A degree in Sport & Social Media? 8 units I’d design to mark graduates employable

If I had the opportunity to design a Sport & Social Media degree, here's what I'd build, based on collecting 75+ job ads across NZ and Australia 👀

8 units, built around what employers are actually hiring for right now

Unit 1: Visual Content Production
Graduates need to own the visual identity of a sport organisation, creating graphics, photography and design assets that are publish-ready across every platform. Built around hands-on briefs with real sport organisations.
(Key Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Lightroom, After Effects)

Unit 2: Writing for Digital Sport
Captions, campaign copy, website content and email communications, writing appeared across almost every ad in the dataset. This unit teaches students to write for sport audiences specifically: the tone, the pace, the emotional language that makes sport content land differently than any other industry

Unit 3: Video Production & Sport Storytelling
Video was the standout requirement across the entire dataset, at every level of sport, from community clubs to professional franchises. Covers both the technical craft (shooting, editing, publishing) and the storytelling layer
(Key Tools: CapCut, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve)

Unit 4: Sport Brand Management & Identity
How do you protect a sport brand while still pushing it forward? This unit teaches students to develop and apply brand guidelines, manage visual identity across platforms, and explore how to extend and evolve a brand, balancing consistency with creativity.

Unit 5: Multi-Platform Strategy & Live Sport Content
Every platform has a different audience, algorithm and content language. This unit teaches students to manage a coherent sport brand across all of them with strategic intent, then puts that to the test through live sport simulations and real publishing deadlines.
(Key Tools: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube)

Unit 6: Digital Publishing, Fan Engagement & Community Management
Managing membership communications, online communities, fan engagement, ticketing campaigns and match day content delivery, the relational backbone of any sport organisation
(Key tools: Mailchimp, WordPress, Hootsuite)

Unit 7: Digital Analytics & Insight
Data literacy appeared as an expectation at every level of sport. This unit is about asking the right questions, building meaningful reports and translating performance data into decisions
(Key tools: Google Analytics, Meta Business Suite)

Unit 8: Commercial & Sponsorship Communication
Sport organisations don't just want content creators, they want people who understand how communication drives commercial outcomes: sponsor activation, partnership storytelling, revenue-aligned campaigns.

Finally, the one thing that underpins all of it is a genuine passion for and knowledge of sport. Working with partners across codes, communities and contexts, not just the one you grew up watching. As the ads made clear, employers aren't just hiring creative communicators; they're hiring people who can connect and resonate with sport audiences.