15 Pieces of Career Advice From NFL Professionals As They Prepare For The Season
As the excitement around the NFL season continues to build with preseason football and back-to-school starting in just a few short weeks, there was no better time than to put together this article.
We sat down and asked 15 sports industry professionals working in the NFL or who surround the sport for their best career advice. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned veteran, a university freshman or a young professional climbing the corporate ladder — we’re confident you will leave this article inspired and ready to take that next step in your career.
The key is to develop listening skills,drawing out another human being to understand their deepest anxieties and fears and greatest hopes and dreams. Being able to put yourself in the heart and mind of another person and see the world from their perspective helps in every sports interaction. Study psychology, and of course business. Then try and get internships — a league, sports agency,franchise,conference,college,players association,sports marketing or PR,or sports television. Any internship gets your foot in the door. Then become a font of information on everything involving that company so you become irreplacable, not fungible or modular.Get there early and stay late. Brand yourself by writing an article or giving a speech on some sports related subject. And know that this is a field for the best and brightest who are hyper-ambitious — be prepared to spend your 20’s immersed in this as your number one priority.
Leigh Steinberg (Founder & CEO, Steinberg Sports & Entertainment — The REAL Jerry Maguire and 40-year sports industry veteran)
Focus on one aspect of the business and become good at it. Decide …. publishing, teams, broadcasting, sporting goods, public relations, e commerce, sports law, agent, work for a league but decide. Sports is the 3rd largest industry in the country, become an expert.
Brandon Steiner (Founder & CEO, Steiner Sports — Named “one of the most influential figures in the history of sports memorabilia”)
My best advice for young professionals trying to get into the sports industry is to get involved on campus, and to develop diverse and unique experience. Whether you join a club, work a part-time job, or get an internship, you are developing skills that are applicable to numerous positions in the sports business field. Often times, my position as a partnerships coordinator requires me to work with other departments on social media, finance, or broadcast production projects. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time, having on campus positions in areas outside of partnerships gave me a baseline understanding of multiple sides of the industry and helped me stand out during the interview process. By taking the time to get involved and improving yourself as a professional, your work won’t go unnoticed. Plus, you might stumble upon something you never knew you’d love.
Holly West (Corporate Partnerships Coordinator, Kraft Sports Group)
1) Network, Network, Network: The sooner you embrace networking, the closer you are to securing your first job in sports. While it may feel uncomfortable at first, networking will become more natural and conversational as you set up informationals and introduce yourself to new people. Aim to build mutually beneficial relationships. Whether you are reaching out to alumni or strangers on LinkedIn, leverage all your resources (in a polite and professional manner).
2) We have two ears and one mouth; listen twice, speak once. As a newcomer in the industry, it is integral to soak up as much knowledge as possible from those with experience. Be a sponge. Learning doesn’t stop outside of work. Monitor trends by reading newsletters (SBJ and Cynopsis are two of my favorites), and gain insight from books and podcasts (How to Win Friends & Influence People and How I Built This will open your mind)! A positive attitude and an enthusiasm to learn and grow will take you far.
3) Stay Humble, Stay Hungry: Even once you’ve reached some level of success, don’t let complacency or hubris be your downfall. Continue to be a student of the industry.
Kim Hoey (Integrated Sales Coordinator, National Football League)
In short, control what you can control. There are a myriad of factors outside of your control, but 4 areas totally within it. 1) How hard you work -putting together a meaningful prospecting strategy, analyzing your methods of outreach, and busting your hump on creating both quantity and quality on the activity front. 2) Your level of creativity — providing new and innovative solutions that deliver real ROI, not cookie-cutter packages that are stale and tone-deaf. 3) Presenting to Win — Telling the prospect the story of your organization and your fans, and how you can harness that passion for their benefit. Weaving a narrative that seamlessly integrates all of the assets you’ve put together into a a series of platforms that all fit together and can’t stand up without each other. The term “next slide” will never be uttered while following this step correctly. 4) Practice — Working through your narrative until you’ve got the story down so cold that it sounds perfectly natural. In my experience, winging pitches may be the single biggest downfall of young salespeople.
A.J. Poole (Director of Partnership Sales & Activation, Pittsburgh Steelers)
Each role within a sports organization takes a certain mindset and skillset, however my core principles of employee success that run across discipline include: success lies in the details, hard work DOES pay off, and relationships matter. To elaborate, become an expert on your client’s business, learning all the intricacies of how your client and the properties they sponsor go to market to determine how your efforts will fit in. Over deliver on every assignment and ask for more; people ARE paying attention and you will be rewarded. At the same time, don’t seek credit, give credit. And finally, good relationships are what drive trust, and trust drives business opportunity and career growth. Do the right thing, take the high road, and never burn a bridge. It’s a small sports industry and a long life.
Tom Haidinger (President of Advantage, a sponsorship & brand experience agency, and a 25 year sports industry veteran)
When it comes to sponsorships, it can be easy to fall into the rut of “same old, same old”. Working with Clubs every day at the NFL, I can attest to the fact that they are constantly looking for innovations that will set them apart from the rest of the pack in order to drive value for their partners, whether on the sales or activation side. Thus, it is crucial to stay up on the latest happenings not only in sports, but across media, entertainment, and other industries. Always be on the lookout for new and interesting concepts, and give thought to how they can be applied in the sponsorship space.
Sam Rubinroit (Manager, Club Business Development at National Football League)
Surround yourself with people who have different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences than you’re accustomed to. By widening your network, early and often, opportunities will find you — whether that’s for the next internship, job, board position or even something you haven’t dreamed of yet. You’ll also gain a more dynamic viewpoint — making you a better problem solver, creative thinker and teammate. Look at your network as a way to differentiate and diversify yourself. This is a competitive industry, but there are plenty of people looking out for the next generation and bringing them up along with them. It’s your opportunity to find those individuals and cultivate the relationships, even if they aren’t in the role/league/department you want to be in. Magic strikes when you least expect it, especially when you’re surrounded by those who recognize your strengthens and are willing to make introductions on your behalf.
Erica Bernadas (Senior Manager, Corporate Partnerships at New Orleans Saints)
Wanting to work in sports because you are a passionate fan is not enough. Focus your interests and do some research. Have an idea about what you want to do and why. There are so may resources and so much information available that you should be researching the industry and preparing for your career constantly.
Kevin Abrams (Assistant General Manager at New York Giants)
I always communicate three key points to anyone who asks what it takes to break into the sports business:
- You must be willing to make sacrifices and step out of your circle of comfort
- Nothing will be handed — you must grab any opportunity that comes your way to get your “foot in the door” (i.e., volunteer, gameday, etc.)
- Once you’re in, network, network and network some more. You will be surprised to see how many were in your shoes not too long ago and willing to help! If you keep those three points close to you, it won’t be long till you’re a full-time fixture in the sports business.
Wahaj Tariq (Business Development Manager at Oakland Raiders)
Just as you think about the brand essence of your clients, and about developing campaigns that highlight that brand essence, think about your own personal brand and how you market yourself in the professional community. Take some time to identify what your personal and professional strengths are, and where you want to go in your career. From there, think through what “grassroots” marketing you can do to help elevate your own profile within the industry and to start on the road towards your career goals. As you develop your plan, highlight what is authentically you, and use that as the basis of your profile; you don’t need to be someone other than you to be successful, but rather the best version of yourself. For example, if networking isn’t your strength, focus on writing client alerts to showcase your work product. Finally, think about what it is that you hope people are saying about you when you are not in the room; what do you want to be known for? Use that as a guidepost when you are shaping your own behaviors (and, in particular, when you might be discouraged); your impact on others is one of, if not the, most important thing you can contribute through your career.
Megha Parekh (Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer at Jacksonville Jaguars)
My advice for the next generation of marketers would be never to confuse activity with progress. Marketers often believe the more noise you create, the greater the potential you are surrounding your consumer, but fewer, smarter, more impactful efforts will always cut through more meaningfully.
I would spend more time thinking about the long game, which sometimes means doing the parts of marketing that aren’t as much fun or don’t allow you to stretch your creative muscles. Being a well rounded marketer before you make the decision to focus on a niche subset of marketing will allow for greater career momentum down the line.
Lauren Fritts (Director, Global Marketing at Gatorade)
Breaking into the NFL requires persistence and personal sacrifice. I often talk to local sports marketing students about my path. Coming from a small college in Wisconsin, I had to build my sports experience from the ground up, find a way to land an internship with a team, and then outwork plenty of other capable interns to earn a full-time position.
Persistence. One of my favorite points in my class presentation is when I show all 32 NFL team logos on a slide, representing all of the internships I individually applied to, and one-by-one I am rejected by each team. It was a challenging period to say the least. It forced me to throw out the boiler plate resume, constantly refine my approach, and aggressively network to the point of taking third degree connections out to lunch. Eventually, I landed a training camp internship with the Kansas City Chiefs and never looked back. It took three years, four unpaid internships, and moving away from my family twice to break into the NFL. What I received in return — a business card, a $30,000 salary, and a guarantee that there was a line of people to gladly replace me if I didn’t deliver.
The NFL is highly competitive but the experience I gained as a young sports marketer was second to none. My team experience opened the door for other opportunities I hadn’t considered previously. I leveraged my knowledge of sponsorship sales and service to sit on the other side of the table, negotiating and maximizing sponsorships for Comcast through their sports marketing agency of record, GMR Marketing. Knowing the perspective of the team, agency, and client is a powerful tool in creating and executing effective sports marketing partnerships.
Jared Aeschbach (Account Supervisor at GMR Marketing)
Some of the best advice I received starting out way back before I worked in the NFL still applies. My first boss told me to “work on goal time, not clock time”. Most of the time that means long hours but if hit your number goals each week or month than that can free you up later. He also said “good salespeople live off-peak” which means don’t drive to/from work in peak traffic times. Don’t waste time in lines, don’t call customers when everyone else is calling them. Work smart and hard and everything else follows.
Mike Mahoney (Sponsorship Sales Executive, Carolina Panthers)
Maintain a strong work ethic, positive attitude. Stay committed to being a person of high character, who never stops learning. Do not chase money, title or geography…but rather leaders who have a track record of developing people personally and professionally.
Jeremy Walls (Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Miami Dolphins)
