Over the last ten years I have come in contact with a number of athletes who want long-term careers in sports, parents who want their children to have careers in sports, and fans who want to translate their sports interests into careers.
While more and more colleges are offering majors in sports administration, there are still relatively few how-to articles and books on sports marketing, management, and sports careers.
Compounding the problem is that when athletes, parents, and fans seek out advice from those already in the business (e.g., coaches, sports officials, sports administrators, agents), they are often given limited or even discouraging advice.
For example, I attended a sports roundtable at the University of Colorado's Career Day a few years ago. Four out of the five speakers told the students how difficult it was for anyone, no matter how talented, to land a job in sports. A representative from the Colorado Rockies baseball team said that they had received 20,000 resumes during their first year of operation.
Those four speakers (all of whom represented major pro teams in some capacity) were right. Established jobs in sports are hard to come by and heavily in demand. They are considered glamour jobs and people accept pay cuts to land them.
But the fifth guy represented a firm in Denver which staged and filmed cycling events. He told everyone that there were opportunities in sports and he'd be happy to talk to anyone about them.
Like a number of young sports business people I have met, he found work in sports by being creative, taking risks, and tapping into new markets.
Sports business is wide open for entrepreneurs. Many won't make much money initially; some will even fail at what they try. But all will gain experience and a few will eventually make lots of money.
The purpose of "Sports News You Can Use" is to share ideas and expand options.
If you would like to reproduce "Sports News" to share with those not on the internet, you can. However, I would like each issue to remain intact and retain my name and address. (And should you wish to republish them in some other publication, please let me know.)
Copyright 1996 Suzanne Lainson/SportsTrustHome | Newsletter List | Next Issue