Professional Services
Sample Jobs – Industry Overview – Job Profiles
Select one of the Job Profiles and review the qualifications and responsibilities of sport business professionals in Professional Services.
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When you think of a sports agent, you think of a bargaining table with the owner on one side, the agent on the other and a
disputed contract in between. While the main job of a sports agent may still be contract negotiation, the role of the agent as
financial consultant and endorsement representative is becoming more prevalent. Depending on the type of representation
offered, an agency may do everything for athletes from negotiate a contract and arrange promotional opportunities and
appearances to investing their income and preparing their taxes. Some large organizations offer one-stop shopping, offering
those services and more, still others choose only to handle contracts directly and recommend endorsement representation and
financial management to others. It’s primarily a matter of philosophy. What works for some doesn’t necessarily work for all. Education.
While not an absolute must, a law degree provides the expertise needed when reading and negotiating contracts. Experience.
Time was you could call yourself an agent and start signing athletes. No longer. Between state requirements and
fierce competition, breaking in can be a daunting ordeal. Most agencies look for people with a legal background who possess sports knowledge beyond the score from last night’s game. Resume Builders.
If you want to work as sports agent accept that the business is fiercely competitive, to separate yourself from others looking for work you must know the law, know sports,
have excellent communication skills and have a background in business as well. All that, and you have to knock on a lot of doors before you find one that will open to you. Salary.
Depends on the sport and number of athletes you represent. Those just starting out may make $50,000 or more, while more experience agents earn hefty percentages of their client’s million dollar contracts.
Click here for Athlete Representation Sample Job
Marketing/Account Management
Nearly every professional and college athletic team has a director or department that handles the marketing needs of the
organization. Many times, though, those organizations find themselves needing more than what their minimal staff can provide.
Marketing companies are designed to handle the needs of these organizations and other companies who use athletic events as
promotional opportunities. The senior account supervisor sits at the top of the operational arm of a sports marketing firm. It is
their job to implement the company’s strategy relative to all of the events, teams, leagues and companies they represent. They
oversee the operations of the individual account managers and coordinators who put the plans into action. The management
experts take the ideas from the creative team and use industry knowledge and promotional expertise to help meet sales goals.
A marketing organization’s functions can be as broad as an image change for a professional sports team, or as narrow as
conducting a promotional ticket giveaway for one event. It depends on the size of the organization and what particular skills
they have to offer, some focus more on the creative side, while others may be more geared toward sales. Education.
Bachelor’s degree in marketing is preferred and master’s in business administration or sports administration is beneficial. Experience.
Nearly every sporting event or organization today depends on marketing expertise to help it succeed. Opportunities on the management side are available to those who have the industry knowledge and sales skill necessary to
help in research, organization and implementation of projects. An area for college students to begin is within the school’s
athletic department marketing office. Colleges and Universities are shorthanded and can use able, willing assistants. Resume Builders.
If you have marketing skills and want to work in the sports industry, work on building your sports knowledge. Not just
the scores, but trends in marketing and sales, the strength of sports business overall and opinions about the future of the
industry. There is ample reading material from trade publications to make you more familiar. You may also consider
volunteering your time to local events, most of which are understaffed and can use help to increase participation, donations and attendance. Salary.
From $18,000 for account coordinators, to $60,000 for account supervisors, up to six figures for senior account supervisors.
Click here for Marketing/Account Management Sample Job
Marketing/Creative
The creative side of sports marketing can be fun and exciting, but it can also bring tremendous pressure to produce results.
The goal of a sports marketing firm is to develop a plan to help its clients improve their image, sell more tickets, find sponsors,
find participants and any number of other things that increase their income. It’s the creative side that finds the hook, that
comes up with the slogan or logo or jingle that makes the client happy and makes the management’s job of implementing the
plan easier. The creative side consists of a creative director who’s responsible for building a team that produces great ideas
consistently. The team is made up of conceptors, who come up with ideas; copywriters, who put the ideas into words; and
graphic artists, who create images from the ideas. Most ideas don’t just suddenly appear, however. The members of the
creative team must carefully investigate their clients current operations. They must talk to employees, fans and participants to
develop an understanding of the organization and the impression others have of them. They take that knowledge, combine it
with the stated desires of the organization, and let it simmer. They may present clients with a number of graphic displays and copy options before one idea is selected, so patience is a key to success. Education.
Assorted degree fields are helpful here including graphic design, advertising, journalism, marketing and communications. A master’s may prove useful, but aren’t necessary for most jobs. Experience.
It’s a competitive field, people with management or creative training in marketing are graduating from universities every day. Separate yourself by working for the university athletic department or local sports team.
If you’re in the industry, you could do no better that try to work in various areas, from management to copywriting to graphic design. Find what you’re best at and sell yourself to other operations. Resume Builders.
Know the business. Sports knowledge, particularly vernacular, is essential when developing ideas. Nothing stands out more than graphic images or text
that use outdated or incorrect visuals or lingo. Look beyond sports at other market trends also. Salary. Similar to
management, starts around $18,000, up to $60,000 for assistant creative directors, to possible six figures for creative directors.
Click here for Marketing/Creative Sample Job
Risk Management - Insurance
As sport continues to expand, the need for protection from accident and liability grows with it. Professionals in the sport
insurance industry provide facilities, teams and individuals with coverage in the event of accidents on the field or off. The
account executive works directly with individual athletes, teams and facilities to evaluate the risk and need for each. Some may
even make recommendations that will help lower the risk of liability, thus reducing the cost of insurance. From these
evaluations, account executive make decisions about the type of coverage needed and pricing. They also write policies to cover
the cost of special prize money, like million-dollar hole-in-one events, and losses due to weather, like rainouts for once a year golf tournaments. Education.
Bachelor’s degree in business. Some states require special training and licensing. Experience. Many insurance companies have special-risk divisions, where much of the sports-related policy work is handled. If you’re
currently in the industry, any experience you have related to sports could prove useful. There are a few organizations that
specialize in risk management and insurance for sports. They look for experienced individuals with knowledge of sports also. Resume Builders.
Look within your community. If you currently work in insurance and want to specialize in the sports-related field, look into doing risk-management assessment for local schools and recreational facilities. Salary.
From a base of $18,000, to an average of $25,000, up to about $30,000.
Click here for Risk Management-Insurance Sample Job
Event Planning/Conference Manager
In any industry the best way to share information, or keep an eye on your rivals, is through trade shows or conferences. Even in
sports, the need for interaction between competing companies and their customers exists. If you belong to an association,
odds are that at some point they’re going to have a conference. Some of these can last only a few hours, still more can last
more than a week. Putting on a tradeshow or conference can be an organizational nightmare. That’s where event-planning
organizations take over. The conference manager of an event-planning organization meets with clients to determine the proper
strategic direction for their shows. They select a site, organize speakers and plan schedules, conducting market research to
aid in their selections and negotiating along the way for the best deals. They help with registration of speakers and attendees,
aid in the assembly of displays and help arrange private rooms for special seminars. They must constantly work to develop new
ideas for shows to keep clients interested and eager to return. They also have to develop innovative methods of presenting
similar ideas. People who are creative, confident, self-motivated and detail-oriented are well suited to meet the demanding requirements of conference manager’s position. Education.
Bachelor’s degree in business or communication, though educational background isn’t always as important as experience. Experience. Event planning organizations look for people
with expertise in organization or management. They want people who’ve helped coordinate and operate events of various sizes. People with sports event management experience are particularly sought after. Resume Builders.
Volunteer to help at local events. If you want to know if you’d enjoy coordinating an event the best way is to get direct experience. Most sporting events
in your area depend heavily on help from volunteers and will gladly turn over responsibility to those who show a genuine interest. Computer and communication skills are also critical to the job. Salary.
From $25,000 to begin, to an average of $37,500, up to $60,000.
Click here for Event Planning/Conference Manager Sample Job