How to get a job in today's sports business world

If you made a New Year’s resolution to change careers and believe you have what it takes to enter the world of sports business, here are a few pro tips...

In the early 1950s, Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley looked into his crystal ball and saw a future in which sports organizations would be run by professionally trained business and marketing managers. O’Malley and Clifford Brownell of Columbia University were colleagues that regularly discussed the business of baseball. O’Malley told Brownell the Dodgers lacked future leaders for the team’s revenue-generating areas. The Dodgers and Columbia began to outline a master’s program that would focus on key sports business areas such as contract negotiation, ballpark operations, ticket sales, marketing, advertising, public relations and promotion.

When the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, the program discussion ended. However, James Mason, who was a doctoral student under Brownell at Columbia and moved to Ohio University, resuscitated the discussions with the Dodgers that led to launching the first sports management master’s curriculum in the US in 1966.

As a 1971 graduate of the Ohio University program, it’s mind-boggling that there are now more than 350 educational programs training tomorrow’s leaders in the world of sports. Then as now, the ongoing challenge for many graduates is finding viable positions and creating road maps for career advancement.

In a recent talk at a Top 10 MBA program, a student asked, "What is the one career lesson I learned that could translate to their sports career pursuit?”

My response: “Subtract the one.”

The puzzled student, who was preparing to begin her career making $135,000 a year working for a Fortune 100 tech giant said, “What the heck does that mean?”

“If you want to work in sports," I responded, "just subtract the one from the first part of your salary."

I advise many aspiring sports careerists on paths they might follow to maximize their passion, skill set, education, work-life balance, upward mobility, opportunity and bank balance. The thought process from many is that professional team sports is the place to be. The 122 franchises that make up the big four pro sports leagues afford many career opportunities.

But in today's world, the three most exciting, dynamic and active career adventures will be found outside the pro sports franchise environment...

1. The business of collegiate athletics

Changes in the world of collegiate athletics are moving at warp speed with a future that is as exciting and financially rewarding as any discipline in the sports world. Athletic department business models are changing to meet the demands of increased revenue needs. University presidents are running complex businesses and the old models are being changed around the country.

Collegiate athletic commerce is big business with close to 2,000 athletic departments throughout the US garnering a total of $25.5 billion in media rights and attracting over 190 million fans. The boom is being fueled by the rise of the multi-platform digital network (like PAC-12 and Big 10 network's), video on demand, live streaming, new facility construction, conference realignment, new companies focusing on fan segmentation, fan engagement and analytics, and the growth of dynamic pricing and paperless ticketing.

The University of San Francisco recently offered a new fully online master's degree program in the Business of Collegiate Sports. This customized curriculum features classwork in Broadcast & Digital Networks, Branding & Marketing Agencies, Conference Offices, Ticketing Solution Agencies, Retail & Merchandising Partners, Sponsorship Firms, Sport Technology Businesses, and Collegiate Licensing Companies that make up the broader collegiate athletics industry.

Schools large and small are realizing that campus-wide revenue generating business strategy is the way to go. There is an increasing demand for skilled, educated professionals ready to tackle the dynamic changes occurring in the intercollegiate marketplace.

2. Tech goliaths

Many of these billion-dollar businesses are just now figuring out the lure of sports in building future user loyalty. If you have a sports business background, they will be looking for you. There are few, if any, stock options for employees who work in pro sports. In the tech business, you may get rich and buy your own franchise. Think Steve Ballmer, Vivek Ranadivé, Mark Cuban.

We live in the center of innovation in Northern California. The multi-platform digital delivery of sports on a growing global basis is showing these companies there is gold in sports. For the most part, sports fans stay loyal to their teams and leagues and that avidity is a perfect match to their favorite forms of technology.

3. Global sports organizations

Sports have joined the global languages of science, religion, art and music. Olympics, World Cups, team ownership and broadcast networks are shrinking the sports world. If I were entering the business today, I would focus on becoming fluent in at least one other language.

If you are a US-based sports manager with a sense of adventure, the opportunities are immense. Join the sports business and see the world.

The seeds of innovation that Walter O’Malley planted have matured into a vast educational network of institutions that are training the future leaders of the sports industry.