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UNIVERSITY ACADEMY 92

MANCHESTER

OUR COURSES ALL COURSES
  • Open Days
  • How You Study
  • Apply
  • UA92 Business School
  • Health, Exercise and Sport
  • World of Digital
  • Sports Journalism
OR EXPLORE BY AREA
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Old Trafford Stadium Campus

The Football Industry

The multi-billion industry of football needs your off-pitch skills to power the game.You don;t need to play football to work in football. You just need to be ready to make the game.

The Lancaster university logo.

Football is one of the UK’s largest industries. The Premier League and Women’s Super League alone generate an estimated £2.3 billion in consumer spending each season*.  Behind every match sits a huge network of people, from broadcasters, marketers and scientists, to coaches, analysts and agents, all working together to make the game possible.

*Barclays The Golden Boost

FOOTBALL IS A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY

What types of content do football content creators make?

HOW BIG IS THE FOOTBALL INDUSTRY?

Football is big business in the UK. The Premier League and its clubs added £9.8 billion to the UK economy and support more than 100,000 full-time jobs**. Football clubs are increasingly diversifying and investing in new revenue streams and  through broadcasting, sponsorship, matchday hospitalility, estates, retail and data.  

**Premier League’s 2024/25 Annual Report

 

Sports Broadcaster

Who works in football?

The industry operates across four key areas of off-pitch talent, which align closely with our core subject areas:

  • Media
    The broadcasters, journalists and content creators who tell the story. From television networks like Sky Sports, TNT Sports and BBC Sport, to magazines like The Athletic and FourFourTwo, to online news and social media. 
  • Business
    The people behind the scenes in leadership, sales, operations and ticketing, events and hospitality, sports marketing, player care, talent ID and agents.
  • Sport
    The performance team who keep players fit and ready including sports scientists, coaches, performance analysts and nutritionists.
  • Digital
    The data analysts, broadcast engineers and cyber security experts who power the modern game.

Find out more about careers in the football industry.

View Careers
Sports Journalist

The Global Landscape of Football

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest sporting event in the world and every tournament gets bigger and better. In 2026, we’ll see 48 nations and 104 matches, play across North America, Canada and Mexico, watched closely by billions of fans worldwide. 

Each game needs a whole team of people to make it happen, from camera crews, analysts, and medics, to marketers and engineers. The players take the pitch. Thousands of other people make the tournament happen. 

How big is the football industry in the UK?

Football is one of the UK’s major industries. The Premier League and its clubs adds £9.8 billion to the UK economy and supports more than 100,000 jobs**. Most of that value comes from off-pitch roles across business, media, digital and sport. 

What jobs are there in football besides playing?

Plenty. Roles in the industry align closely to our four subject areas: media (broadcasters, journalists, content creators), business (operations, marketing, agents), sport (scientists, coaches, nutritionists) and digital (data analysts, broadcast engineers, cyber security). You can see some of the roles in football on the football careers pages.

Do you need to play football to work in the industry?

No. Having a passion for football is helpful  but most jobs in football have nothing to do with playing. Careers in football are vast and require a range of skills including storytelling, presenting, data and tech, , leadership and sales.

Do you need a degree to work in the football industry?

Not always but it does help in many of the roles. UA92 offers degree-level courses perfectly positioning to support the development of skills for the football industry. Degrees are awarded by Lancaster University, a top 10 UK University*. Choose from courses such asBusiness of Football BSc (Hons), Football Broadcast and Journalism BA (Hons), Sports Coaching, Sports and Exercise Science and Health, Exercise and Sport BSc (Hons). UA92 are one of the only places in the UK where you can get a degree in 2 years so you can get into your dream job much quicker.  

What is University Academy 92 (UA92)?

UA92 is a higher education institution in Old Trafford, Manchester. It was co-founded by members of Manchester United’s Class of 92, with all degrees awarded by Lancaster University.  

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