The scope and purpose of sports law within domestic and international legal systems

Governance and regulation in sport: authority, accountability and legitimacy (e.g. FIFA, IOC, FA, WADA, CAS, Sport Resolutions UK)

Dispute resolution mechanisms in sport, including arbitration and negotiated settlement

Legal and ethical dimensions of athlete contracts, transfers and labour relations

Commercialisation of sport: sponsorship, broadcasting, image rights and intellectual property

Negotiation in sports law practice: stakeholder interests, power dynamics and professional conduct

Safeguarding, athlete welfare and duty of care in regulatory and contractual contexts

Equality, diversity and inclusion in sport, including discrimination and access to justice

Doping regulation, proportionality and ethical decision-making

Integrity in sport: corruption, match-fixing, compliance and governance failure

Sustainability and ethics in sport, including responsible governance, commercial partnerships and long-term athlete welfare

Reflective practice and professional judgement in legal and regulatory decision-making

Assessment 1 requires you to participate in a structured group negotiation simulation based on a sports law scenario (e.g. player contracts, sponsorship agreements, safeguarding disputes, image rights, or ethically contested commercial relationships). Working in assigned stakeholder roles, you must apply legal reasoning to resolve competing interests while addressing ethical and sustainability considerations. Individual performance is assessed on preparation, legal reasoning, collaboration, communication, and professional conduct. Each student is expected to make sustained and meaningful contributions to the negotiation, with individual participation within the 90-minute exercise. This assessment directly evidences the ability to apply critical reasoning individually and collaboratively in response to real-world legal challenges.

Assessment 2 - You will produce an individual reflective portfolio evaluating your performance in a simulated professional sports law negotiation. The portfolio may consist of a curated selection of outputs (e.g. written, visual, or audio-visual formats), enabling you to present your learning in a format suited to your strengths.

The portfolio must demonstrate critical reflection on decision-making, communication and collaboration, including the impact of personal assumptions, knowledge gaps, skills and biases on the negotiation process and outcome. You should consider group dynamics, power relations and differing perspectives, alongside the skills required for graduate level employment in the field.

Students must engage with the ethical and sustainability issues raised by the scenario, evaluating how legal, commercial and welfare interests were balanced and support their analysis with relevant legal principles and professional standards.

The portfolio should evidence critical self-reflection and development, identifying areas for improvement and explaining how these insights will inform future professional judgement and lifelong learning. You are also expected to make appropriate and reflective use of digital tools in creating and presenting their work.

The learning strategy for this module is based direct contact with a tutor, directed, guided and independent study, including preparation for assessments. Students are encouraged to spend time reading, preparation for workshops, skills development activities, and consolidation of learning on a weekly basis. The remaining non-contact hours will be dedicated to preparation for assessment, including engagement with formative assessment opportunities, structured preparation for the negotiation exercise, reflective planning, and responding to feedback on practice-based activities and draft work.

Contact time will include a mixture of lectures and workshops. Lectures will focus on introducing and contextualising key legal frameworks governing sport, including regulation, governance, contractual relationships, dispute resolution and ethical decision-making. Lectures will be interactive in nature, incorporating questioning, discussion and analysis of contemporary case examples to support active engagement with legal principles and their application in practice.

Workshop swill focus on consolidation of knowledge and the application of legal principles to authentic sports law problems. These sessions will utilise problem-based learning and simulation, requiring students to analyse realistic scenarios involving negotiations over contracts, sponsorship arrangements, safeguarding concerns, regulatory disputes and athlete welfare. Activities will include paired and group work to prepare negotiation strategies, articulate stakeholder positions, respond to competing interests, and reflect on professional conduct and ethical considerations.

Through engagement with both settled and emerging issues in sports law, students will be challenged to develop reasoned legal responses in situations characterised by uncertainty, competing priorities and ethical complexity. Teaching activities are designed to develop student's capacity for critical reasoning, collaboration and reflective practice, mirroring the strategic and professional decision-making required in real-world sports law contexts. The assessment strategy reinforces this approach by requiring students to participate in a live negotiation exercise and to critically reflect on their performance, decision-making and professional development as future legal or professional practitioners.

1. Apply critical legal reasoning to real-world sports law disputes, balancing legal obligations, ethical considerations and sustainability concerns in complex professional contexts.

Application and problem solving
Research skills

2. Collaborate effectively with others in professional negotiations by communicating legal arguments persuasively, responding constructively to competing interests and contributing to ethically informed outcomes.

Critical reasoning and collaboration
Communication

3. Reflect critically on personal performance, decision-making and professional conduct, identifying gaps, biases and areas for development and using these insights to improve your future legal or professional practice.

Reflection
Personal development and entrepreneurship
Digital literacy

Law Trove
Legal databases with access to statute and case law
Use of courtroom for formative and summative assessments.

Adam Lewis KC and Jonathan Taylor KC (eds), Sport: Law and Practice (4th edn, Bloomsbury Professional 2021).

James A R Nafziger and Ryan Gauthier (eds), Handbook on International Sports Law (2nd edn, Edward Elgar 2022).

Lawrence A Wenner (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Society (OUP 2022)

Simon Gardiner, Roger Welch, Simon Boyes and Urvasi Naidoo, Sports Law (4th edn, Routledge 2011)*

*Despite being an older text, it is a leading text in the field of sports law.

Sport is a global industry shaped by law, regulation, commercial interests and ethical responsibility. This module explores how legal frameworks operate in practice within modern sport, focusing on governance, regulation, contractual relationships and dispute resolution at both national and international levels. You will engage with real-world sports law scenarios involving athlete welfare, commercial negotiations, safeguarding, equality and regulatory compliance. Through applied learning and professional simulation, you will take part in a structured negotiation exercise that mirrors contemporary legal practice in sport, requiring you to balance legal obligations with ethical and sustainability considerations.

The module places strong emphasis on collaboration, professional judgement and reflective practice. By analysing real cases, participating in negotiation, and critically reflecting on your decision-making, you will develop the skills required for graduate roles in legal practice, sports governance, regulation, compliance, athlete representation and related professional fields.