France's Audencia Nantes School of Management has announced that it will launch an MBA program with a focus on sports management, beginning in 2015. The program will be offered as part of a partnership between Audencia Nantes, the UK's Loughborough Business School, and Brazil's Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM).
The Professional MBA in International Sports Management will be delivered in a part-time format, with classes taking place on both Audencia Nantes' Paris campus as well as in Loughborough Business School's London location. Lectures will take place once a month from Tuesday to Thursday. A study seminar in Sao Paolo will also be offered. The entire program will take two years to complete.
With the new MBA, Audencia Nantes is hoping to help students tap into a growing market. According to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, worldwide revenues in the global sports industry are set to grow to $145 billion by 2015. Although the industry's growth is projected to be slower in Europe than elsewhere, regulatory shifts and opportunities in the sponsorship market segment hold some promise.
At the end of the program, students will be equipped to fill a variety of roles in sports club administration, events coordination, company sponsorships, and sports academy management functions, according to a statement from Audencia Nantes.
So far, accredited MBA programs with concentrations in sports management have been relatively rare in Europe and in the UK. In the US, they tend to be more common: Florida Atlantic University offers an MBA program in Sport Management, for instance; San Diego State University and George Washington University have similar programs as well.
Audencia Nantes also offers a specialized master's program with a focus on sports organizations.
To apply for the new Professional MBA in International Sports Management, applicants should have at least a bachelor's degree and a minimum of three years of work experience. The initial intake will be limited to 15 students. The program is set to launch in early 2015.
For more information, please see this Audencia Nantes press release announcing the launch of the Professional MBA in International Sports Management.
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