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Online sports business education

ISC Academy Business of Sport Certificate

Offering excellent value, combining all 15 sport business courses in one certification

The only global Business of Sport Certificate run for the industry with insights from the industry.

Consisting of 15 individual courses that cover the breadth of the sport business landscape.

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SPECIAL BUNDLE OFFERS

PLAYER ATHLETE MANAGEMENT + HIGH PERFORMANCE IN SPORT

SPORTS BRANDING + SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS

Each bundle Just

€150

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Sports Strategic Planning

Creating a long-term strategic plan is a key part of any sporting organisation which is looking to develop and grow.

A strategic plan should not be confused with an operating or business plan. For the purpose of this course, a business plan is concerning with the ‘annual’ or one-year plan which links into the wider strategic plan. Alongside the business plan will be an annual budget. A strategic plan is focused on mid to long-term goals and explains the basic strategies for achieving them. Please note, this course focuses on the development of a long term strategic plan and not a business plan.

This course sets out the basics of the strategic
planning process and how to develop a plan for
your organisation. Finally, we will provide some
examples of strategic plans from other sporting
organisations around the world.

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is a strategic plan?
  • The benefits of having a strategic plan
  • The process to follow when creating a
    strategic plan
  • Tips when starting to create your strategic plan

ISC Academy will provide you with a template
and checklist to help you complete your
Strategic plan.

After completing this course, you should be
able to go through the process of developing a
strategic plan for your sporting organisation.

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Fan Engagement in Sport

If you are involved in the marketing team of a sports organisation, one of your biggest challenges is getting your fans’ attention. Sports clubs need to stand out from the crowd. Sports organisations must build strong bonds with their existing fan base and also create compelling stories and experiences to reach new fans.

Whether your fans are in the stadium cheering from the stands or sitting at home, watching the game with their friends and fellow fans, sports clubs need to understand the best way to engage with them. 

Fan engagement is about building a strong ongoing connection with your fans. To do this, sports clubs need to understand the individual fan experience and how it can be enhanced to drive more value.   In this course you will learn about:

  • What is fan engagement?
  • Understanding the principles of fan engagement
  • Explain the main concepts of fan engagement
  • Understand the benefits of good fan engagement
  • Explore examples of fan engagement from a number of sports teams

After completing this course, you will understand fan engagement, the benefits of good fan engagement and be able to develop a fan engagement strategy for your sports organisation.

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Introduction to the Business of Sport and Sports Management

Sport is big business! Stadiums, players, managers, and coaches are just some of the key stakeholders. When fans think of sports organisations, it is most likely these groups would be mentioned first.

Within the world of sport exists governing bodies and federations, leagues, and sports organisations (teams or clubs). These sports organisations can be either amateur or professional.

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is the business of sport?
  • Who are the different stakeholders in sport?
  • How the industry is structured
  • Federations, leagues, and teams
  • Governing bodies
  • Professional structures
  • Amateur structures

After completing this course, you will have a clearer understanding of the sports management structures that exist within sports organisations. We will look at the role of the federations and governing bodies, the role of the league and the role of the teams. We will look at some of the key functions that exist within sports organisations.

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Sports Governance, Law and Integrity

Good governance in sport is concerned with operating and managing a sports organisation in the right manner. It is about the principles that guide the sports administrator to do the right thing in the right way while protecting the sports organisation's reputation.  Sports law are the laws that apply to athletes and the sports they play. Sports law touches on a variety of matters, including contract, tort, agency, antitrust, constitutional, labor, trademark, Sex Discrimination, criminal, and tax issues.  Integrity in sport is defined as the manifestation of the ethics and values which promote community confidence in sports, including fair and honest performances and outcomes, unaffected by illegitimate enhancements or external interests.  Integrity in sport is important because it protects its values.  Threats to sports integrity include issues like doping and match fixing, as well as those which impact peoples positive experience in sport, such as abuse, discrimination and harassment. 

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is good governance in sport?
  • How sports law works and how it is implemented?
  • How integrity in sport is implemented and monitored?
  • Tips in building a career in this area.

ISC Academy will provide you with some templates and checklists to support work in this area.  After completing this course, you should be able to understand how to govern a sport ethically and legally.

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Sports Branding

Have you ever gone to a football stadium and wondered why the team name and logo was everywhere in sight? While success on the field is vitally important, the work conducted off the field on creating that brand is what helps you stand out from your rivals and build value for your brand.  Sports organisations need strong branding to create loyalty and value. 

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is branding?
  • The fundamentals of a branding strategy
  • The branding processes
  • Brand name, language, and tone of voice
  • Brand identity and brand protection
  • Examples of good branding

After completing this course, you will have learned about the process of branding, from strategic brand positioning to brand identity and voice. This course will equip sports marketing professionals with a greater understanding of branding.

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Sports Communications

Sports communications includes advertising, digital marketing, public relations, media relations and public affairs.  It focuses on the promotion of a team/athlete/sporting brand, whilst also communicating the values and identity of that brand/team/individual.  There are many people the sport/athlete/brand may want to reach with their messages - this could be current or new fans, government, members of the sporting family, the local community, etc.  It is important that there is a plan around communications, and a method for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the communications.    

In this course you will learn about:

  • What are sports communications?
  • How do public relations, media relations and public affairs work in sport?
  • How do you write a sports communications plan?
  • Tips in building a career in sports communications

ISC Academy will provide you with a template and checklist to help you build a sports communications plan.  After completing this course, you should be able to understand the process of managing sports communications and be equipped for working in this area.

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Sports Commercial

Like any other business, sports administrators and commercial teams within sports organisations are focused on generating revenue. Sports organisations have a dual focus. While one aim is to drive revenue to cover costs/ deliver profits, the other is to increase the chance to improve the sporting performance.

The more income a sports club can generate, the more money will be available so they can sign better players, better coaches, increase grassroots programs and have better facilities. Sports can differ a lot in their ability to generate revenue.

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is the business of sport?
  • Different ways clubs can raise money
  • What is sports sponsorship?
  • Examples of good sponsorship partnership
  • Steps to create a sales presentation

After completing this course, you will understand the business of sport, how sports organisations generate revenue and the different methods used to raise funds.  For the purpose of this course we will focus more on the elite/pro clubs rather than the amateur side of sport.

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Sports Sponsorship

Sponsorship is when a business provides funds, resources or services to a sports right’s holder, in return for some form of rights and/or association with the sport to help the business commercially.  Sponsorship is all about increasing brand awareness, visibility and guaranteed media exposure.  It gives businesses a chance to stand out and differentiate, by associating with sport.  When a fan cheering on their favorite sports team sees a product or brand, it becomes ingrained subconsciously in their mind.  Apart from increasing awareness it could ultimately change the way a person sees that specific brand or product. Sponsorship relationships go through a life cycle including three stages: formation, operation and outcome.  Developing a leveraging plan for every single sponsorship initiative, regardless of how small, is the key to maximising sponsorship impact.  Evaluation of the sponsorship activity afterwards is key to proving business value and optimizing future activations.

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is sponsorship?
  • What makes a sponsorship successful?
  • What is the process to follow in building and managing a sponsorship
  • Tips in building a career in sponsorship

ISC Academy will provide you with a template and checklist to help you build a sponsorship proposition.  After completing this course, you should be able to understand the process of managing a sponsorship and be equipped for working in this area.

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Stadium and Venue Operations

For a sports fan there is no greater thrill than walking up to the venue, stadium or arena. The feeling of excitement and anticipation is unrivaled. Fans never think about logistics and the hard work that goes into making that sporting event happen. The work behind the scenes is incredibly complex and dynamic to ensure the best ‘game day’ experience. The focus extends beyond the simple footprint of the land and immediate surrounding area of the venue to public transport, access in and around the venue, people traffic flow, exit and entry to the venue and complementary activities occurring on ‘game day’.

In this course you will learn about:

  • Game Operations
  • Stadium Operations
  • Venue Management
  • How sport is financed
  • Managing Budgets

After completing this course, you will have a clearer understanding of the sports operations structures that exist within sports organisations. We will look at stadium operations, venue management and the different challenges faced when running a major sporting event.

The areas covered in this course apply to any live sports event be that in golf, horse racing, cricket or sailing.

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Sports Events

A sporting event means a contest in which animals, people, or machines compete as teams or individually for the purpose of winning a match, game, race, competition or other contest. A person who watches a sports event is called a spectator, but in the case of mass participation events is the participant. Sports events are financed through a combination of ticket sales, broadcast and media rights, merchandise, food and beverage sales, sponsors, hospitality, programmes, parking and other on-site sales. Live sports events are attractive to broadcasters and sponsors, whilst providing important game time for athletes, and exciting opportunities for spectators to engage with the sport. In this course you will learn about:

  • What is sports event management?
  • How do you successfully produce and promote a sports event?
  • How do sports events work financially?

ISC Academy will provide you with the templates and checklists to help you write sports events plan and sports events marketing plan. After completing this course, you should be able to understand the process of building a sports event and be equipped for building a career in this area.

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Sports Tourism

Sports Tourism is a multi-billion-dollar industry and one of the fastest growing areas in the $5.5 trillion global travel and tourism industry. Sport tourism has been defined as a leisure-based tourism that takes people temporarily outside of their home environment to participate in, watch physical activities, or venerate attractions associated with physical activities and sport. In this course you will learn about:

  • What is sports tourism
  • What are the benefits of sports tourism to a city or region
  • The process to follow when building a sports tourism strategy
  • Tips in building a career in sports tourism

The ISC Academy will provide you with the templates and checklists to help you write a city/nation sports tourism strategy and do an economic impact assessment of a large-scale sporting event. After completing this course, you should be able to understand the process of building a sports tourism strategy and be equipped for building a career in this area.

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Esports and Gaming

You could be forgiven for thinking that esports and gaming are one and the same, however they are vastly different. In this course we will explain the difference between the two and show you examples of each in action.

We will also explain the benefits of having an esports and gaming strategy for your organisation, as well as explaining why sports teams, brands or players gets involved in this space. 

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is esports?
  • What is gaming?
  • The benefits of having an esports and gaming strategy
  • The process to follow when moving into esports
  • Tips to get you started

This course sets out the basics of esports and gaming, and how to develop a plan for your organisation to get involved and explore this world. Finally, we will provide some examples of successful entrants into the world of esports and gaming from other sports organisations around the globe.

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Sports Development

Grassroots sports in a broad definition used to describe the range of ‘amateur’ sporting activity in a country.   Grassroots sport is physical leisure activity, organised and non-organised, practised regularly at non-professional level for health, educational or social purposes.

Grassroots sports plays a huge role in peoples’ lives across the world. It keeps adults and kids fit, promotes an active and healthy lifestyle, it can help identify talent and helps with career development.  It provides opportunities for people of all skill levels.

In this course you will learn about:

  • Grassroots Sport landscape  - a global overview
  • Schools football
  • Grassroots clubs
  • Health benefits of grassroots clubs
  • Societal benefits of grassroots clubs
  • Staff, partnerships, and facilities
  • Case study: Grassroots development USA soccer
  • St Kitts grassroots football programme

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High Performance in Sport

High-performance (HP) sport or elite sport is sport at the highest level of competition, where the emphasis is on winning prestigious competitions.  High Performance sport is at the top end of sport development and usually (but not always) includes athletes or teams that compete at an international level. The term applies to Olympic sports and professional sports – the elite athletes, some of whom may be amateur and some professional.  It includes a large number of other high-performance industry professionals, including HP directors, performance coaches, sports science and medicine professionals, sports psychologists, nutritionists and data/video analysts.  There are a significant number of emerging businesses supporting high-performance sport, in areas such as technology, wearables, etc.

In this course you will learn about:

  • What is high performance sport?
  • How does high-perfomance sport work?
  • How does a nation or team create a high-performing system?
  • Tips in building a career in performance sport.

ISC Academy will provide you with a template and checklist to help you in performance planning.  After completing this course, you should be able to understand how to build a high performance sports system and be equipped for working in this area.

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Player Athlete Management

Within sports management, those who work closely with athletes or players are athlete or player managers. An athlete manager raises the athlete's career beyond sport and is responsible for transforming an athlete into a brand, whilst also being involved in their sporting career development. The role of an athlete manager includes recruiting, negotiating contracts, career development, marketing, endorsements, legalities, regulation, lifestyle and support. Often (in bigger markets or bigger, more lucrative sports) an athlete/player manager will only oversee the scheduling and organisation of their clients, whilst a player agent will undertake the negotiations. Athlete/player managers are hired by both organizations and individual athletes, whilst player agents will only work on behalf of the athletes. Professional licenses are required to be an agent within most sports or alternatively agents must register with their national association. Examples of the types of businesses that hire player/athlete managers include sporting goods companies, sports marketing firms, professional and amateur leagues, national performance institutes and academic institutions.
In this course you will learn about:

  • What is athlete management
  • How successful athletes are managed
  • The process to follow when managing an athlete
  • Tips in building a career in athlete management

ISC Academy will provide you with a template and checklist to help you write a player contract. After completing this course, you should be able to understand the process of managing an athlete and be equipped for working in a talent management agency.

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