Sports Management Master

Module I - General management in sports companies

• Economic analysis of the sports industry
• Strategic planning. Analysis of sports environments and competition
• Business management models and economic aspects

Module II - Economics and finance

• Financial statements of sports organizations
• Planning and control in sports organization management
• Financial management

Module III - Sports facility management and operation

• Infrastructure management within a sports entity
• Production of sporting events
• Quality and incident management

Module IV - Marketing and communications

• Strategic and operational marketing
• Sponsorship in sports
• Audiovisual rights
• Sports and society
• Sports and the media

Module V - Managerial skills and human resources

• People management and teamwork
• Coaching applied to sports
• Motivational leadership of teams
• Communication: public speaking in professional environments
• Emotional intelligence in sports organizations

Module VI - Specialization branch A: entrepreneurship and sports for development *

• Strategies for starting a sports business
• The business plan and financing
• International organizations in sports for development
• Corporate social responsibility and sports
• Social entrepreneurship in sports
• Keys to success and failure

Module VII - Specialization branch B: marketing and communications*

• The media
• Advertising agencies
• Official organizations
• Sports rights
• Sporting events and brand profitability
• Sports clubs
• Sponsorship
• Brand and identity management
• Practical application of a communication plan
• Social network and the community manager
• Sports content in the new digital world

Module VIII - Specialization branch C: sports facility operation*

• Management of sports facility operations
• Security and technology at sports facilities
• Municipal operations and management
• The fitness and wellness market
• Large parks
• Golf course management
• Organization of sporting events
• Management of leisure and non-conventional spaces

Module IX - Internship

Module X - Master’s thesis

Internships are a key component of your training. Acquiring experience after what you have learnt in your degree is the best way to enter the employment market. There are two types of internships: curricular—which are included in your study plan—and extracurricular—which you can do on a voluntary basis.

In order to complete your curricular internships, you need to have passed 50% of the programme credits and have enrolled in the subject before starting your internship. These internships are monitored by the company and the internship coordinator, and interim and final reports are prepared for evaluation.

If you want to take your work experience to the next level before finishing your university education, you can pursue an extracurricular internship. It’s possible to do internships in any academic year, but keep in mind that they are a complement to your studies; therefore, the more knowledge you acquire throughout your studies, the more you shall benefit from the internship.

The international character of this programme allows students and professionals in the sports industry to acquire a broad perspective of all existing models of sports management, even beyond the Spanish borders, thanks to the participation of top international professionals. This educational commitment exponentially strengthens the sphere of influence and the professional possibilities of our students.

This Sport Management MBA consists of ten business management modules, followed by an interdisciplinary module on management skills. The programme contains a specialised sports segment and focuses on the marketing, direction and management of sports facilities.

Students shall be familiarised with the places in the city where Real Madrid is present—facilities, sports venues, organisation and management institutions, etc.—as well as the Real Madrid Foundation. They shall also have first-hand experience with the other facilities and management models via visits to: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Ciudad Deportiva del Real Madrid—Real Madrid’s training facilities—Ciudad del Fútbol de la RFEF, Caja Mágica—Madrid Open’s tennis facilities—and other leisure and entertainment spaces ran by public and private entities.

Students shall have the chance to travel to New York with other students from Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid. This trip includes visits to major league organisations such as the NBA, MLS and NHL, major sports venues such as Metlife Stadium and marketing companies such as Octagon. This is one of the best experiences a student studying an Master in Sports Management in Madrid can have, from both a management and operational point of view, as this form of practical learning allows them to put learning into practice.

Basic competencies

• Possessing and understanding knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original regarding the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context.
• Students should know how to apply the knowledge acquired and their problem-solving skills in new or relatively little-known environments within wider (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study
• Students should be able to integrate knowledge and face the complexity of formulating opinions from information that may be incomplete or limited, but which includes thoughts on the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and opinions.
• Students should be able to communicate their conclusions, as well as the knowledge and underlying reasons they are based on, to expert and non-expert audiences in a clear and concise way.
• Students should possess the learning skills that enable them to continue studying in a way that will be self-directed or autonomous for the most part.

Cross-disciplinary competencies

• Responsibility: Students should be able to accept the consequences of actions and take responsibility for their own actions.
• Self-confidence: Students should be able to act with confidence and with sufficient motivation to achieve their objectives.
• Awareness of ethical values: Students' capacity to feel, judge, argue and act in accordance with moral values in a consistent, persistent and autonomous way.
• Communication skills: Students should be able to effectively express concepts and ideas, as well as possess clear and concise written communication skills and effective public speaking skills.
• Interpersonal understanding: The student should be able to actively listen for the purpose of reaching agreements using an assertive communication style.
• Flexibility: Students should be able to adapt and work in different and varied situations with different people. This involves assessing and understanding different positions, adapting their own approach as required by the situation.
• Teamwork: Students should be able to actively participate in achieving a common objective by listening, respecting and valuing the ideas and proposals of the other members of their team.
• Initiative: The student should be able to respond proactively to situations that emerge, proposing solutions or alternatives.
• Planning: Students should be able to effectively set their goals and priorities, defining the actions, time frames and optimum resources required to achieve these goals.
• Innovation-Creativity: Students should be able to come up with new and different solutions to problems that add value to problems posed.

Specific competencies

• Having an integrated vision of all of the dimensions of the company in the sports sector -external, internal and organisational-, as well as of the people and human capital that comprise it, to be able to analyse issues and to look for solutions in teams that help to achieve its strategic objectives. As such, students will partake in autonomous and collective learning, helping them to make decisions and to assess the corresponding economic and social impact.
• Controlling the key aspects of the most significant areas of the sporting world, transforming them into competitive advantages for the company's growth within its sector.
• Analysing the economic, legal and technological environment of a sector, as well as assessing and creating a medium- to long-term strategic plan, using current reference tools.
• Controlling the new business trends and practices of corporate social responsibility policies that affect the sports sector, while being able to establish an individual corporate social responsibility policy for each business.
• Taking on the skills of an executive: leadership, emotional intelligence, communication skills, team management, teamwork, planning, conflict resolution, negotiating and results-orientated skills, always with a responsible approach and a multicultural perspective, showing respect for diversity.
• Controlling the benchmark strategic concepts and tools regarding the organisational sizing of a company in the sports industry and being able to choose the best strategic alternative to apply in each market and company.
• Learning the tools used in managing the operations of a company and the benchmark business practices in the sports industry, which ensure the efficiency of activity and the fulfilment of set objectives.
• Designing the plans in the different areas (marketing, communication and sales, finance, production, human resources), using coordination criteria among them and aligning them with the company's general strategy.
• Controlling the key benchmark concepts regarding the sizing of new organisational structures and being capable of implementing plans that entail change and adaptation with criteria relating to resource optimisation and knowledge management.
• Applying and putting into action the knowledge acquired in one of the decision-making areas of the company by means of professional internships. Students may undertake internships through university agreements made with companies in the sports sector or industry, particularly in the area that most interests them in view of their future career development (management, marketing and communication, operations, finance), while also demonstrating their skills for successful integration into a business team.

Graduates who wish to focus their professional career on sports management, professionals from the sports industry who want to update their knowledge, professionals from other fields who would like to enter the world of sport or professional athletes who aspire to continue in the sector as managers, post athletic retirement.

For the application to the master, the student is required by law in accordance with the provisions of R.D. 861/2010:

• Be in possession of an official Spanish university degree or another issued by an institution of higher education belonging to another state that is part of the European Higher Education Area that authorizes access to master's degrees.
• Be in possession of a degree in accordance with educational systems outside the European Higher Education Area without the need for the homologation of their degrees, after verification by the university that they accredit a level of training equivalent to the corresponding official Spanish university degrees and that empower in the country issuing the degree for access to postgraduate education. Access by this means will not imply, in any case, the homologation of the previous degree that the interested party is in possession, nor its recognition for other purposes than that of taking the master's degree courses.

• Pedro Corrales
  Responsible for partnership creation.
• Álvaro Vitores
  Responsible for partnership activation.
• Michael Sutherland
  Chief transformation officer.
• Chiara Trivella
  Director global partnership creation.
• Paula Serrano
  Manager partnership creation.
• Miguel García Caba
  Sport legal advisor.
• Ángel Sanz
  General manager and founder, The Crow Legacy Company.
• Javier Tola
  Managing director Simply Sport.
• Edouard Legendre
  Strategic planning director, Geometry Global.
• Scott Minto
  Sports MBA director, San Diego State University.
• Steve Gera
  Chief executive Gains Group. Head Scout Hickory.
• Nick Pye
  Head of school of sport at University of Gibraltar.
• Carlos Cantó
  CEO of SPSG Consulting and board member of the Spanish Marketing Association.
• Hugo Berenguer
  Head of design Rafael de La Hoz Arquitectos.
• Mikel Bárcena
  Partner en Meta Final.
• Antonio Fernández Arimany
  Director general of International Triathlon Union.
• Ramiro Lahera
  President of the Madrid Triathlon Federation. Managing director and founder, Tactika Sports Culture.
• Juan Carlos Fociños
  Sponsorship manager at FBM Spanish Basket Federation of Madrid.
• Fernando Pons Ortega
  Partner responsible for Risk Advisory, Risk Management at Deloitte for the Tourism, Transport, Sport, Leisure and Gaming sectors.
• Óscar Ugaz
  Strategy director at Atomikal Marketing Digital.
• Javier Bosh
  CEO Nagi Smartpool Founder and CEO NBN23.
• Gonzalo Corrales
  Founder and managing director at AGM Sports.
• Maikel Oettle
  Vice president strategic partnerships, Euroleague Basketball, IMG Events.
• Luke Sassano
  Technical director, NY Cosmos.
• Joseph Stetson
  Vice president Mkt & Comm, NY Red Bulls.
• Amy Scheer
  Chief commercial Officer, NY Red Bulls.
• Marco Matute
  Event marketing coordinator, NY Red Bulls.
• Dan Donigan
  Head coach Men’s Soccer, Rutgers University.
• Michael Minchella
  Manager Ticket Sales, New York City F.C.
• Adan Catovic
  Account executive, New York City F.C.
• Brendan Long
  Director of new business, MSG.
• Cara Chernow
  Manager Ticketing & Sales, MSG.
• Nicole Rosamilia
  Coordinator special events, Metlife Stadium.
• Geoffrey Pope
  Ex-football player, New York Giants.
• Brian Friedman
  Chief financial officer New York Jets.
• George Moreira
  Manager professional tournaments, Us Open & Us Open Series.
• Chris Clunie
  Director international operations, NBA.
• Troy Justice
  Basketball operations international, NBA.
• Emilio García Duarte
  Marketing Latin America, NBA.
• Jose Luis Los Arcos
  Director sports partner solutions, Univision.
• Alfonso Mondelo
  Technical director competitions, MLS
• Joseph Tacopina
  President, Venezia F.C.
• Nicole Allison
  Director partnership marketing, NHL
• Maikel Oettle
  Vice president strategic partnerships, Euroleague Basketball, IMG Events.
• Daniel Hurst
  Attractions manager Climb To The O2.
• Martin Guntrip
  Club director Wimbledon.
• Dan Bloxham
  Tennis head coach & facility tour guide Wimbledon.
• Sam Reid
  Marketing & Sponsorship Mindshare.
• Jason Hughes
  Responsible for football business IMG.
• Jayne Linaker
  Tour operations manager Twickenham Tracy Match Day Manager Twickenham.
• Chris Townsend
  Commercial director Chelsea FC.
• Marco Matute
  Event marketing coordinator NY Red Bulls.
• Dan Donigan
  Head coach men’s soccer Rutgers University.
• Michael Minchella
  Manager ticket sales New York City FC.
• Adan Catovic
  Account executive New York City FC Brendan Long. Director Of New
  Business MSG.
• Nicole Rosamilia
  Coordinator special events Metlife Stadium.
• George Moreira
  Manager professional tournaments Us Open & Us Open Series.
• Chris Clunie
  Director international operations NBA.
• Troy Justice
  Basketball operations international NBA.
• Emilio García Duarte
  Marketing Latin America NBA.
• Adolfo Bara
  General manager marketing & sales La Liga.
• José Luis Los Arcos
  Director sports partner Solutions Univisio.
• Alfonso Mondelo
  Technical director competitions MLS.
• Alberto Talavera
  Director at ‘Asociación Española de Gerentes de Golf’.
• Oscar Sanchez
  Sport management consultant.
• Alfonso Roberes
  Founder and CEO at Arowana Sports.
• Pablo Vega
  VP at Federación Madrileña de Triatlón.
• José Bonal Sanchez
  Sports management professor.
• Juan Cantero
  Founder and managing director at Meta Final.
• Ornella Bellia
  Head of professional football at FIFA.
• Héctor Peris
  CEO at Leaderbrock Sports.
• Nuno Alves
  Director at Wink.
• Javier Sánchez
  Managing partner at Beside Ventures, presidente MAD Rugby. Professor at UC3M and CUNEF.
• Carles Poyato
  Managing partner at Club Natació Sabadell. Professor at UAB.
• Nuria Moreno Peinado
  Communication expert.
• Dr. Antonio Vos Saz
  Financial director at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid S.A.
• Hugo Taracido
  CEO All American Education.