Who's a Sports Manager?
Look at the top sports teams in the world. Behind each talented team stands an equally talented sports manager, the one who inspires, coaches and drives teams to victory. Sounds like the kind of job you’re cut out for? Try your hand at sports management!
As a sports manager, you will handle all matters related to sports teams and athletes. From negotiating contract terms and closing business deals to maintaining media relations and promoting events, you will do it all. You will be responsible for the financial aspects of the team, its relationship with the outside world, the quality of players, adequacy of coaching staff etc. You will also look at maximising revenue for the team. Sounds interesting? Read on to know more!
What will you do?
Where will you work?
How do you get there?
What skills would you need?
Analytical and Data Skills
You will receive huge amounts of data from your client. This data will have to be analysed effectively so you can find ways that will help your client reach their customers is the best way possible. While it is true that the more data you analyse, the more insights you generate; analytical thinking will help you narrow down your search and find your key actionable items, thus saving you a lot of time and resources.
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Communication Skills
It’s harder than ever to get people’s attention, what with so much information being thrown at them. But, people cannot resist a good story. Every good marketing campaign has a story to tell their customers and relate to them on an emotional level. Marketers who tell great stories through their marketing campaigns are always in great demand.
build this skillHow do you make it to the top ranks?
College/University Sports Manager
The roles and responsibilities for sports management professionals vary widely depending on the organisation, institution, club or team they work for. At the basic level, you will manage teams in schools, colleges and universities.
Local Sports Manager
Managing a college sports team is like an internship. It’s in professional sports where you begin your real career. At first, you will only manage a local team, working in inter-state and intra-state competitions and leagues.
National Sports Manager
Once you gain experience and expertise in sports management, you can go on to manage teams at the national level. Here, your work hours will increase and you will also be required to attend sports events held on weekends and at odd hours.
International Sports Manager
This is the highest level of success you can gain as a sports manager. Not all professionals get the opportunity to manage teams at international levels so you need to work very hard and build strong connections to get here. Your job will involve extensive travel and meetings and conferences all over the world to handle senior management, press, sponsors etc.
Pursuing your career locally VS abroad
India is a breeding ground for sports. Gone are the days when cricket was the only game known to Indian sports viewers. With leagues coming up in every sport, be it football, hockey, and even kabaddi, the sports industry in the country is booming. Thus, sports management is a lucrative career option for those who are interested in sports but do not wish to play on the field themselves. There are two ways one can pursue sports management – through Bachelor of Business Administration in Sports Management or Bachelor of Sports Management. The BBA degree is offered by various institutes in India, with the cost of studying coming up to INR 3,00,000 here. The cost of BSM, on the other hand, ranges from INR 1,73,000 to INR 6,29,000 for a span of three years. These degrees can also be followed up with masters and post-graduate diploma courses.
While India has a great market for jobs related to sports management, you can also pursue this career abroad with a famed university, which adds to your portfolio. Getting a scholarship for such universities can be tough unless you already are a sports player at the national level in India. Once you complete your education abroad, you can have several opportunities in India as well as in other countries. Many major and minor leagues, prominent institutions, and talent agents are on the lookout of professionals with a degree from a top university and you can choose to work wherever you want in any kind of role. Some of the top countries to pursue sports management abroad are the UK (European School of Economics, University of Wolverhampton), USA (Full Sail University, Post University, Ashford University), and Australia (Flinders University, University of Sydney). The charges for the Bachelor’s degree can go up to INR 20,00,000 while special programmes can cost up to INR 50,00,000.
How much would you get paid?
The exact number will depend on your skills and experience and the sports team you manage. In India, cricket is the most lucrative field to work in.
What are your career options?
Business Development
Sports is a selling business but a business development professional is required to make it sell better and faster. You will not physically hand out any tickets but are a part of the sales strategy, conduct market research, meet donors of sports groups and forge relationships with them, create strategies to attract more fans while retaining the existing ones, draw in more season ticket buyers, and manage the production and distribution of all kinds of promotions.
Public Relations
Public relations professionals excel in project management and implementation. As the sports industry grows bigger every year, the need to manage the public image of teams is essential. You will do that by writing press releases, creating website content, managing portfolios of the players, becoming the public face of the team, promoting the activities of the team, and using digital and social media to attract followers and keep the existing followers engaged.
Personnel Management
Personnel management professionals in sports not only manage the existing players but are also involved in recruiting talent. For this, you will need an in-depth knowledge of the game and the industry and have the skills to negotiate a contract. You could also work privately with players, helping them with contract negotiations, finding the right endorsements, and looking for other business opportunities in the industry.
Financial Management
Aspirants with a passion for sports and a talent for numbers are best suited in the field of financial management. You will manage the finances of the team by tracking, evaluating and reporting their financial activities. You will also adjust the budget of the team, monitor the streams of revenue, make financial forecasts, create budgets for special events, and make decisions regarding ticket and merchandising prices.
Athletics Coordination
This is a job at a school, college, or university level. You will manage the entire athletic department of the institution and ensure that it runs smoothly. As an athletics director, you are also required to schedule the team’s travel arrangements and budgets. Depending on your rank, you might get involved with monitoring the streams of revenue and increasing participation of sports in the institution.
Business Operations
Business operations professionals are involved in the daily operations of the team. You will be required at all levels, be it a school-level team or an international sports team. Your work will involve directing the daily activities of the team by creating a plan for the coaches, athletic directors, team players, administrators and other executives. You must be skilled at project management, planning, and implementation.
Sports Representation
Apart from personnel managers who mainly work with teams as a whole, sports agents manage players or coaches individually. Right from negotiating contracts, salaries, endorsements, and other business opportunities to handling their clients’ finances, investments, taxes and more, you will act as managers to your clients and find ways to promote them using their relations with people within the sports industry. Needless to say, good communication skills are a must for this job.
Ticket Sales
The sports industry has boomed in the last few years due to higher ticket sales.You will not hand out tickets to buyers but creates strategies that will lead to higher sales. You will be responsible for bringing in corporate clients, selling season tickets, and making sponsorship deals that would prove beneficial to the team. From here, you can climb up the ladder to business administration and management in sports.
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