The future and success of sports events depend on creating new unique experiences.

Are you curious how to create these experiences?
And how to engage and attract visitors, athletes and participants into sports events and E-sports? How to create (online) value propositions for distinctive sports events and put them on the market with active strategic (online)  sports marketing? Then subscribe for the Minor Sport  Event Marketing at HAN University of Applied Sciences or Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen.

Sports events are fun for visitors and participants but are also important for our society. To make sports events a success, it is important that (online) marketing strategies focus on value creation and co-creation. Sport marketing agencies and event management agencies are increasingly exploiting sports events on a commercial basis. In addition, sports events are a means to achieve goals such as product branding, regional and city-marketing, sport participation, innovation, health, tourism and social or economic impact. That is why the development of strong sports brands and adventurous sports events are central to this minor. A great experience attracts more visitors and participants, which stimulates tourism, inspires to do sports, which is good for health, business and the economy.

This minor contains two central themes:
(1) Developing distinctive concepts for sports events and (2) (digital) strategic marketing planning. Topics in theme 1 include: Concept development, storytelling, experience economy and business models. You create an attractive BidBook for a (new) sports event with a strong business concept.
In theme 2 you will work with fanbase marketing and growth hacking, for the targeted use of strategic (digital) marketing for a sports event, athlete or sports organization. With a strategic content marketing campaign, you help sports business organizations achieve their commercial or social goals.

Overall, this minor is all about working in a distinctive and future-oriented way, creating social impact and added value for visitors, athletes and participants of sports events, but also for stakeholders such as sponsors and partners of the host city. To do so, marketing- and event professionals will provide guest lectures and master classes, in addition to the regular classes from our experienced faculty members. Furthermore, we visit a number of sports events and analyze the experience/sensations, marketing and E-sports possibilities. An (international) study exchange trip may be a part of the minor to give you more experience and help to build your network in the sports events marketing industry.

Block minor
This minor is a block minor. The minor is offered once per year as a full block in the second semester.

During the minor we look at all aspects of the experience at sports events and you learn how to use sport event marketing principles for different stakeholders.

Competencies and topics

• How to make a sports event a real and unique experience?
• How to engage and attract more visitors and participants to sports events with online sports marketing?
• How do you use social media from a marketing perspective?
• How do you measure the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns?
• How to create a successful business model for a sports event or sport event Business?
• What can growth-hacking do for your business?
• What are (online) marketing strategies for sports events and sports business organizations?
• What are the leisure and tourism aspects of regional and city marketing?
• What is the social and economic impact of sports events?

Register for this minor and exchange program if you are interested in marketing, sports economics, branding of sports, leisure & tourism and organizing events in the sports marketing and leisure industry. The course is especially recommended to students who are studying economics, commerce, international business, sports and/or marketing. This minor is also open for exchange students from our international partner universities.

Requirements for application

• A completed propaedeutic certificate or diploma
• Familiarity with basic knowledge of Excel, (E)marketing and (sport) event management is assumed
• English Level B2
• There is room for a maximum of 8 external (exchange) students

Good to know

You should reserve 150 to 300 euro for a possible study trip or excursion abroad, event visits and other outside classroom activities, including activities with international students and sports festivities.

You will read and learn from a number of books and publications about experience economy, sports event marketing and business models, theory about sports and economics, innovation and event concept development. In addition, English-language (scientific) articles about strategic sports marketing, event marketing, digital marketing and experience are used.

Used & recommended literature

• Osterwalder, A., Pigneur Y., (2014) The Business Model Canvas. Strategyzer AG, Zwitserland.
• Brown, M, Ellis, S. (2017) Hacking Growth, How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success, Ebury Publishing, United Kingdom. ISBN 9780753545379.
• Consumer Behavior, International Edition, 6th Edition, Wayne D. Hoyer.
• Event Management in Leisure and Tourism, David C. Watt, 1998, Addison, Wesley, Longman, Harow, Essex England. ISBN : 0582357063.
• Higham, J and Hinch, T (2009) Sport and Tourism, Globalization, Mobility and Identity. ISBN 9780750686105 Butterworth-Heinemann, Elsevier, Oxford, United Kingdom.
• A number of (digital) (E-) Sports marketing and Event Industry publications and articles.
• A number of E-Sports, Gaming & Gamification publications and articles.

You have three or four days of classes in the HAN Sports & Exercise facilities on Papendal Arnhem or Gymnasion Nijmegen, depending on classroom availability and number of students participating. We try to plan classes as compactly as possible. Within the schedule, time for working in a group context is provided. Next to classroom sessions some classes will be provided online if suitable.

Time for contact with professionals from the Sport Event & Marketing Industry and practical assignments should be added to the classroom time and is considered to be planned outside class hours.

Field trips, excursions and study trips can be planned outside these class hours and/or class days. Due Event visits may take place in weekends and/or evening hours.

Class locations

Papendallaan 51
6816 VD Arnhem.

Heyendaalseweg 141
6525 AJ Nijmegen.

Class and work settings

• Lectures (online and offline)
• Tutor and work groups
• Project education on location
• Field trips, excursions
• Study trip (domestic and/or abroad)

Examination of this minor is organized through a combination of:

• Individual written theory exam with Casus example and a variation of Multiple Choice and open questions exam for Event Theory and Event Managment
• Individual & joint professional Strategic Marketing Plan and Client presentation related to (online) strategic sport event marketing campaign.
• The development and presentation of a professional BidBook and Business Model Canvas.

Although English may not be your native speech, Dutch students are required to hand-in professional​ GROUP products in English. However, we offer Dutch students the possibility to hand-in their INDIVIDUAL products in Dutch or in English. The written exams and presentations are in English.

The course will be taught in English as this minor is open for exchange students and/or students from foreign educational institutes.
This means that your tutors will speak English only, that all​ study materials are offered in English only and that the language spoken during classes and group​ contact moments (eg. Excursions, master classes et cetera) is English.
It also means that you are​ required to speak English to your fellow students, even if you and they are Dutch.​ To improve your English HAN offers English language support module (not part of the minor).

For more information:
Martijn Kamper
E-mail: martijn.kamper@han.nl

Subscribe? Good to know!

• For minors starting in September, after the registration period in March, a draw takes place in April if there are at that time more subscribers than available places.
• For minors starting in February, after the registration period in October, a draw takes place in November if there are at that time more subscribers than available places.

For the minors with places still available applies until the closing of the subscription period: Once a minor is full, it is closed!

In addition, if the number of subscribers after four weeks is below the norm; this minor may possibly be withdrawn. So if you are interested, sign up immediately!

Subscribe in time!

Note: For HAN students it means that, in case of cancellation of the first choice AFTER the period of decision (this takes a full month) they may re-subscribe for the still available minors.

Even then: Once a minor is full, it is closed!

A good overview of the HAN minors can be found in the minors app! The app is accessible via: http://www.minoren-han.nl/