This module, planned by Sara Spadoni (Education, Career and Sport Project Manger), will provide students with the opportunity to explore and critically approach trends, facts, and challenges of today’s sport system and its related organization and management. On top of providing a broad picture of the sport system – its organizations (governing bodies, event organizers, sport providers), governance, results, dynamics and actors – the course will present and analyze cases which are particularly relevant in the current global sport and management scene. Cases and discussions will be on: sport governance, sport business, sport organizations results, sport commercialization and broadcasting, internationalization and globalization of sport, digitalization and data in sport.  

TEACHER | Sara Spadoni | Head of People Journey & Plan (Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026)|Founder & Athlete Career Consultant (Opera) | Right after her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Bocconi University, Sara starts her international journey with her Master Degree in International Management at Imperial College London. Then she starts working in Management Consulting and in the meantime obtains an Executive Diploma in Sport Management at SDA Bocconi, through a scholarship from FIGC. This is when her career in sports begins. In 2012 she starts working at RCS Sport in mass participation events (running and cycling) in Milan and the USA, in 2014 she moves to Qatar to work at Aspire as Event and Project Manager. While in Doha she founds and runs a synchronized swimming school and takes a 2-month assignment as Venue Manager at the European Games in Baku (Azerbaijan). In 2016 she joins UEFA for the EURO 2016 in France as project manager, working between Marseille and Paris. At the end of 2016 she moves back to Milan to work at SDA Bocconi as Academic Coordinator and Project Manager for Sport Management and Human Resources related programs and projects. Among other, she coordinates the FIFA Master, the Sport Management Executive Course, the NBA Players Summer Program and the MBA Organizational Behavior module. While here she worked on projects and programs with and for Adidas, CONI, IOC, FIFA, NBPA, F.C. Internazionale and ASOIF. In 2018 she re-joins UEFA in Nyon (Switzerland) as Project Leader for the UEFA Champions League Final (UCLF). She fully manages the UCLF Kyiev (2018) and Madrid (2019) and initiates the Istanbul (2020) one. Resigning from UEFA in 2020 she dedicates to a project combining her experience and passion for sport, education and career development: she founds Opera (Orientation on Profession and Education for Revolutionary Athletes). Opera helps athletes finding and starting their professional path and career beyond and after sport. While working at Opera, she lectured Sport Management and Organizational Behavior at UIBS and worked as Career and Learning and Development Manager for Aptar Group. Since March 2024 she has joined the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milano Cortina 2026 as Head of People Journey and Plans.  

INDEX CONTENTS

• Get to know each other and intro to the module 

• Sport System and sport organizations and their characteristics (Governing Bodies, Event Organizers, Sport Providers  

• Comparison between US and European leagues system (mention of the Asian one)  

• Sport governance and the related challenges  

• Professional sport and the related trends, facts, and challenges 

• Sport business and sport results  

• Sport commercialization and broadcasting   

• Sport internationalization and globalization 

• Sport, technology and data  

• The organization of professional major sport events: UEFA Champions League Final and the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milano Cortina 2026 

• Focus on athletes: the engine of the sport system and its good changes?