Knowledge platform: Sports Law and Popular Culture

Manchester has a global reputation for elite sports, world-leading creative industries and iconic music. Our research follows in the footsteps of the pioneering work of Professor Steve Redhead, our first Professor of Law and Popular Culture.

Sports law is one of our longest-standing and most respected areas of research. Our team of researchers works closely with the Sports Policy Unit and the Institute of Sport.

Our researchers examine how the law protects the playing, watching, organisation, integrity and administration of sport, covering:

• domestic sports law
• European law
• transnational law
• Olympic law

The Sports Policy Unit has a particular focus on sports mega events, which draws on our expertise in:

• Olympic law
• governance
• competition law
• sporting integrity
• ticketing

Outside of sport, our expertise covers music copyright and competition law in the music industry.

Our reputation

Our research on sports law and popular culture leads the research agenda. We’ve advised a wide range of sports organisations and parliamentary bodies, including:

• Badminton World Federation
• Esports Integrity Commission
• Football Association of Wales
• International Hockey Federation
• England Touch
• FIFPro
• the Council of Europe
• Interpol
• the All Party Parliamentary Group
• the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security
• Independent Football Ombudsman

Study with us

Not only does our research help to inform policy and shape the world, it also enlightens the courses that we teach. Our work in sports law and popular culture feeds into units such as:

• Sport Law, taught on our MSc Sport Business, Management and Policy programme.
• Mastering Governance, Finance and Compliance, taught on our Master of Sport Directorship.
• European Competition Law and Intellectual Property in a Global Context, which are taught on our LLM (Master of Laws).