Every weekend, the UK becomes alive with sport. Whether it be football, tennis, rugby, cricket, golf, or whatever else is in season, Brits are obsessed with playing, watching and analysing the weekend’s action.
And Birmingham is no different in this, only it is one of the few places in the country that can offer everything we mentioned above 52 weeks a year. This diverse sporting map makes it the ideal place to study a sports management degree.
Here are a few reasons why we think Birmingham is the place to study sport management.
Venues
Everywhere you go in the second city, you’re never far away from sport. As you can see on this sport map of Birmingham, nearly everything is either in walking distance or a quick train journey from Birmingham city centre.
Take football for example. You won’t find a better concentration of football league grounds outside of London than in Birmingham and the surrounding area. Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Walsall, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers are the major teams in the West Midlands, but several other big names such as Stoke, Coventry and Leicester are only a short distance away, and there are also plenty of non-league teams here as well.
That’s not to mention Edgbaston Cricket Ground, the Priory Tennis Club, Handsworth Golf Club, Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium and the Alexander Athletics Stadium. Mix in the plethora of amateur clubs within Birmingham, and there are plenty of opportunities to work across a wide range of sports both during and after your sport management course.
Birmingham Arenas
Birmingham is also blessed with two world class arenas – the Genting Arena near the NEC complex, and the city centre Arena Birmingham. Both of these attract sporting events from across the globe.
We regularly see tours from American staples such as the WWE and the Harlem Globe Trotters, as well as high profile boxing and MMA cards. The Horse of the Year show is held annually at the NEC complex, and several athletic sports hold championships at the two arenas, including gymnastics, trampolining and cheerleading.
These all come with their own organisational challenges, and can offer you exposure to sports outside of the norm.
Commonwealth Games
Speaking of athletics, Birmingham was recently announced as the host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Following successful games in Manchester in 2002 and Glasgow in 2014, it is now our turn to show the world what Birmingham can bring to the festivities.
The games will bring huge potential for jobs, voluntary and permanent, in the run up to the games in four years’ time. The Alexander Stadium will undergo a massive renovation, and a new aquatics centre will open in nearby Smethwick, both of which will require personnel to help manage their development.
It is an exciting time for Birmingham, and the city will feel the benefits of hosting the event long after it has ended.
Industry Links
At the Birmingham City Business School, we don’t believe that business can be studied in isolation. So we have forged links with industry that can get you closer to the sporting venues and events in the city.
We have good working relations with the Genting Arena, and Birmingham City University are the official University partner of Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Our students have already enjoyed placement opportunities there, through our sandwich placement year scheme.
Expert Teaching
During your sport management degree, you’ll be part of a school with extensive industry experience across all of the management sector. You’ll get to hear from experts in office, corporate and retail management, who can all bring their insight into the classroom to make sure you pick up a wide range of managerial skills.
On top of that, the course director for our BA (Hons) Sport Business Management degree, Richard Oddy, has a long history of directing sport management degrees in the UK. He has also worked with the likes of England Golf, the British Equestrian Federation, and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We believe that Birmingham represents the best place to study a Sports Management degree, in more ways than one. Interested? Check out our Global Sport Management degree and find out more about this great course.
