How to Get into Sport Management
Sport management. The words tend to bring to mind a hard-working and dynamic sports agent that “wheels and deals,” like the Tom Cruise in the movie “Jerry Maguire.” However, there are plenty of other jobs in the field, including facility managers, statisticians, analysts, game day coordinators, and more. Though much of it happens behind the scenes, it takes a lot of people to make game day run smoothly and ensure that the team is in good financial shape during the off-season.
Wondering how to into sport management? Here’s what you need to know.
Step 1: Get a Degree in the Field
It all starts with a degree in Sport Management. The program at Dean College is designed to give students a solid background in everything that they need to work a variety of sport management-related jobs. Some of the topics covered in the degree program include marketing, economics, psychology, the history of sports, business, statistics and more. The more that students learn, the more well-rounded they’ll be, which sets them up for a number of different careers in the field depending on the student’s interest.
Step 2: Procure an Internship
When it comes to breaking into the sport management industry, there’s nothing that trumps real-life experience. Many professional, amateur and collegiate sports teams offer internships in their back offices, on their game day staff and more. Whether your career goals involve working as a statistician, an event coordinator, a general manager, or any other position, there are internships that can provide you with a plethora of experience. Not only can this experience lead to a job with that team after graduation, but it can also help you network (see below) with others in the field. Overall, the more-hands on experience that you have, the better, and an internship can help with that.
Step 3: Volunteer in Your School’s Athletic Department
On top of an internship, future employers expect candidates to have plenty of experience in the field, some of which can come from working in your school’s athletic department. Spending time working as a team statistician or assisting the coach or manager provides you with some additional skills, and you’ll learn how a college team operates. This helps you learn the ins and outs of everything involved in running a team, and you can take those skills into the professional world at any level. If you’re wondering how to get into sport management, this is a slam dunk.
Step 4: Ensure You Have Plenty of Skills
Being well-rounded is key! People working in sport management need to have a number of skills that aren’t always taught in the classroom. They need to adhere to tight deadlines, understand when to put their people skills into action, and multi-task, working on numerous things at once. Employers look for these skills, as well as the ones that are taught from textbooks, when hiring workers.
Step 5: Hone Those Networking Skills
Networking is an important aspect of every career, and if you’re looking to get into sport management, it’s a critical piece of the puzzle. The more people that you know, the better. Interning is one way to network with people in the sport management field. You can also attend professional conferences, events and learning opportunities, or spend time working for a stadium doing things like ushering, selling tickets, working on the grounds crew and more to get in on the ground floor. Introducing yourself to the professionals you interact with is one way to get them to remember your name. The path to a job in sport management is much smoother if you get to know the people who may hire you someday.
Getting your degree, gaining real-life experience and networking will all help you become a well-rounded candidate and ensure you successfully get your foot in the door to an amazing sport management position. Ready to take the first step? Learn more about our Sport Management degree program.