The Benefits Of A Sports Management Degree
If you’ve ever considered getting a sports management degree, what’s stopping you? You may question whether such a degree is worth the work. Or, perhaps you aren’t sure exactly what the benefits of a sports management degree might be? In truth, there are lots of benefits to obtaining a sports management degree, and this article will discuss a few of them.
First, let’s get this reality out of the way: No, the field of sports management isn’t all glamourous. You won’t step out of school and into a job like Tom Cruise’s character in “Jerry Maguire.” There are mundane tasks to be done by those in the sports management field, such as organizing travel for the team, arranging training times, and keeping the books, but that’s only a small part of the job.
Executive sports management positions are actually very fast-paced, exciting positions! You’ll be involved in the drafting and signing of players, helping to facilitate trades, and other player-related tasks. You’ll work most behind the scenes, serving as a liaison between the players’ agents and the team’s general manager to perform tasks such as negotiating players’ salaries and terms of their contracts, etc.
To obtain an executive sports management position, you’ll need a Master’s or other advanced degree in the field from a school such as Adelphi University. In the course of your degree, you’ll likely take courses in subjects such as business, law, economics, public relations, business communications as well as training on software used in the industry, and more. A good program will leave graduates have a well-rounded education on all aspects of the business and public relations aspects of sports management. Because of that, graduates of a sports management program will also have the kind of business education that can be translated into other professions in the future as well. So, should you decide sports management isn’t for you or wish to transition into another career later on, you’ll have the skills to do so.
In the field of sports management itself, there are lots of opportunities for those with a sports management degree, such as: Event managers with major and minor league teams, working with collegiate teams, amateur and kids’ sports leagues, and more. You can even work for a tourism board or visitor bureau, helping to drum up audiences for local sporting events.
If event management is your focus, a sports management degree will give you skills necessary to successfully organize and produce various sporting events, such as managing volunteers, arranging sponsorships, performing public relations tasks, perform human resources tasks, and more. You’ll learn how to effectively market your event to audiences as well, because what good is a well-organized event if no one knows about it?
Sports management degrees also open up job opportunities in sales. Organizations often hire graduates of these programs as director of sales, director of ticketing or, in the case of a college or university, as a corporate event manager.
As you can see, a sports management degree will offer a variety of exciting career options, but in the field of sports management itself and in other fields as well. Within the field, jobs will focus on the business aspect of the field, such as sponsorship, promotion, public and media relations, human resources, finance, etc. So, if you are looking for an exciting job focused in the sports world, a sports management degree is a good first step.
