WHIZZ-KIDS considering a career in the lucrative field of sports marketing are being offered a new course at Huddersfield University.
The degree course in sports promotion and marketing will start in September.
While star footballers like David Beckham work cleverly to turn themselves into brands, companies have for years used athletes to promote their goods.
"The emergence of a `sports culture' has led to a huge increase in sport-related marketing, turning sport into a global industry," said course leader Mrs Glynis Jones.
She said there were no courses quite like Huddersfield's offered anywhere else in England.
"Sport is a universal language in some ways. You can have people who don't understand each other's language but speak to each other in sporting terms."
Mrs Jones will be joined by lecturers Dave Harvey and Mohammed Mirza.
The programme has already attracted the attention of Ralph Rimmer, the chief executive of Huddersfield Giants rugby league club.
"Marketing and promotion is becoming increasingly important for sports clubs," he said. "We welcome the launch of this new course."
As part of the degree, tutors also hope to link up with sports clubs to help promote and market them.
