A proven pathway: Brisbane Broncos Sports Business Institute celebrates 150th graduate

Since launching in 2021, the Institute has provided students with the opportunity to study towards a dual Diploma of Sport and Diploma of Leadership and Management (SIS50321/BSB50420) while gaining firsthand experience inside one of the NRL’s most iconic clubs.

Among the most recent graduates is Storm Nicholls, whose journey with the Broncos began during Year 11 through the club’s school-based program, Beyond the Broncos.

After finishing school, Storm chose to continue her connection with the club by enrolling in the dual diploma through the Brisbane Broncos Sports Business Institute.

“I enrolled in the dual diploma because I wanted a change and thought there was no harm in trying something new,” she said.

“If it didn’t work out, it would still give me the resilience to start something else.”

The year-long program combines formal study with practical industry exposure, including 100 hours of work experience across key Broncos departments such as membership, game development and fan engagement.

For Storm, simply walking through the doors at the Broncos’ Red Hill headquarters each day was a highlight.

“Walking through the doors at Red Hill, past the trophies and the players - that felt huge to me,” she said.

“I’d watch the Broncos staff heading upstairs and think, one day that could be me. Maybe next time I walk through these doors, I won’t be a student - I’ll be staff.”

For some graduates, that dream has already become reality.

Lochlan McArthur was part of the Institute’s first graduating cohort.

“I was in my mid-20s, working full-time in another industry and had completed a bachelor’s degree, but I still wasn’t finding the right fit,” Lochlan said.

“I booked myself into an open day at Suncorp Stadium, stumbled across the Sports Business Institute, and the rest is history.”

Today, Lochlan works at the Broncos as the Sports Business Institute Education Program Lead, a clear demonstration of the pathway from classroom to career that the program aims to create.

“To now lead the program that helped shape my own career means so much to me,” he said.

“If you’d told me as a kid playing sport in Central Queensland that I’d be here at the Broncos, in the heart of Brisbane, leading this program, I wouldn’t have believed you. But thanks to the Sports Business Institute and this club, here I am.”

For Storm and the 150 graduates who have come through the program, the Institute represents far more than a qualification.

“Getting the diploma was just the start of my bigger picture,” she said.

“If I had to do it again, I would in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t be who I am today without the Broncos.”

Enrolments are now open for the next intake of students studying towards the dual Diploma of Sport and Diploma of Leadership and Management (SIS50321/BSB50420) through the Brisbane Broncos Sports Business Institute.