Sports in the Classroom

Sports is a quintessentially international word. It's untranslatable because, regardless of where one lives, it does not need to be translated to be understood. The Sport and Entertainment Knowledge Center at SDA Bocconi is an international center in its own right, founded in 2013 with the goal of coordinating initiatives related to the sports and event industries. Its activities are divided mainly between education and research with the aim to bring managerial skills to the forefront of sports and entertainment, generating knowledge and promoting the culture of sports and event management globally.
"We build our courses with the perfect amount of academic material delivered by our faculty, which is mixed with real cases and best practices brought by industry professionals," explains Dino Ruta, SEKC Director. "We like to train leaders on the field with rigorous, hands-on academic preparation for a new and emerging industry." The sports industry has long been managed with little expertise and much improvisation, but the changing times have pushed it in an increasingly professional direction, in parallel with its whirlwind economic growth. There are, however, some peculiarities: "Executives in these sectors have unique characteristics that reflect how the industry is set up based on complex ecosystems consisting of small- and medium-sized interconnected organizations," continues Ruta. "They are also very reputable systems, where sports scores matter and where the media are heavily involved in making the final decisions, not only because the media invest in them but because the coverage shows everything. From a behavioral point of view, the interpersonal aspect of the industry is very important. Politics must find a balance with economic-managerial criteria, where there is not always agreement."

The FIFA Master-International Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport is the long-established SDA Bocconi sports managerial training program, promoted by CIES and delivered with the University of Neuchatel and De Montfort University of Leicester. It was established in 2000, and for years has remained at the top of international industry rankings. Subsequently, however, other programs with esteemed national and international sports institutions have been created under the SEKC: "Since 2017, we have been conducting a 'Branding in the Global Economy' course for NBA players to develop material on how professional athletes are themselves brands, increasingly investing in other brands," continues Ruta. "In 2021 we launched the first executive 'Football Management' course for the FIGC Technical Sector. Starting in 2018, we helped the government of Qatar organize the 2022 FIFA World Cup through a training project for 600 executives. And in 2023 we will launch the Executive Master in Business of Events, for the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games, targeting the sports, entertainment and exhibition industries."