LJMU graduates powering the business of sport
Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton – it reads like a list of some of the world’s greatest clubs but is also a run-down of graduate destinations for LJMU’s unique degree in Sport Business.
And it’s not just sporting giants where graduates end up but a wide variety of other sporting organisations including the Junior Premier League, County Football Associations, National Governing Bodies of Sport (including the FA, British Cycling and the Rugby Football League), and global brands such as adidas, Vodaphone and Bet365.
Others create their own business, like Dan Jolly who set up a sports photography agency as his final year project; Reece Wystoff who runs his own sports management company, and Ballher – female-oriented football coaching set up by graduate and Stockport County women’s player Mollie Newton. Mollie seeks not only to produce professional level players but also build the confidence of females to participate in competitive sport.
The course is now celebrating ten years and has grown exponentially from a 20-student initial intake and three staff members to 300 students across all years and a team of eight academic staff for 2025/26. The programme also has a strong international representation with recent graduates gaining jobs in the K League, FIFA World Cup and World Taekwondo.
The first graduate cohort of BA Sport Business with Professor Track Dinning (front centre).
“The breadth of our alumni is testament to how we’ve built a degree on an industry focused approach, designed to give students the transferable skills and confidence to succeed in any sector,” explained Professor Track Dinning, Deputy Director Liverpool Business School.
“It has been fantastic to see it grow over the past ten years.”
Dream jobs
2023 graduate Callum Moorcroft is a product assistant at Manchester City FC while 2021 leaver Lucy Hughes (pictured below) landed a dream job at her beloved Everton FC and joined the squad on a pre-season tour of the US. Speaking recently, Lucy said: “My role is about activating our engagement for all our junior fan base. It’s been amazing to be part of the transition from Goodison to the wonderful Hill Dickinson.
"The Sport Business course at LJMU offered a hands-on yet practical approach. The tutors encouraged creative freedom in my work and practical assignments which enhanced helped me develop skills to carry over to my current role.”
The course also boasts a recent graduate at Real Madrid, who praised his LJMU course: “for giving a broad understanding of how the sports industry works — from marketing to HR, governance, sponsorship, law and media.”
It's not your typical copy-paste university experience
Emma Wallace, sports marketing consultant, LLS and 2022 graduate.
With the huge growth in sport as an industry, worth almost £70 billion and employing more than 900,000 people in the UK, the number of opportunities in events, marketing, media, finance, administration and technology are ever increasing.
Co-created with industry
Co-designed with industry, the degree offers a placement year which has seen students in internship roles for companies such as Gymshark, ESPN, The Hut Group, New Balance, Global 13, Decathlon, Ipsos and Centrica.
Jake Eastwood, who graduated with 1st Class Honours is now a Business Support Officer at Weightlifting Wales and recalls: “The opportunities to do work placement helped enormously and made a big difference going into job interviews as you could showcase first-hand experiences of job situations.
“I went out to Sky Sports, Liverpool Tennis Centre, Tranmere Football Club and England Squash which really helped when I’m now delivering a major sporting world cup and helping to run a national governing body ahead of a Commonwealth Games next year.”
As a mark of their debt to university, 2021 graduates Elliott Jones and Eddie Merritt recently returned to speak to current students about their career paths and offer words of advice. Elliott is the north of England Scouting Manager for adidas and Eddie works at New Balance in Accessories and Apparel merchandising.
Elliott said: “Sport Business gave me the knowledge and tools, allowed me to understand the key concepts of brand partnerships. LJMU allowed us to practice real life working scenarios”.
Working across public-private sectors and liaising with myriad organisations is part-and-parcel of today’s sports industry and for Rhian Cullen, a 2023 graduate, her time at LJMU, readied her for it. “Studying the sponsorship and marketing module particularly sparked my interest in sports partnerships and definitely helped me secure a role in the partnerships team after the graduate scheme. I frequently refer back to what I learned on the course and apply those insights to enhance our partnerships efforts here,” says Rhian, a Partnership Marketing Executive at bet365.
Emma Wallace (left), who graduated in 2022, went on to complete an MSc Digital Marketing at LJMU is now a Sports Marketing Specialist Consultant at LLS. “Studying Sport Business at LJMU was a game-changer for me. The course gave me the real-world skills I now use daily as Head of Marketing for two sports businesses. The degree truly laid the foundation for my career.
“It’s definitely not your typical copy-paste university experience!”
Main image: Undergraduates on an annual fact-finding visit to Liverpool Football Club.
