sector.

  • Flexible learning

    Learn online at your own pace and via any device. The course is accessible, flexible and affordable.

  • Live drop-ins

    Regular live drop-ins with our Academic Director, Dr Rob Wilson. Live guest lectures with industry leaders.

  • Get your certificate

    Complete the course and receive your InSport Education Foundations of Sport Business certificate to add to your LinkedIn.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction to Sport Business

    • Welcome to the Foundations of Sport Business

    • Why is Sport Special? - Dame Heather Rabbatts, former Board Member at The FA

    • The Story of Modern Sport - Lord Colin Moynihan, former UK Minister for Sport

    • The Structure of Sport - James Allen, Director at Counsel Ltd

    • The Sport Business Environment - Dr Rob Wilson, Head of Department at Sheffield Business School

    • Sport for Development - Andy Reed, Director at SajeImpact and The Sports Think Tank

    • Sustainability in Sport - Julia Pallé, Sustainability Director at Formula E

    • Sport Finance: Football as a Case Study - Kieran Maguire, Author of The Price of Football

    • Purpose-Led Sport Business - Paul Bennett, Global Brand Director at AXA

    • Leadership in Sport Business - Andy Sutherden, Former Head of Brand Consulting at CAA

    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Sport Business - Liseli Sitali, Founder and Host of In Her Corner

    • The Growth of Women's Sport - Rebecca Smith, Global Executive of the Women's Game at COPA90
  • 2

    Jobs in Sport Business

    • Sports and Media Rights - Tim Dowd, Former Insight Director at Sky

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    • Sport and Media - Clair Ashley, Director at Vero Communications and Jules Perkins, Sports Media Consultant at Vero Communications

    • Sponsorships and Partnerships - Michelle Webb, Commercial Director at the NFL

    • Sports Marketing - Dave Williams, Former Head of Marketing Europe, PR and Investor Relations at Puma

    • Sport Business Consultancy - Rob Pope, Former Head of Strategy at brandRapport

    • Sport Law - Rowena Samarasinhe, Partner at LEVEL Law

    • Data Analytics in Sport Business - Andrew Serio, Senior Consultant at 21st Club

    • Finance and Investment in Sport - James Stebbing, General Counsel at British & Irish Lions and 6 Nations Rugby

    • Introduction to Esports - Sam Cooke, Founder and Managing Director at Esports Insider

    • Careers in the Sport Industry - Euan Frizzell, Principal at Odgers Berndtson
  • 3

    Case Studies in Sport Business

    • How We Define our Commercial Proposition - Tim Hunt, Commercial and Marketing Director at Williams F1

    • How We Use Technology - Michael Cole, Chief Technology Officer at the European Tour

    • A Look at Wolves FC - Hanspeter Senoner, International Partnerships Team at Wolves FC

1-on-1 Careers Advice

Participants on the course can book exclusive 1-on-1 sessions with our speakers. This is an extraordinary opportunity to connect with industry leaders for personalised careers advice, sport business insights, additional tutoring and networking.

  • Build on your course learning to dive deeper into the topics you’re passionate about with real-world experts

  • Get invaluable advice on careers and employment opportunities from those at the top of the industry

  • Expand your network with high-level connections to sport business decision-makers

The first 50 people to use the code EARLYBIRD at checkout receive a £50 discount.

Enrol now

Get free access to the careers in sport module

  • Follow this link to our survey that helps us improve our courses

  • Fill in the survey - it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes

  • Get free access to the module 'Careers in the Sport Industry' by Euan Frizzell, Principal at Odgers Berndtson

Course Speakers

Meet the sports business experts you'll be learning from

Former Board Member at The FA

Dame Heather Rabbatts

Heather has a distinguished background in football, from being Executive Deputy Chair of Millwall FC through to becoming the first woman member of the board of The Football Association. Heather is the chair of Vero, the strategic communications business famed for its work on successful Olympic and major event bidding and founder of the Women's Sports Group, a new agency designed to create opportunities to enhance women's sport. Heather is also chair of InSport Education and an Ambassador for Women in Football.

Former UK Minister for Sport

Lord Colin Moynihan

Lord Colin Moynihan is a former UK Minister for Sport and Chairman of the British Olympic Association. He is an Olympic silver medallist and currently sits in the House of Lords, and is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Committee on Sport, Modern Slavery and Human Rights. He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Commission for Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport. Colin is also a Senior Advisor to InSport Education.

Head of Department at Sheffield Business School

Dr Rob Wilson

Rob is Head of Department at Sheffield Business School and a leading sport finance expert and football business consultant. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the sport business sector and brings a wealth of experience as a creative educator. Rob specialises in financial reporting, management accounting and economic decision-making processes in sport organisations. Alongside his teaching interests, he has published 5 books and has a prolific media profile.

Commercial Director at National Football League (NFL)

Michelle Webb

Across an impressive career, Michelle has worked both with rights holders, such as the NFL and British Olympic Association, and agency side with Octagon, specialising in strategic sponsorships and partnerships. Michelle has worked with a range of high-profile clients operating in the sports space, including NatWest, Vodafone, MasterCard, HSBC, Samsung, Aviva, Adidas, and Lucozade.

Former Head of Strategy at brandRapport

Rob Pope

Rob was Head of Strategy and Board Director at brandRapport, the award-winning UK and Singapore based marketing and sponsorship consultancy until December 2015. Prior to brandRapport, Rob was previously co-founder of client-led sponsorship agency The TSW Consultancy. Rob's expertise is across a wide range of sponsorship content areas including Social Purpose, Arts and Culture, and Sport.

Sustainability Director at Formula E

Julia Pallé

Sustainability Director at the world’s first fully-electric single-seater racing series, the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, Julia has certified the championship against ISO 20121 (sustainable events international standard) making it the first ever motorsport series to achieve this prestigious certification together with a renewed three stars level for FIA’s Environmental Management system. Julia has helped champion Formula E’s vison to fight climate change via offering solutions to air quality issues in city centres via the adoption of EVs.

Author of The Price of Football

Kieran Maguire

In addition to being a lecturer in football finance at University of Liverpool, Kieran is the author of ‘The Price of Football’ on how to understand, interpret football club finance and value clubs too. He hosts the podcast ‘The Price of Football’ with writer, presenter and comedian Kevin Day and BBC money presenter and producer Guy Kilty. A regular guest on local and national TV and Radio talking about sport finance, he has previously won best overall lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and best UK public sector finance lecturer.

Partner at LEVEL

Rowena Samarasinhe

Rowena is a commercial lawyer with well over a decade of dedicated experience in the international sports industry, having worked within a variety of sports, primarily Olympic sports and football. She specialises in the negotiation and implementation of international sponsorship and broadcast agreements and has worked with some of the largest global sports properties, concluding ground-breaking deals for sports bodies in addition to major endorsement deals with some of the most prolific athletes in the world. Rowena is also a board member of the Professional Squash Association and a member of Sri Lanka's National Sport Council.

Global Brand Director at AXA

Paul Bennett

Paul Bennett drives AXA's initiatives on global brand strategy and management, advertising, content, and sponsorship - he has been part of the team managing AXA's sponsorship of Liverpool FC since the relationship began in 2018, helping to realise how AXA and Liverpool can work together to implement CSR strategies worldwide. He has over 25 years of marketing experience in the insurance, banking and healthcare sectors.

Global Executive Director of Women’s Game at COPA90

Rebecca Smith

Rebecca is an internationally successful footballer who's transitioned to a global executive in sports and business. She has managed FIFA’s Women’s World Cups and Strategic Planning in Women’s Football, co-founded JAMAA Sports Productions, works globally as a freelance sport consultant, and is now the Global Executive Director of Women’s Game for COPA90, the world’s largest independent football media business.

Director at SajeImpact and The Sports Think Tank

Andy Reed OBE

Andy has over 25 years' experience of government and sports policy, including 13 years as the MP for Loughborough and serving in the DCMS, DEFRA and Treasury Ministerial Teams. Joint Founder of The Sports Think Tank and Director of SajeImpact, Andy works with numerous clients across sport, co-operatives and foundations and in partnership with various leaders in their field.

Senior Consultant at 21st Club

Andrew Serio

A Senior Consultant at 21st Club, a leading sports intelligence advisory agency, Andrew understands how different data-led strategies can be implemented in sport across performance and business. Andrew was previously in COPA90's commercial team and Monitor Deloitte strategy consulting.

General Counsel at Six Nations Rugby and British & Irish Lions

James Stebbing

General Counsel at Six Nations Rugby Limited (rightsholder & organiser of the Guinness Six Nations Championship and the Autumn Nations Cup 2020) and General Counsel and Executive Director at British & Irish Lions DAC (rightsholder & organiser of the British & Irish Lions Tour), James has extensive experience across sports finance and investment and deal structuring.

Director at Vero Communications

Clair Ashley

Clair is a sports and media specialist with over twenty five years’ experience developing and implementing communications campaigns for top tier brands, host cities, and high-profile individuals. Recently, she led the development and launch of the Women’s Sports Group, a new offering aligned to Vero Communications, focused on promoting, enhancing and empowering women’s sport.

Former Insight Director at Sky

Tim Dowd

A former Insight Director at Sky, Tim led projects focused around complex insight, strategy formulation, B2C marketing, and media rights valuation with responsibilities across the Executive team, Group Strategy, Sports and Entertainment Content, Marketing, Trading and Brand.

Chief Technology Officer at PGA European Tour and Ryder Cup Europe

Michael Cole

As a CTO and leading practitioner for technology in sport, Michael brings a wealth of unique experience in digital transformation, IT operations, global marketing and commercial sponsorship to deliver commercially-successful technology strategies, marketing campaigns and innovation projects to some of the world’s largest technology and sporting organisations. Currently the CTO with the PGA European Tour and Ryder Cup Europe, and a former CEO For TrueGold Communications, Michael's list of successful engagements includes the Ryder Cup 2018, PGA European Tour, 2019 Pan American Games (Lima), IAAF 2017 World Athletics, Formula One and IPC 2018 European Swimming Championships. Michael was also the London 2012 Marketing and Communications Director for BT Global Services, responsible for activating BT Global Services’ award winning London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games marketing campaign worldwide, converting commercial sponsorship into significant new business growth and profile for BT.

Commercial & Marketing Director at Williams Racing

Tim Hunt

Tim is a commercially focused senior executive who specialises in driving incremental revenue and overall commercial success within sport business organisations, utilising a combination of skills he has gained across roles in the commercial, marketing and operations side of sport. Tim is currently the Commercial & Marketing Director at the Formula 1 team Williams Racing, and he has previously held roles at The European Tour and ATP Tour.

Former Head of Marketing Europe, PR and Investor Relations at Puma

Dave Williams

Dave has thirty years' experience in athlete and player management, media, sponsorship, PR and marketing, retail, publishing, and teaching. During this time, Dave worked with PR and Sponsorship agencies and as a freelance journalist for six years in Hong Kong and London, spent nine years in senior roles with international sports brand Puma UK and International and 17 years in elite athlete representation (mostly elite rugby union players in UK, Ireland and France), advising performance sports brands, running an online sports business community and various other entrepreneurial endeavours. More recently, Dave has taught sport marketing, sponsorship, and business at various prestigious London universities.

Former International Head of Brand Consulting at CAA

Andy Sutherden

Andy is an experienced marketing consultant specialising in brand partnerships & communications in the sport, leisure & entertainment industries. A former executive at Hill + Knowlton Strategies and CAA, Andy has led high performance teams delivering award-winning work across the sports industry.

Director at Counsel Ltd

James Allen

An experienced leader with strong skills in sport governance and policy, James is the Director of Counsel, a consultancy providing specialist advice and support on public affairs, policy, research, strategy, communications and governance to a diverse range of clients from business, the voluntary sector, health, education, sport, international development, and the public sector.

Founder and Host, In Her Corner

Liseli Sitali

Liseli Sitali is the Founder and Host of In Her Corner, a podcast dedicated to celebrating and empowering women working at every level of sport on and off the field. In Her Corner’s purpose is to make the sports industry more accessible and appealing to more women.

Managing Director at Esports Insider

Sam Cooke

An experienced esports executive, Sam launched Esports Insider in the summer of 2016. EI is now one of the top sources of esports business news and events globally, and has matured into one of the premier media outlets in esports.

Sports Media Consultant at Vero Communications

Jules Perkins

An experienced sports press officer and media consultant who has experienced in roles in the private and public sectors including at the UK Government, Jules also has extensive experience in global communications and sponsorship activation in leading sports including Formula E, Formula 1, Le Mans 24 Hours, WEC, MotoGP and the America's Cup.

Principal Sports, Media, Gaming Practice and Head of Performance at Odgers Berndtson

Euan Frizzell

Euan has worked in the sports sector for over 18 years and is now a Principal with Odgers Berndtson, the number one British Search firm and only global search firm with a fully dedicated sports, media and gaming practice.

Pricing

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FAQ

  • When will I be able to access the course material?

    You will be able to access the course material instantly via our online learning platform.

  • How does the careers advice one-to-ones work?

    As part of the Foundations of Sport Business course, you get exclusive opportunities to book one-to-ones with certain lecturers and receive careers advice, mentoring, and expand your network. To access these one-to-ones, please contact us as indicated within the course platform. Each careers advice session you book will incur an extra fee between £200 - £600 depending on who you are booking a session with. Careers advice sessions are non-refundable. Subject to speaker availability.

  • How long can I access the Foundations of Sport Business course material?

    You can access all of the Foundations of Sport Business course material for 90 days from your purchase date, after which you will lose access. You will still be able to book careers advice one-to-ones after this time.

  • What is your refund policy?

    Please contact us within 24 hours of purchase for a full refund. We regret that we cannot accept refunds initiated after 24 hours.

  • Purchases made from REED.co.uk

    Under this policy, you may cancel your purchase of the course within the period of 14 calendar days from the date on which the contract of purchase is concluded. This is called a "Cancellation Period". Note that if you redeem your voucher during the Cancellation Period, you expressly request us to begin providing the course materials and you acknowledge that you lose your right to cancel the purchase of the course and get any refund for it.

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