This module aims to:

Enable students to develop a critical understanding of football ecosystems
Students will be equipped with a comprehensive understanding of the structure, organisation, and dynamics of global football industries, with a focus on the roles, influences, and interactions of key stakeholders, including federations, leagues, clubs, players, agents, consumers, and investors.

Analyse stakeholder management and ecosystem tensions
Students will develop the skills required to critically evaluate the complexities of stakeholder management within football, examining the dynamics, tensions, and competing interests between different actors in the football ecosystem and their impact on decision-making and governance.

Examine value creation and capture in the football industry
Students will be provided with the tools to assess how value is created, captured, and distributed within football industries, applying relevant economic and strategic theorie s to understand the financial and operational aspects of football organisations.

Critically explore emerging trends and innovations
Students will investigate the impact of emerging trends on the football industry, such as, but not limited to, private equity investment, the rise of women's football, and the expansion into digital and virtual worlds (e.g., eSports), and assess their implications for future growth and sustainability.

(LO1) Students will be able to critically analyse the structure, organisation, and dynamics of football ecosystems by examining the roles and influences of key stakeholders such as federations, leagues, clubs, and investors within global football contexts.

(LO2) Students will be able to evaluate value creation and capture strategies in football organisations, applying financial models and economic theories to assess how football clubs and leagues generate, capture, and sustain value across different markets.

(LO3) Students will be able to discuss and apply relevant theories and models to assess stakeholder management, identifying and interpreting tensions and conflicts within football ecosystems, and formulating strategic recommendations for managing these dynamics effectively.

(LO4) Students will be able to synthesise insights from emerging trends in the football industry to predict future developments and recommend strategic responses for football organisations.

(S1) People Focused
Students will work with multiple stakeholders within the MBA programme and externally. This will be done through challenges posed in the curriculum and outside the curriculum, working and networking with businesses locally and internationally. In doing so students will demonstrate people-focused leadership by prioritising human agency and well-being in a dynamic, disruptive world. Develop inclusivity, transparency, and reflection through teamwork and decision-making exercises, while leveraging innovation to drive personal, organisational, and societal advancement in the digital age.

(S2) Authenticity
Students will develop emotional intelligence through coaching to enhance self-awareness and awareness of others in achieving long-term, purposeful goals. This will permeate with all modules, cultivating accountability by mastering time, resources, and relationships to problem-solve and take actions. In doing so students will act with integrity, foster trust, and engage in respectful challenge and debate.

(S3) Agility
Students will have opportunities to thrive in turbulence and uncertainty. Actively build personal and organisational resilience to embrace disruption, find solutions and keep learning in dynamic environments. Informed, relevant, forward-focused mindsets stemming from constant challenges inside and outside the classroom. Provide clear direction for people and organisations to navigate effectively through simulated and real work problem solving.

(S4) Digital
Students will use a number of digital tools and develop a mindset to confidently embrace new knowledge and technologies, leverage its future potential to inspire, to enhance connectivity, decision making and learning. To bring wisdom in leadership to navigate the new digital revolution and make positive impact. Innovate. Engage in respectful debate.

(S5) Global Perspective
All modules will indulge and challenges students to think globally and consider how they drive the wider global ethical, sustainable and environmental agenda, taking a purposeful approach to aligning people, planet and profit. Experience and appreciate how building partnerships to deliver innovate solutions to economic, environmental and societal challenges are needed to solve wicked problems, improve co-operation globally and be an agent of change.

The module will primarily be delivered through a series of e-lectures, delivered through a variety of methods, covering key topics, theories and case examples. These will be supported by individual online tasks such as, case studies, blogs, collaborative tasks and discussion boards, which will be used to develop and apply learning. These activities will be moderated by the module instructor. Students will also be directed to key academic and practitioner readings to further develop their learning.

Unscheduled Directed Student Hours: 30 hours
Description: The asynchronous e-lecture and interactive class activity will equate to 5 hours per week over 6 weeks.
Attendance Recorded: Yes – tracked via the learning platform.

Scheduled Directed student hours: 5 hours
Description: The synchronous seminars will equate to 5 hours in total over 6 weeks.
Attendance Recorded: Yes – tracked via the learning platform.

One scheduled synchronous semi nar of one hour will be delivered in week 1, with the remaining two synchronous seminar hours scheduled during weeks 2 to 6. The dates and times of the seminars will be confirmed at the start of the module (if there are issues with time zones another session will be provided). Peer discussion and questions will be encouraged. These sessions will be recorded and moderated by the module instructor.

Self-directed learning hours: 65 hours
Description: This will involve directed and independent reading, and independent research into management theories and practices relevant to the module syllabus, aims and learning outcomes.

Global Structure and Organisation of Football:

Overview of the global football industry;
Governance and organisational structures of football leagues and federations;
Roles and interactions of key stakeholders in football ecosystems;
Decision-making processes in football organisations;
Comparative analysis of football systems across developed and emerging markets.

Stakeholder Management in the Football Ecosystem:

Stakeholder theory and its relevance to the football industry;
Power dynamics and relationships between clubs, players, leagues, and consumers;
Conflicting interests and tensions within football ecosystems;
Strategic decision-making in the face of competing stakeholder demands;
Case studies: Major stakeholder conflicts in football (e.g., Super League, player transfers).

Value Creation and Capture in Football Industries:

Financial models of value creation in football: broadcasting rights, sponsorship, ticket sales ;
Commercialisation and brand management strategies in football;
Valuation, revenue streams, and profitability of football clubs;
Strategic models for capturing value in football industries;
Case studies on successful value capture (e.g., Real Madrid, Manchester United).

Emerging Trends and Disruptions in Football Industries:

The role of private equity and institutional investment in football;
Digital transformation: eSports, virtual reality, and new fan engagement technologies;
The rise of women’s football: growth, challenges, and future outlook;
Expansion into new markets: Globalisation strategies in the football industry;
Ethical and sustainability challenges facing modern football.