The field of sport management is vast. Sport managers can be found working for
professional teams, colleges and universities; recreational departments
and sports marketing firms. They can be event managers, facility managers, sports economists,
financial, promotion or information experts; they can run the
front office, work behind the scenes or act as the interface between players,
coaches and the media. In all of these sports management roles energy,
motivation, good sportsmanship and teamwork are considered strong assets,
but there's more to a job in sport management than first meets the eye.
Getting these coveted jobs takes hustle, it also demands excellent analytical
thinking, communication skills and standout business savvy. The most serious
players in the field start with the degree in sport management at an
established, accredited university. Let's take a look at three SNHU alumni with
completely different careers, all within the sport management industry and see
what their paths have been like.
It's a truly unique opportunity for a student
to come in at SNHU and really get into this business understand it and then
walk out better prepared than anywhere else in the country I think.
After graduating I interviewed with Red Bull and I was one of the first few employees
on the marketing team in 1998; we took the brand from zero to a billion dollar business.
In 2006 when Red Bull bought the MetroStars in Major League Soccer
I was asked to come over and manage the team. What I learned at SNHU is that if
you're not working as a team, you're not gonna get anywhere. The environment is
special you can have access to a lot of executives who are alumni from the
school who are in the business from minor league sports, to major league, to
college sports, so their students get a much broader perspective of how to
manage a sports team, how to do certain things and I think it's an absolute
unique and important facet of the program.
There are so many different levels of business in the sports industry. I work
in consulting for a talent representation agency. We represent
athletes in all areas of their business and corporate brands hire us to assist
with their sports marketing efforts. My job changes every single day which is
part of the reason why I love it and because of the relationships and
opportunities that I had through my job, I don't think there is a sporting event
that happens in this town that I've missed.
SNHU helped me get into the sports industry. All the staff at SNHU has
experience beyond the classroom, they recognize what I needed out of my
experience and they tailored it to me. I got connected with alumni all over the
country; it was amazing to be able to connect with other people who were in
the industry doing what I wanted to be doing and I definitely felt like I was
at an advantage.
My name is Greg and I studied online at Southern New Hampshire University.
I came to Southern New Hampshire University to change my career and now I
work for a professional hockey team. When I first graduated with my undergrad in
general business I wasn't really satisfied, so I went back and got my
master's degree in sport management. There's a lot more that happened within the sports
organization than just the player personnel and I knew it was there, but
how to get into it I don't think many people actually know and all the faculty
experiences in the industry was great. All the coursework I had at Southern New
Hampshire has helped me in my job now whether it was a marketing class or a
sports law class; being able to go back to Southern New Hampshire to change my
career; being able to take all my life experiences still wanting to work with
people, but moving into the sports field and be happy to get up every morning to
go to a job that I love to do is something I would never exchange.