Sport Managers in the Making
€50 billion, i.e. 3% of Italy's GDP in 2009. These data give an idea of the impact that the sports industry has on the Italian economy. Moreover, sports tourism is countering the negative macroeconomic trend and keeps growing.
These trends highlight the fact the sports is no longer a hobby or an athletic competition, but one of the few dynamic sectors of the economy amid the crisis which can guarantee return on investment and thus market growth.
For these reasons, sports and its operators need to acquire a new level of professionalism, which can't just be derived from experience or a successful sporting career.
This is the need that is being met by Sport Business Academy (SBA), established by RCS Sport and SDA Bocconi School of Management, but merging the passions, skills, and ambitions of those who have long operated in major sports with top academic knowledge on the technical and ethical aspects of business administration.
"For RCS Sport, it's the end result of many years of work, commitment and major achievements as publishers, event organizers, as well as advisors to the most important sporting federations," said Piergaetano Marchetti, President of RCS Media Group. "This long experience the conviction has grown in us that a tangible contribution to the world of sports in terms of executive education was needed. Clearly, SDA Bocconi was a natural partner for this initiative."
"SDA Bocconi School of Management has been active for years in the field of teaching to sports professionals" said Alberto Grando, Dean of the SDA Bocconi School of Management, "and is glad to contribute, together with an innovative partner of the stature of RCS Sport, to the diffusion of managerial culture in a realm of human activity where business skills, integrity and enthusiasm should always go hand in hand. The Academy will substantially help sports administrators to develop business skills in an industry whose economic value requires high-level management and planning."
From these two actors, Sport Business Academy was born. It's not a traditional Master of Business Administration, but a veritable high-level, post-experience school for those who already operate in the various segments of the sports sector, in clubs, federations, companies, and public administration.
"Sport Manager: A Development Plan for Managerial Skills" is the first activity inaugurating, on April 12, the start of the Academy. The second course, "Sport Marketing, Sponsorship & Event Management" will take place on September 27, followed by a workshop. Sport Business Academy is also research on sports and managerial disciplines, and various research programs are in the process of being started at the school.
Sport Business Academy has already benefited from the support and participation of many of the major Italian and international actors in business and sports: ENI, which is the main sponsor of the initiative, as well as Unicredit, Adidas, Skoda, Herbalife, TicketOne, the NBA, the Italian Paralympic Committe, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the Italian Canoe and Kayak Federation (FICK), and the Sports Department of the City of Milano.
For information: www.sportbusinessacademy.it
Soldini at the launch of SBA