The Future of Work in Sports
Image Credit: Jackie Reau
By Jackie Reau.
When I turned 30, I had the “a ha moment” that I wanted to work in sports media. Whenever I tell the story of how Game Day, the media and marketing agency that former ESPN anchor Betsy Ross and I started, I usually begin with that quick story. It goes something like this. I love living in Cincinnati and wanted to work in sports media, so I looked at the Reds media job and at the Bengals media job. I thought these are good jobs and these guys aren’t going to leave them for a long time. This was true. Jack left the Bengals in 2016 and Rob left the Reds last year.
In 2001, on a cocktail napkin, the business plan for Game Day was drawn up and launched in 2002. Here we are 23 years later.
It’s that time of year where I get a barrage of LinkedIn messages, texts/emails from parents of college students and emails from college students asking for an informational interview as they start their new semester. And to the best of my ability, I answer them all. I answer them all because Audrey Christy, founder of Christy & Associates, a PR firm in Venice, Florida, answered my letter asking for an internship in 1990. I try to pay it forward as I can.
Pro tip for parents: Give your kid my email or mobile number and have them reach out to me directly and mention your name. They have to start cold calling some day. Let me be their first.
The world of sports is fast-changing, ever-evolving and hard driving. And that’s why I enjoy it so much.
To get ready for an informational call this week, I took a look at a sports employment site, called Team Work Online, a site that most professional teams use to recruit. There are 5,664 full-time jobs or internships posted on the website.
What I found most interesting was the diversity of roles available: Analytics Intern with an NBA team, Mascot for an MLB team and International Marketing Intern for an NFL team.
If you or your kid is interested in working in sports, here are a few areas to focus for success.
Curate Your Resume to Cultivate Your Dream Job
Once you know your dream job, start creating opportunities for yourself to understand the industry, meet the decision makers and get involved in the sport. If your dream job is in baseball and you live in Cincinnati, you have myriad of opportunities with the Reds. The team has a robust internship program, and they offer several service roles from ushers to suite ambassadors. The Reds Community Fund, one of the best sports philanthropies in the country, offers several volunteer roles from the Redlegs 5K, Reds Fest and the Reds Urban Youth Academy.
The World Largest Sporting Event will be held in North America in 2026
An entirely new sports industry is starting to form in North America to support FIFA World Cup which will be hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico. With the expansion of teams in the 2026 tournament to 48 up from 32, experts predict that 40,000 new jobs will be created. On Team Work Online, there are currently more than 50 job postings for FIFA World Cup in 2026 and thousands more are sure to follow. Roles posted now range from ticketing, venue management, PR and more.
Sports Management Students Need These Skills
In 2012, I earned my Masters of Sports Administration from Ohio’s first and finest university, Ohio University. I was in the first cohort of the university’s Professional Masters in Sports Administration, conducted all on-line. It was an 18-month MBA program wrapped in sports. It opened my eyes to many new ideas, industries and insights. Future sports business leaders will need to dig deeper into these important issues:
Sales & Analytics: Oftentimes, the first opportunity that a young professional has is in the realm of ticket sales. To this, I say take it as it’s one of the most important revenue streams and engagement areas for a team or event. Once you can make a sale or take a “no” with grace, you will be an asset to the organization. These roles include ticket sales, sponsorship sales, player scouting, fundraising, among others. The skills needed for this role will be the command of data and how to analyze, tell the story and make the sale with strategic prospecting and cultivation. A scouting intern will need to analyze the player stats and make a case to select him or her in the next draft.
Sustainability: I am using this term broadly to describe managing the future health of the organization which may include environmental planning and implementation, financial management, revenue development and growth and development to new markets or fan base segments. It’s important to understand what ESG (environmental, social, and governance) means and how sport organizations can adopt and innovate.
Service & Philanthropy: Sports organizations have leveraged their platforms to help others as an annual commitment or in times of emergency need and will only continue to strengthen their Community Relations initiatives along with their corporate and philanthropic partners. This area for employment will also grow to include roles with athlete foundations, i.e. The Joe Burrow Foundation, college athletic programs who have development leaders and companies who have sports marketing programs where they activate their sponsorship programs and benefits.
Security: The safety and security planning of sporting events is a complex situation that calls for professional planning and management and collaboration among many partners. The skill set for this role will include an understanding of security planning and management, crisis planning and management while being able to create law enforcement and community partnerships. As teams expand their international reach, students will need to add an understanding of global travel and the role of visas.
It’s an exciting time for the future of work in sports. Literally, there are thousands of jobs and internships available today. Determine your “dream job,” prepare yourself for it and ask for it.
This article, The Future of Work in Sports, was originally written by Jackie Reau, CEO of Game Day Communications, and first published on Medium.com. The content is shared here with permission from the author. All rights to the text and original ideas remain with Jackie Reau. Any further distribution, reproduction, or use of this content without the author’s explicit permission is prohibited. For the original article, visit Medium.com.