Real academic venture to take off next month

Real academic venture to take off next month

La Liga giants to help breed students in Thailand at Stamford

The recent multi-faceted sport boom experienced by Thailand has attracted Spanish football giants Real Madrid to venture into the market and help contribute to expected growth in the need for qualified professionals.

Real Madrid Graduate School general manager Emilio Butragueno during his visit to Bangkok recently.

The club, which has transformed itself into one of the most profitable sports teams in the world, has sealed a deal with Stamford International University to offer courses in sports management.

The Real Madrid Graduate School -- Universidad Europea will start offering courses to Thais aspiring to tap into the nascent-but-growing sports management industry from next month.

Real Madrid have more than 110 years of history but their move to adopt sports management came in the wake of an organisation revamp 15 years ago and it significantly lifted the club into the global spotlight.

In order to transform from an underachiever to the most valuable soccer club in the world for four consecutive years, Real Madrid have adapted the club so that it operates like a company.

"The marketing department at Real Madrid when I was a player comprised of four professionals -- now it has over 40," Emilio Butragueno said in Bangkok recently.

Butragueno served Real Madrid as a striker for 12 years and has worked as general manager at Real Madrid Graduate School for seven years.

Many other European clubs are sharing Real Madrid's sports management strategy. As a result, the sports industry in Europe has undergone major growth in recent years, currently generating €630 billion, or one percent of the global GDP.

This has led to the emergence of new professions in a sector with great economic and employment impact and that generates more than 300 different types of jobs in fashion, engineering, law, marketing, architecture, finance, health, and more.

Seeing that growth is on the rise, Real Madrid foresaw an urgent need to have qualified sports management professionals, so they have synergised with Real Madrid Graduate School.

They aim to promote education, research and professionalisation at national and international levels in every area and aspect of sports, through a project that is the only one of its kind.

Created in 2006, Real Madrid Graduate School is the first educational institution to specialise in sports and its relationship to management, health, communications and entertainment.

Each year its classrooms welcome students from a wide range of fields who aspire to become professionals with a career in the industry.

The school is now present in 11 countries on four continents and teaches more than 1,200 students each year. It currently has more than 5,000 alumni worldwide.

"It is absolutely right to say that sports have acquired a new dimension and have become an activity that has moved beyond the playing field and mere spectacle. Sports activity is now a mass phenomenon that attracts advertising and influences the economy," added Butragueno.

The Real Madrid business model is the frame of reference and experience for the school and its professionals. Top executives and partner companies working in the field ensure students are in contact with the real world, getting an inside look at the strategies and decisions of a world sports leader like Real Madrid.

The programme has now extended to Thailand, offering an MBA in sports management for the first time in Asia at Stamford International University.

Five main courses taught at Real Madrid Graduate School will be included in the programme and the students will have a one-week exclusive trip to Real Madrid football club to learn from experts over there during the last week of the programme.

Thailand's athletes and teams are increasingly succeeding in the global arena, necessitating the need for professional management to support passion in sports and make it a solid career path leading to growth for the industry and the country.

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