Have a passion for sports and business? A sport management degree program provides you with the skills and knowledge to thrive working behind the scenes supporting athletes and sports organizations at all levels of competition. Villa Maria College’s sport management program teaches students the key skills needed to excel and gives them first-hand insight into sport management careers through local community partnerships. If you’re wondering what you can do with a sport management degree, there are several exciting career options to explore.
What Jobs Can You Get With a Sport Management Degree?
Public Relations Specialist
Public relations (PR) specialists who work specifically with athletes, teams, or organizations serve as strategic communicators. They share compelling stories and important updates with the media to create positive press coverage, connect with fans, or mitigate publicity issues. They may interview key figures such as coaches and athletes to share these perspectives with sports journalists or broadcasters. Sports PR specialists may also work closely with internal marketing teams to craft and share content across platforms such as social media and websites that align with the brand’s messaging and campaign strategies.
Sports Marketing Manager
Sports marketing managers develop campaigns to support an organization’s brand and goals either working indirectly through an agency or directly for a sports organization. Depending on what those goals are, sports marketing managers may need to conceptualize and work with other marketers like designers and public relations specialists to design advertisements for digital, print, radio, and TV, create promotional programs, and produce branded products like merchandise. Often sports teams, events, and players are at the forefront of marketing efforts and are leveraged to help generate sales and revenue for the organization.
Athletic Director
Athletic directors manage general operations for athletic programs. They can work for specific teams or a school or college. These professionals create budgets for their department, hire coaching and training staff, and coordinate schedules for sports programs and athletic leagues. This often involves scheduling practices and securing team transportation. Additionally, athletic directors should have a strong understanding of legal and health risks that may arise during sporting events and have devised plans to mitigate those risks.
Sports Facility Manager
Sports facility managers are responsible for a facility’s daily operations. These duties usually involve handling facility and field maintenance issues and assisting with events but may also include overseeing concessions and coordinating security or custodial services. Sports facility managers need to ensure the quality of play and safety meets league requirements at all times, so they should have excellent knowledge of equipment inventory and repair or replacement schedules.
Sport Event Coordinator
Sport event coordinators work behind the scenes to provide athletes and coaches with a smooth event from start to finish. They work closely with other staff like facility managers and athletic directors to plan and execute all aspects of a sporting event from scheduling to venue logistics to fan services like concessions. They assist with securing transportation and accommodation arrangements, training staff to run events, and developing contingency plans in case an issue arises.
Sports Agent
A sports agent is one of the more recognizable career options for sport management majors. These individuals work with professional athletes or athletes pursuing a professional career. Sports agents represent clients throughout their careers, handling contract negotiations and seeking sponsorships. They must have a keen eye for new talent with the potential for long-term success, including for ventures following their client’s athletic career. Sports agents must be able to network with others in the sports industry, have strong sales and business acumen, and understand and convey all sports contract policies to their clients before signing.
To learn more about the career opportunities available to sport management majors or more about the program, reach out today!
