What’s unique about this course

This course provides an applied and interdisciplinary introduction to the strategic and operational principles behind global sports communication. Topics are centered around strategy, positioning, (athlete) branding, (digital) fan engagement, multi-channel communication, commercial partnerships and media crisis response in a global sports environment. The course is especially anchored in global football, but will incorporate other sports examples (e.g. tennis, basketball…) to explore comparative communication logics. The course is designed to enhance student capability in analyzing, creating, and pitching effective communication strategies. 

After completing this course, students will have the ability to:

• Apply strategic communication and branding frameworks in international sports contexts
• Critically evaluate communication strategies of global clubs, leagues, sponsors, and athletes
• Create and pitch a professional sports communication plan
• Understand the impact of digital media, culture, and globalization on sports branding
• Collaborate effectively to develop solutions for real-world communication challenges
• Work together in intercultural teams and develop multicultural competence in different settings 
• Strengthen discourse and negotiation skills in international settings

• Attendance is mandatory in at least 7 of the 9 sessions.
• Active participation in workshops and group work is part of the final evaluation. 
• Excused absences (e.g., illness) must be supported by appropriate documentation.

The course combines:

• Short input lectures introducing strategic models and concepts
• Global case studies based on real-world clubs, campaigns, and media platforms 
• International guest lectures from industry professionals 
• Hands-on workshops (campaign ideation, social media planning, crisis simulation, etc.)
• Group projects and peer evaluation

Individual Performance (25%)

• Skill session assignments (25%)

Group Performance (75%):

• Skill session assignments (20%)
• Final project presentation (35%)
  • 25% Verbal presentation
  • 10% Upload of extended slide deck
• Session intros - presentation of academic journals (10%)
• Pitch presentations (10%)
  • 2 x 5% = 10% Pitch success (3% participation, 4% third place, 4,5% runner-up, 5% winning pitch)

WU students need to complete course 1 (Foundations) and course 2 (Applications) of the specialization.

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AI policy

We expect that some of you will use AI (ChatGPT and similar tools) in the CEMS program and potentially also for assignments. There is, per se, nothing bad about that. You will need to learn how to use AI, that is, AI usage is an emerging skill. We will not focus on how to use AI in this class, but I would like to highlight a couple of key points:

Be aware of the limits of AI!

• Your prompts and their quality will drive the quality of the output. You will need to refine your prompts in order to get good outcomes.
• Don’t trust anything that the tool is writing. If it gives you some numbers or facts, you should assume that it is wrong unless you can either fact check with other sources, or unless you can be sure that you know that the information is correct. Ultimately, you will be responsible for errors or any other types of limitations that the tool produces.
• AI is a tool and you need to acknowledge the use of it. Please include a paragraph at the end of any assignment that explains if and how you have used AI and what prompts you have used. Failure to do so violates your pledge of academic honesty and can have serious consequences.
• Note that the use of AI tools can be detected by WU plagiarism software, which I may activate for every assignment. In case there is indication for undue AI usage, first, an audit interview with the student will be scheduled. Follow-up consequences will be determined afterwards.
• In this context, please note also the official WU guidelines on plagiarism: https://www.wu.ac.at/en/students/my-program/masters-student-guide/course-and-exam-information/plagiarism/