Previous Seminars 2008
Wednesday 3rd December 2008 – 7pm
“The Future of African Football after FIFA World Cup 2010: Global Football Labour Provider or Global Sports Industry Competitor?”
A Round-Table Discussion
To mark the publication in the UK of Filippo Ricci’s acclaimed review of African football Elephants, lions & eagles: A journey through African football the Birkbeck Sports Business Centre is hosting a round-table discussion on the future of African football after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The panel will consist of Brian Oliver - Sports Editor of The Observer; Filippo Ricci, author, journalist and authority on African football; Stefano Tirelli -personal trainer to leading African players; and John Utaka , Nigerian international and player for Premier League club Portsmouth.
Read more about The Future of African Football
Wednesday 26th November 2008 – 6pm
“An evaluation of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) impact on the problem of doping in elite sport”
Professor Barrie Houlihan, Professor of Sport Policy, Loughborough University
In this presentation Professor Barrie Houlihan will present a brief outline of the problems of assessing impact in relation to elite doping followed by the identification of possible criteria for evaluating the WADA’s impact.
Wednesday 19th November 2008 – 7pm
“Business Development in a Modern Sports Business: And why English football clubs still have some work to do.”
Ben Hatton, Chief Executive, Alexander Ross Limited
In this presentation Ben Hatton, formerly Director of Commercial Enterprises at Manchester United Plc from 1998 to 2005, will discuss recent trends in business development in the English football industry. Critically he will pose the question: how well equipped are English clubs in terms of the quality of their business thinking to meet the challenges of an economic downturn?
Wednesday 12th November 2008 – 7pm
“Sport Policy in the UK and Europe: A Golden Future or Just Meddling”
James MacDougall, European and International Policy Officer, Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR)
In this presentation James MacDougall examines the structure of sport in the UK and the CCPR’s role in it. With the European Union on the verge of securing additional powers in sport if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified, James covers the effect of European law on sport in Britain including the far-reaching Bosman ruling and the legality of quotas in sport.
Read more about Sport Policy in the UK and Europe: A Golden Future or Just Meddling
Wednesday 29th October 2008 – 6pm
“Professional Football in Greece: An Analysis of Teams and Sport Fans”
Nikos Theodorakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
This presentation offers an in-depth analysis of the Greek professional football industry specifically addressing following issues: the organization and structure of the SuperLeague (Greek 1st Division) and its future plans; relationships between the SuperLeague and its sixteen team members; the allegiance between Greek sport fans and clubs in professional football; Greek sport fans’ behaviours and their implications for club managers’ business strategies.
Read more about Professional Football in Greece: An Analysis of Teams and Sport Fans
Wednesday 22nd October 2008 – 6pm
“A Case-Study of Corporate Turnaround - Juventus FC”
Andrea Santini, University of Rome Tor Vergata & Consultant, Amsterdam Arena
In this presentation Andrea Santini will present a case-study of the recent history of Juventus FC, one of Italy’s, and indeed Europe’s, greatest football clubs. Following the “calciopoli” match-fixing scandal of 2006 Juventus FC was relegated to the Serie B and forfeited its last two Serie A championships. Since then it has been promoted back to Serie A and undergone a corporate re-structuring.
Read more about A Case-Study of Corporate Turnaround
Wednesday 15th October 2008 – 6pm
“Protecting and Developing Intellectual Property Rights in Sport: The Role of the Sports Rights Owners Coalition (SROC)”
Oliver Weingarten, Solicitor – Commercial and Intellectual Property, The Premier League & Sam Walch, Head of AFL Media, Australian Football League (AFL)
In this presentation Oliver Weingarten and Sam Welch present an overview of the Sports Rights Owners Coalition’s (SROC) activities, in particular focusing on what they see as the key challenges facing intellectual property rights-holders in the sports industry in the immediate future, utilising a number of case-studies on recent SROC campaigns.
Read more about Protecting and Developing Intellectual Property Rights in Sport
Wednesday 8th October 2008 – 6pm
“Developing Football in a Developing Nation: The case of Coritiba”
Oliver Seitz, Head of International Affairs of Coritiba FC, Curitiba, Brazil
Coritiba Football Club is considered one of the top flight football clubs in Brazil, winning many trophies throughout its history, such as the Brazilian League in 1985. Following a period of serious decline the club has been re-organised. In this presentation, Oliver Seitz will describe the Brazilian economic, political and social environment and how the local football industry is shaped by it, and present the business strategies that Coritiba is adopting to try to become one of the main Latin American football clubs.
Read more about Developing Football in a Developing Nation
Wednesday 1st October 2008 – 6pm
“The Very Last of the Amateurs! Post-Rugby Union Career Development Support in Professional Rugby”
Jason Reilly, Player Development Manager, Professional Rugby Players’ Association (PRA)
In this presentation Jason Reilly will present an overview of the player development programme of the Professional Rugby Players’ Association (PRA), the organisation established to represent the interests of players in English professional rugby, against the backdrop of the development of professional rugby since its world-wide adoption in 1995.
Read more about The Very Last of the Amateurs!
Wednesday 14th May 2008 – 6pm
“Organization and Management of Professional Football in Scandinavia”
Professor Hallgeir Gammelsæter
In the presentation Professor Gammelsæter will explore the organization of Scandinavian male professional football and some of the tensions that the football organizations must deal with in a new era. Perhaps surprisingly, given the presumption that Scandinavia is still a fairly homogenous region which also characterizes its traditions in sport, there are some marked differences between the countries in organizing the sport.
Read more about Organization and Management of Professional Football in Scandinavia
Football, Culture & Society Course
Stephen Parrott - The Faculty of Lifelong Learning
Thursday 1st May - Thursday 12th June
I wish to draw your attention to a seven lecture course programme entitled Football, Culture & Society which is delivered through the Faculty of Lifelong Learning at Birkbeck. This course, as its name implies, has a much more sociological orientation than the Birkbeck Sports Business seminars. It is testimony to its quality and enduring appeal that this pioneering course has now been running for over fifteen years, originally being established to focus on the problem of football hooliganism which was very prevalent at the time of its foundation; hence its position within the criminology and sociology portfolio of course programmes in the Faculty of Continuing Education. However, the topics covered are now much broader. Over the years several hundred people have attended. A particularly strong element of the programme is the diverse background of the students who enrol; each presentation is inevitably followed by a lively debate.
Read more about Football, Culture & Society Course
Wednesday 7th May 2008 – 6pm
“Turnover maximization, Sports Competitive Pressure, Emotional Attachment and Soft Budget Constraints: The Peculiar Logic of Professional Team-Sports”
Professor Klaus Nielsen, Department of Management, Birkbeck, University of London.
Drawing on a paper co-authored with Rasmus Storm (Danish Centre for Sports Studies), and based on a review of economic data on European professional football clubs, and a more detailed analysis of the economics of Danish football and team handball, Professor Nielsen argues that the specific institutional context of team-sports business in Denmark and in most other European countries favours optimisation of winning percent rather than optimisation of profit margins.
Thursday 1st May 2008 – 9.30pm – 4.45pm
"'Feet-drain': an opportunity for players and a loss for nations?"
One Day Conference
The Birkbeck Sport Business Centre is hosting a one-day conference on the phenomenon of ‘feet-drain’. Drawing a parallel with the term ‘brain-drain’ used to describe the emigration of skilled labour from one nation to another, the concept of ‘feet-drain’ has become increasingly relevant as globalisation and commercialisation in the sport industry have resulted in the migration of professional footballers, particularly towards Europe. The conference brings together, for the first time, leading academics working in the area of labour market migration and practitioners from within the football industry to discuss the concept of ‘feet-drain’.
- Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Chief Executive Gordon Taylor comments on the Feet Drain Conference
- Presentation materials from the conference
Wednesday 30th April 2008 – 6pm
“A Tale of Two Audiences: Gate Attendance and Broadcast Demand in European Football”
Dr Rob Simmons, University of Lancaster
Policy makers and League administrators have long voiced concerns that telecasts of football matches can reduce gate attendance. This partly explains why the sale of broadcast rights in the English Premier League is restricted with less than one third of games being shown live on TV. This seminar will explore empirical evidence on gate attendance and television audience data in the English Premier League and Spain’s Primera Liga.
Read more about A Tale of Two Audiences
Monday 28th April 2008 – 6.30pm – 8.30pm
“Club versus Country: the challenges of managing a national team in an era of increasing club power”
Roberto Donadoni, manager, the Italian national football team
In this guest lecture, to mark the establishment of the Birkbeck MSc Sports Management & the Business of Football alumni group and employer engagement network, Roberto Donadoni discusses the challenges of managing the tensions between club and country for the manager of the reigning FIFA World Cup Champions. He will address such questions as: (1) are the interests of the clubs becoming too dominant?; (2) are club players being asked to play too many games thus affecting availability at the national team level?: (3) what, if any amendments need to be made to the existing fixture timetable to allow both the club and national competitions to successfully work together as complementary, rather than competing, competitions?.
Read more about Club versus Country
Roberto Donadoni was interviewed for a podcast on the 28th April 2008 by Sean Hamil, Director, Birkbeck Sports Business Centre: podcast link
Selected press coverage of Roberto Donadoni's visit to Birkbeck
Wednesday 23rd April 2008 – 6pm
“The Corporate Governance of Irish Sporting Governing Bodies”
Dr Anne Bourke, UCD School of Business, University College Dublin
Much attention has been given to governance matters in the business world and this now extends to sports bodies and organizations. This presentation focuses on the essence of governance as applied to national sport organizations, with a particular focus on sporting bodies in the Republic of Ireland. The unique roles and characteristics of sports governing bodies are identified and the various governance theories (agency, stewardship, resource dependency, stakeholder etc.) and models are discussed.
Read more about The Corporate Governance of Irish Sporting Governing Bodies
Wednesday 16th April 2008 - 6pm
“Competitive Balance in a Professional Sports League: A Simulation Exercise”
Professor Stefan Szymanski, Cass Business School, City University London
The operation of economic competition between clubs in a sports league has been hotly debated by academics and policy makers in recent years. Conventional wisdom has it that economic inequalities will lead to a sporting competition that is so unbalanced that the league as a whole will suffer. On this basis redistributive policies are advocated in order to make competition more balanced and therefore more attractive. Using the standard economic model of a contest it is possible to construct a simulation exercise in which participants can play the role of club managers/owners, deciding how much to spend on purchasing talent in a non-cooperative environment.
Read more about Competitive Balance in a Professional Sports League
Wednesday 19th March 2008 - 6pm
“The Value-Based Human Resources (HR) Strategy in Professional Football: The Case of Arsenal FC.”
Mr Antony Banfield, Arsenal FC Technical Director Italy and Europe (scouting and team assessment)
In this presentation, drawing on a long international career as a coach, Antony Banfield discusses the following key questions: What is the meaning of HR strategy in football? What is the importance of scouting in football in HR strategy? What is the impact of a youth academy in HR strategy?
Read more about The Value-Based Human Resources (HR) Strategy in Professional Football
Wednesday 12th March 2008 at 6pm
“Launch of the `Towards a Better Future for Youth Sport’ Report”
Hugh Robertson MP, Conservative Shadow Minister for Sport and the Olympics & Brigid Simmonds OBE, Chair, Central Council of Physical Recreation.
The ‘Towards a Better Future for Youth Sport’ report is presented by Sportsthinktank.com, one the UK's leading independent research organisations devoted solely to developing new ideas and extending the boundaries of debate in the world of sport. The report is an independent analysis of the structure of sport in the UK based on interviews with leading figures across the sporting landscape and with particular emphasis on youth development.
Read more about Launch of the `Towards a Better Future for Youth Sport’ Report
Wednesday 5th March 2008 - 6pm
"FIFA's World Order"
Steve Menary
In this presentation, drawing on two years of research for his critically well-received book Outcasts: The Lands That FIFA Forgot, author and journalist Steve Menary discusses why he decided to write Outcasts, the story of those footballing national teams who have been unable to win recognition by football's governing body FIFA.
Read more about FIFA's World Order
Wednesday 27th February 2008 – 6pm
“The Financial Performance of Middle-Ranking Football Clubs in Spain in the Context of Relegation.”
Dr Angel Barajas, University of Vigo, Spain
This presentation will examine how to design a strategic change mechanism in management which can react effectively when serious alterations, as in the case of relegation, appear in the working environment of a football club. In particular, a case-study will be presented which analyses the effect on, and strategies adopted by, leading Spanish club Celta de Vigo as a consequence of the team’s relegation from La Liga in season 03/04.
Wednesday 20th February 2008 – 6pm
“ESIrg Report on Media Value in Football”
Francesc Pujol, ESIrg, Department of Economics, Universidad de Navarra
The ESIrg Biannual Report on Media Value in Football presents an analysis of media value through the measurement of intangible as well as tangible factors in the valuation mix. In this presentation the main results of the February 2008 edition of the report will be presented. Media value is estimated by a combination of measures of popularity (supporters’ interest) and notoriety (media coverage) of players and teams. The presentation will show the fair transfer value of players hired during the 2007/2008 winter window (amongst them, Nicolas Anelka), and the media and market value of players coming from Academy sections of clubs will also be outlined.
Read more about ESIrg Report on Media Value in Football
Wednesday 6th February 2008 – 6pm
“Ticket Touting, Public Order and the Free Market”
Steve Greenfield & Guy Osborn, School of Law, University of Westminster.
Criminalisation of ticket touting for football matches arose from the embers of the Taylor Report, based on a public order agenda that encompassed all-seater stadia and a raft of anti hooligan measures. The original provisions have been recently amended through the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. This presentation will draw out the issues arising from the new legislation.
Read more about Ticket Touting, Public Order and the Free Market
Wednesday 23rd January 2008 – 6pm
"Rebuilding a Football Club Through Innovative Community Partnerships: the Case of Charlton Athletic"
Steve Sutherland, Commercial Director, Charlton Athletic Football Club
Charlton Athletic FC is widely acknowledged as one of English football's best managed football clubs. In doing so it has travelled a long journey from when it entered financial administration in 1984. In this presentation Steve Sutherland will outline the history of Charlton's business development since the nadir of the 1984/85 season, and will explain how Charlton continue to apply the winning formula of financial discipline and strategic community marketing to develop the club into the future.
Read more about Rebuilding a Football Club Through Innovative Community Partnerships
Wednesday 16th January 2008
"The Selling and the Selling Out of Football"
Alex Fynn
Alex Fynn is a well-known consultant to the football industry who has also written extensively on the subject of the football business. In this presentation Alex will examine the changes which have come about in English and European football since the formation of the Premier League and the Champions League. Whilst it is acknowledged that both these competitions generate a huge amount of money, are their current formats in the interests of the game as a whole? He will argue that the Premier League does not serve the best interests of English football and that the Champions League might be viewing its own sell-by date.
Read more about The Selling and the Selling Out of Football
Thursday 10th January 2008 - 7.15 pm
Venue - Room 106, The Roberts Building, Torrington Place, WC1
"Boca Juniors - Developing a Global Football Brand"
Orlando Salvestrini, President of Marketing, Boca Juniors football club, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Boca Juniors is one of Argentina 's leading football clubs. Like FC Barcelona in Spain, it is structured as a members' owned club. In this presentation Orlando Salvestrini will outline how Boca are developing the brand potential and revenue generating power of Boca through Boca Crece (Boca Grows) marketing initiative, and will outline the key strategic challenges facing the club.
Read more about Boca Juniors - Developing a Global Football Brand
Wednesday 9th January 2008 - 6pm
"Strategic Challenges in a Supporter-Owned Club: the Case of AFC Wimbledon"
Erik Samuelson, Chief Executive, AFC Wimbledon
Read more about Strategic Challenges in a Supporter-Owned Club: the Case of AFC Wimbledon